Chaos in Tibet Capital as Protests Spread
March 14th, 2008Via: Reuters:
Protesters in Tibet’s capital Lhasa burnt shops and vehicles and yelled for independence on Friday as the region was hit by protests, prompting its spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to urge Beijing to stop “brute force”.
Peaceful street marches by Tibetan Buddhist monks over past days gave way to the biggest demonstrations the remote, Himalayan region has seen in nearly two decades, with anti-riot police patrolling the streets just months before the Beijing Olympics.
“Now it’s very chaotic outside,” an ethnic Tibetan resident said by telephone. “People have been burning cars and motorbikes and buses. There is smoke everywhere and they have been throwing rocks and breaking windows. We’re scared.”
Japan’s Kyodo news agency said rioters had taken control of central Lhasa, quoting a British journalist there. Radio Free Asia said Chinese police fired on rioting Tibetan protesters, killing at least two.
Residents around the Jokhang temple in old Lhasa that was a scene of protests said they were hiding indoors. Some said they had seen lines of anti-riot police, but none spoke of gunfire. “We are waiting to see what will happen tomorrow,” said an ethnic Tibetan woman. “It could get much worse, so we are scared.”
Up to 400 protesters, including students, had gathered around a market near the Jokhang temple early on Friday and were confronted by about 1,000 police, according to a witness cited by Matt Whitticase of the Free Tibet Campaign in London.
Four police were injured, and another protest break out near the Potala Palace, Whitticase added.
An ethnic Tibetan resident said there were “protests everywhere” and accompanied by shouts for independence from China. “It’s no longer just the monks. Now they have been joined by lots of residents,” the man said.
Gee, seems like the perfect place for us to go in and liberate the people from their brutal, anti-democratic overlords. WINK!
I just emailed my brother (who takes great solace in deluding himself that Barak Obama will be “different — really!”) about this development in Tibet. I offered him 1000:1 odds if he’ll bet me that either Obama or Clinton II will do a damn thing about this or any other oppressive thing China does to it’s or another country’s people. He might be deluded, but I don’t think he’s stupid enough to take that bet.
But thank God we’re still laying siege to Cuba, that scourge of the Caribbean. Now THAT’S a scary country.
See you at the Beijing Olympics!