March 16, 2008

Two more from China

First, from CNN/Asia:
Dalai Lama: China causing 'cultural genocide'
The Dalai Lama on Sunday called for an international probe of China's treatment of Tibet, which he said is causing "cultural genocide" of his people.

The exiled spiritual leader of Tibet spoke at a news conference Sunday in Dharamsala, India, two days after violent clashes between pro-autonomy demonstrators and Chinese security forces in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.

A spokesman for the self-declared Tibetan exile government said it has confirmed at least 80 deaths in Friday's violence and that protests were continuing outside the capital Sunday, further undermining China's hopes of a smooth run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Secondly, from the BBC:
Tibet unrest spreads beyond Lhasa
Tibetan protests against Chinese rule have spread to another part of China, after days of demonstrations and violence in Tibet's main city, Lhasa.

Clashes between Tibetan protesters and police in Aba, Sichuan province, saw a police station and cars attacked.

Rights groups said several people had been killed in the clashes, though this could not be verified.
And more about the demonstrations in Sichuan:
The clashes in Aba, known as Ngawa in Tibetan, happened around 1200 local time on Sunday, according to Kate Saunders of the International Campaign for Tibet.

"The lay people and monks seem to have joined together in a protest... which was focused around the police presence in the town," she told the BBC.

She said that more than 1,000 monks had been on the streets of the town, which is home to a large monastery.

"According to reliable reports the police opened fire," said Ms Saunders, who is in London but said she had indirect phone and web access to eyewitness accounts. "We know there have been deaths."
The Sichuan province shares a border with Tibet and there are a lot of ethnic Tibetans living there, speaking the language and keeping the culture alive. It is odd how the liberals are so vocal against the USA claiming that it is engaging in colonialist empire building but when they see a nation that is actually doing this, they are silent. For all the "Free Tibet" bumper stickers out there, if the US sent armed forces into Tibet and freed it, they would be apoplectic saying that we just went in there for the oil Yak Butter... Posted by DaveH at March 16, 2008 3:53 PM
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