China says torch protests ‘shameful’ as Tibet pressure mounts

A Tibetan woman cries inside a police van in frustration after their peace rally being held along with Amnesty International was dispersed by policemen in Katmandu, Nepal, Monday March 24, 2008. Eleven members of Amnesty International along with their country head were also detained. (AP Photo/ Saurabh Das)

Peter Harmsen, AFP

Published: Tuesday, March 25, 2008

BEIJING, March 25, 2008 (AFP) – China said Tuesday attempts to disrupt the Olympic torch relay were “shameful” after protests at the ceremony to light the flame added to pressure over its handling of ongoing unrest in Tibet.

Amid reports of new bloodshed during a major crackdown by Chinese forces, the demonstrations in Greece on Monday underlined world anger over Tibet and a determination to keep harassing China’s communist leaders on the issue.

But China’s foreign ministry had only sharp words for the protests and urged countries on the relay route to ensure its smooth progress.

“Any act to disrupt the Olympic torch relay is shameful and unpopular,” ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing in China’s first official reaction to the incidents.

“We also believe that competent authorities in countries through which the torch relay will pass have the obligation to ensure a smooth relay.”

With Tibetan exiles putting the death toll from 10 days of unrest at around 140, protesters condemning China’s rights record briefly disrupted the flame ceremony as it was broadcast live to the world from Ancient Olympia.

Later, 10 Tibetan activists staged a protest in the town’s main street.

Chinese media largely ignored the incidents in their accounts of the torch lighting, which kicked off a five-month world tour of the Olympic flame in the run-up to the August 8-24 Games, seen by Beijing as China’s great coming-out party.

The China Daily called the flame ceremony “a perfect start,” while the Global Times, a specialised newspaper focusing on international issues, carried a short reference to the protests at the end of a lengthy, positive report.

The incidents refocused international attention on China’s crackdown on the two weeks of protest over its rule of Tibet, which Beijing has blamed on the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader.

However, the Dalai Lama reiterated a pledge to quit as “spokesperson for the Tibetan people” if there are more violent anti-Chinese protests either in his homeland or in other parts of China.

“If the violent demonstrations continue, I would resign,” the exiled Buddhist leader said in India on Tuesday.

State-run Xinhua news agency reported a policeman was killed, and other officers injured, in fresh clashes Monday in Garze, a southwest region in Sichuan province with a large proportion of ethnic Tibetans.

The India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reported one Tibetan protester was shot dead and another left in critical condition following “indiscriminate firing” at a group of about 200 demonstrators.

Protests began in Tibet on March 10 to mark the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule in the region, but have since turned deadly and spread to other parts of the country.

Thirteen people who took part in the March 10 demonstration are now under arrest, the state-controlled Tibet Daily reported Tuesday.

“This repression is not tolerable,” French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Tuesday on the Europe 1 radio network, referring to the Chinese crackdown.

By contrast, Singapore said Tuesday it “supports the declared policy of the Chinese government to protect the lives and property of its citizens from violent demonstrators with minimum use of force.”

Xinhua on Tuesday reported a visit to Tibet by Meng Jianzhu, the head of the public security ministry and China’s top police official, covering several areas in Lhasa hit by the clashes.

“Participating in the riot essentially violated the doctrines of Tibetan Buddhism,” Meng said, according to the agency.

Independent confirmation of reports from the region and areas populated by Tibetans has been extremely difficult due to curbs China has placed on foreign media.

The foreign ministry said Tuesday it would organise a three-day trip to Lhasa by about a dozen selected foreign journalists.

Tibet, a mountainous region that straddles Mount Everest and is more than twice the size of France, has been a flashpoint issue for China’s Communist leadership ever since it came to power in 1949.

Tibet has taken on greater importance in the run-up to the Olympics in August, which the country’s leaders hope will be a chance to show off China’s rapid transformation into a modern economic power.

Despite the protests, calls for a boycott of the Games have been muted.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said Monday there was “deep concern” over events in Tibet but has dismissed talk of boycotting the event.