Last month’s earthquake diverted world attention from China’s troubles in Tibet, but protests and arrests have continued in the region and the leadership has been girding for more trouble. Since the May 12 quake that killed about 70 000 people, more than 80 Buddhist nuns and a dozen monks have been detained.
China warned on Saturday it would step up a controversial ”re-education” campaign for Tibetans after a fresh protest showed a huge security crackdown had failed to extinguish nearly one month of unrest. The statement in the state-run Tibet Daily newspaper called for Buddhist monks to become Chinese patriots.
Chinese security forces sealed off parts of Lhasa on Saturday and Tibet’s government-in-exile said it was investigating reports of fresh protests, weeks after the city was shaken by an anti-government riot. The reports coincided with a visit by a group of diplomats, who were led on a closely guarded tour of the city.
Anti-government protests that spread from Tibet into western provinces are under control, the Chinese government said on Sunday, as much of the region remained in lockdown. Thousands of troops have poured into areas with large Tibetan populations in Gansu, Sichuan, Qinghai and even Yunnan, which has not seen unrest.
China is struggling to prevent burgeoning protests in Tibet from overshadowing its Olympic preparations amid reports that monks have gone on hunger strike after the region’s biggest demonstrations in almost 20 years. Thousands of armed police have surrounded monasteries outside Lhasa, following marches against Chinese rule this week.
Hundreds of Tibetan monks have taken to the streets of Lhasa in the biggest protest against communist rule in almost two decades. The show of defiance raises tensions in the Himalayan region as the world spotlight shifts to Beijing’s often harsh rule ahead of the Olympics.