Beijing to help victims of Tibet clashes
BEIJING, China (AP) — Beijing will compensate victims of anti-government protests in Tibet, a state news agency said Saturday, while diplomats were taken to visit the region in an effort by China to show it has restored order.
The communist government wants to enforce calm quickly following the riots, which drew attention to its human rights record as it prepares for this summer’s Beijing Olympics.
Families of 18 civilians killed will each receive $28,500, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing an announcement by the Beijing-installed Tibet regional government. It said people injured will receive free medical care and owners of damaged homes and shops will get help rebuilding.
About two dozen diplomats from countries including the United States, Britain and Japan were in Tibet on Saturday on a government-organized trip. The Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to a request for details of their agenda.
The visit comes after a similar one by foreign journalists to Tibet’s regional capital, Lhasa, backfired when about 30 crying monks burst into a briefing room shouting there was no religious freedom in Tibet.
Beijing says 22 people died in protests that spread earlier this month to dozens of Tibetan communities across western China, in the broadest challenges to Chinese rule in decades. Tibetan exiles say almost 140 are dead.
Xinhua gave no indication Saturday whether there would be compensation for four other deaths — one police officer and three people who the government says were fleeing arrest.
The government says 382 civilians and 241 police officers also were hurt. The protests, led by monks, began peacefully March 10, on the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. Tibet had been effectively independent for decades before Chinese communist troops entered in 1950.
Beijing blames the unrest on supporters of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who lives in exile in India.
On Saturday the Dalai Lama accused Beijing of demographic aggression — encouraging settlers from China’s ethnic Han majority to move to the sparsely Tibetan populated region.
He said the number of settlers in Tibet was expected to increase by more than 1 million following the Olympics, but did not say where he obtained such information.
There is evidence the Chinese people in Tibet are increasing month by month, the Tibetan spiritual leader told reporters in New Delhi.
Lhasa has 100,000 Tibetans and twice as many outsiders, the majority of them from the Han majority, the Dalai Lama said.
In Hong Kong, John Kamm, a veteran activist who met recently with Chinese officials, said the officials indicated that Beijing would not back down on Tibet despite any possible complications over the Olympics.
I doubt frankly that they’re going to be willing to do much with respect to Tibet. I’m very doubtful, for instance, that the Chinese leadership will agree to meet with the Dalai Lama, said Kamm, the executive director of the Dui Hua Foundation in San Francisco. He did not identify the officials he spoke to.
Kamm said one official told him any sign of concession would be seen as a sign of weakness.
Kamm’s group researches Chinese prisons and has helped to arrange the release of political prisoners.
The United States is represented on the Tibet trip by a second secretary from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington.
He is somebody in the political section who speaks fluent Mandarin and his portfolio is Tibet, he said.
The protests in Tibet and in other provinces with sizable Tibetan populations have threatened to mar Beijing’s effort to use the Olympics in August to showcase China as a confident, respected power.
President Bush and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Friday they want Chinese leaders to meet with the Dalai Lama to defuse tensions.
It is absolutely clear that there are human rights abuses in Tibet, Rudd told reporters after meeting Bush in Washington.
European Union foreign ministers gathering in Slovenia on Friday appealed to China to resolve the crisis peacefully.
found here.
Skeptic says:
March 29th, 2008 at 9:53 am
If Dalai Lama thinks a vacant Tibet is a good thing, he can have the moon.
Most people will think increasing population is good for the development. If Tibetans aren’t increasing in numbers it’s because they are monks, and monks don’t make babies.
David Schneider says:
March 29th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
I think that the world leaders should not tell China what to do. The U.S. has The Arian Nation running their prisons and the rich running the government. Now the government is setting out to destroy personal freedom and people are paranoid there. Australia is pegged as a racist’s country by all the Chinese people I have asked here in China. So I would recommend they clean their own houses first. Also what about IRAQ? This is an illegal war by U.N. law. So both countries should explain why they are conducting and illegal war. Oil, Self interest. They are not fighting it for human rights surely or almost every country including their own would be under attack. I think the human rights activist should take a look at their polarizing methods towards China. It might be helpful to be proactive instead of like every other protest group before them. China might listen to someone if people stopped trashing them for 30 seconds or more. Also I saw the professional protesters in Asia during the WTO meeting. They were professionals not the average person who has to make their rent. They were paid to protest. All these organizations set up to protest China. Many of them are now foundations with scholars who get some kind of financial support for their activities. So their words are questionable at the least. The word Freedom is now being used as a marketing tool for many profile people to gain their own status and agenda. Freedom is a concept in the mind. The reality is we all live in a world that needs to get along. Polarizing China and Tibet, which the protesters seem intent on doing, will only lead to problems never solved. Lost hope. Victims on both sides. Forget the leaders involved. Overpaid, overrated and certainly uncaring in reality about the man begging in the street. Otherwise they would be out there like missionaries. You are arguing about something that occurred over 50 years ago. Look at the issues now. Too much anger. Too many inflammatory statements. This is the flavour of the moment in human rights. Just look in the mirror and tell us you all have great places for Chinese or Tibetans to live and work. Why does America need organizations to help resettle the refugees if it is such a great place? Why doesn’t the government do it for them? Because in reality they don’t want the refugees. The can’t design rockets like the German’s did after WWII or bring gold like the South Vietnamese did.