Titan6
member
This is what it is all about folks. A dictator state that suppreses the freedom of it's disarmed people. Appreciate the freedoms we have and cherish them for if socialism and disarmament come to pass in this country, this is what we have to look forward to.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23721220/
More follows at the link.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23721220/
China deploys 80 truckloads of troops to Tibet
Chinese kill 4 at protest; human rights record scrutinized as Olympics near
David Gray / Reuters
Chinese soldiers in riot gear march in the main square in Kangding in Sichuan Province on Thursday. China has been struggling to quell unrest after demonstrations in Tibet's capital, Lhasa, turned violent.
March 18: China and the Dalai Lama exchange accusations. NBC's Ian Williams reports.
Nightly News
updated 12:12 p.m. ET March 20, 2008
WASHINGTON - China sent additional troops into restive areas and made more arrests in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in an effort to suppress anti-government protests even as the Dalai Lama offered face-to-face negotiations with Chinese leaders.
Government officials acknowledged for the first time that protests against Chinese rule of Tibet have spread to Tibetan communities in other provinces after sweeping through Lhasa last week. It is one of the broadest challenges to Chinese rule in years.
Hundreds of paramilitary police aboard at least 80 trucks traveled along the main road winding through the mountains into southeastern Tibet. Others set up camp and patrolled in riot gear, helmets and, for a few, rifles in the area above Tiger Leaping Gorge, a tourist attraction that usually sees little unrest.
Such scenes were repeated across far-flung towns and villages in Tibetan areas of adjacent provinces to reassert control as sporadic demonstrations continued to flare. Foreigners were barred from traveling there and tour groups were banned from Tibet, isolating a region about four times the size of France.
The protests started peacefully in Lhasa early last week, but erupted into deadly riots on Friday, drawing a harsh response from Chinese authorities.
China's crackdown has attracted even more scrutiny of its human rights record in the run-up to the Summer Olympics in Beijing.
China says the riots and protests were plotted from abroad by the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader revered by Tibetans, and his supporters. They have denied Tibetan exile groups' claims that 80 died in the violence and ensuing crackdown.
Authorities say 16 died and 325 were injured.
Rioters shot outside Tibet
The official Xinhua News agency reported Thursday that police shot and wounded four protesters "in self defense" over the weekend in western Sichuan province. It is the first time the government has acknowledged shooting any protesters in nearly a week of unrest.
Local Tibetan television in Lhasa aired footage Thursday showing black-clad police arresting 24 men. Handcuffed against a wall, the men, some young, some old, were charged with "endangering national security, beating, smashing, looting and burning," the report said.
State-run television aired a 15-minute program Thursday night, showing Friday's deadly rioting in Lhasa but none of the ensuing crackdown. Footage taken from security cameras showed looted, burned shops, wounded Chinese and a knife-wielding Tibetan standing atop a police car.
Buddhist monks were shown throwing sticks and other debris at riot police in a narrow street in a scuffle on Monday, March 10, in an attempt to portray the protests as having been started by monks.
Speaking from the seat of his government-in-exile in Dharmsala, India, the Dalai Lama offered to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders, though said he would not travel to Beijing unless there was a "real concrete development." He reiterated he was not seeking independence for Tibet.
"The whole world knows Dalai Lama is not seeking independence, one hundred times, thousand times I have repeated this. It is my mantra — we are not seeking independence," the 72-year-old Dalai Lama told reporters.
"The Tibet problem must be solved between Tibetan people and Chinese people," he said.
Foreigners warned of violence
Despite China's relentless vilification, the Dalai Lama — winner of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize — remains widely revered by Tibetans, traveling widely and meeting an array of politicians and celebrities.
China has ignored calls for dialogue, casting recent events as evidence that the Dalai Lama could not be negotiated with.
Free Tibet Campaign via AP
A shop burns in Maqu in western China's Gansu province on Tuesday as protests spread beyond Tibet.
The Foreign Ministry expressed "grave concern" over a planned meeting between British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Dalai Lama, telling Brown not to offer support to the exiled leader.
At a tense news conference, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the government suggested that foreign tourists stay out of western Gansu and Sichuan provinces, the scene of additional clashes earlier this week between Tibetan protesters and security forces.
After a long pause, he added: "But I shall assure you that our government is fully capable of maintaining social stability and ensuring the security of tourists."
More follows at the link.
