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BEIJING: Foreign journalists escorted by China into
the Tibetan capital of Lhasa described a charred, tense city still
wrapped in the smell of smoke nearly two weeks after violent riots
erupted.
The 26 journalists, who arrived
Wednesday, were the first allowed by Chinese authorities into Lhasa
following the violence, and they reported monitoring of their
activities by local security and government minders.
China arranged the three-day trip
following foreign pressure to allow independent reporting on the
violence and subsequent Chinese crackdown, after Lhasa and neighboring
parts of China where protests erupted were sealed off.
China said Tibetans killed 20
people in the riots, 19 of them in Lhasa. Tibetan exiles said 135 to
140 people were killed in the Chinese crackdown.
On Wednesday, large areas of the
city were heavily scarred, marked by burnt-out or smashed-up shops,
and the old Tibetan quarter—scene of some of the worst
violence—was in virtual lockdown, according to the reports.
“The smell of burning buildings
still hangs in the air nearly two weeks after violent rioting swept
through the old Tibetan quarter of Lhasa, leaving behind a string of
shops and apartments reduced to charcoal frames,” the Financial
Times reported.
Police manned checkpoints where
they examined the papers of anyone trying to enter the Tibetan
quarter, allowing only residents to pass, according to various
reports from the group.
By contrast, business and traffic
seemed normal in areas where ethnic Han Chinese predominate, the
reports said, underlining the continued tensions in the city.
Journalists reported Tibetans
were generally too fearful to speak.
However, the Financial Times
quoted one Tibetan schoolteacher as saying “Please, help us.”
While the Chinese authorities
issued no firm reporting restrictions to the group, reporters were
discouraged from wandering.
“You must stay with the group.
Do not go out on your own. It is still not safe here,” the USA
Today newspaper quoted foreign ministry official Tang Rui as saying
on arrival at Lhasa airport.
Journalists reported being
followed and seeing authorities later question Tibetans who had
interacted with them.
The delegation’s
members—which also included The Wall Street Journal, al-Jazeera
television and the Associated Press—were selected by China.
Agence France-Presse and several
other major news organizations were excluded, with Chinese officials
citing logistical constraints.
The main day of violence in Lhasa
was March 14, when rioters went on a rampage directed mainly against
Chinese targets in protest against China’s 57-year rule of the
Himalayan region.
--AFP
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