Incident

Incident

Protesters â€˜give up in Tibetâ€™

19 March 2008 10:03 (UTC +04:00)

People surrendered to secure leniency in response to a deadline set by the authorities, Xinhua news agency said.
China had said it would harshly punish those who failed to surrender. Police in Lhasa have been searching houses and making arrests, activists say.
China has blamed the Dalai Lama for the protests - a claim he roundly rejects.
The Chinese government and rights groups have provided radically different accounts of the past week.
Activists say dozens of people have been killed by security forces after protests, but Chinese officials say 13 people were killed by mobs during riots by Dalai Lama supporters.
Foreign journalists have not been allowed into Lhasa and the flow of information is tightly controlled, making it difficult to verify the claims.
Tibetâ€™s Communist Party secretary Zhang Qingli has warned of a "long-term" struggle against the Tibetan exile movement, labelling the Dalai Lama a "wolf in monkâ€™s robes".
"We are in the midst of a fierce struggle involving blood and fire, a life and death struggle with the Dalai clique," he told a meeting of regional leaders on Wednesday.
"Leaders of the whole country must deeply understand the arduousness, complexity and long-term nature of the struggle," he said in remarks carried online by the China Tibet News.
The Dalai Lama - who in 1989 won a Nobel Peace Prize for his commitment to non-violent protest - has rejected Chinese claims of involvement and called for calm.
"Violence is against human nature," the Dalai Lama said. "We must not develop anti-Chinese feelings. Whether we like it or not we have to live side-by-side."
He has called for an international inquiry into why the riots took place.
The protests began on 10 March, on the anniversary of a Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, and gradually escalated.
The Tibet regional government said 105 protesters had handed themselves over to police by 2300 (1500GMT) on Tuesday, Xinhua reported.
All had been involved in "beating, smashing, looting and arson", the agency quoted Baema Chilain, vice-chairman of the regional government, as saying.
On Tuesday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the situation was under control - but more violence was reported in other Chinese provinces.
Rights groups say three people were killed by security forces after hundreds of people took to the streets in Kardze, Sichuan Province, with banners calling for Tibetan independence.
And witnesses told the BBC how hundreds of Tibetans tore down the Chinese flag and replaced it with a Tibetan flag at a school near Hezuo in Gansu province.
They attempted to march on a government building before security forces used tear gas to stop them.
Rights groups say hundreds of people have been arrested in Lhasa in an ongoing crackdown on dissent.
They have released images they say show people who have been shot dead by security forces in other provinces.
Chinese officials deny any violence has been used against protesters.
China says Tibet has always been part of its territory but Tibet enjoyed long periods of autonomy before the 20th Century and many Tibetans remain loyal to the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India in 1959.