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China closes ethnic Tibetan areas to foreigners
19 Mar 2008 09:52:54 GMT
 Source: Reuters
YAJIANG, China, March 19 (Reuters) - Chinese security forces have blocked foreigners from entering ethnic Tibetan areas of remote western China, amid reports of anti-government protests spreading to Tibet's neighbouring provinces.

China has been grappling to quell unrest in several Tibetan towns and villages in the country's west, after Buddhist monk-led demonstrations in Tibet's capital Lhasa turned violent on Friday.

The government in recent days has asked foreigners in Tibet to leave and has suspended approving travel permits to the Himalayan region. Media watchdogs have reported that authorities have expelled journalists reporting there.

Foreigners travelling in western Sichuan province were taken off a public bus at a police check-point at Yajiang, a village on a major highway leading to Lhasa, and sent on a mini-bus to Kangding, a city further east.

"It is closed to all foreigners and tourists. There is nothing to see now, but you're welcome to come back some other time," a police officer at the check-point in Yajiang said.

When asked for a reason, the officer said: "It's not safe."

"The hotels are closed, the restaurants are closed, there is nothing going on," another police officer said.

"The further you go in that direction (west), the greater the difficulties," she said.

Yajiang lies on the route to Lithang, a town of about 40,000 people, where troops had surrounded a local monastery and Tibetans had been arrested, a resident told Reuters.

A Reuters correspondent in Sichuan said an army camp had been set up en route to the ethnic Tibetan town and saw convoys carrying troops driving west towards Tibet.

The authorities have said Lhasa was returning to normal but overseas groups have reported protests and heavy police presence in western Gansu province's ethnic Tibetan towns of Xiahe and Gannan.

The Tibetan government-in-exile says 99 people died when Chinese security forces moved to quell last week's rioting. The government puts the death toll at 13.

Wary that images of civil unrest and violence could tarnish China's image ahead of the Olympic Games in August, the government has clamped down on news reporting in its restive western region.

Reporters in Lhasa and three other Chinese cities have been blocked from reporting in 30 separate incidents, including being tailed by authorities and having footage confiscated, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China said in a statement. (Reporting by John Ruwitch)


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Passersby walk past a burnt store in Lhasa, Tibet March 18, 2008. China warned of a "life and death" struggle with the Dalai Lama on Wednesday following a crackdown on protests ...


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Last updated:Wed Mar 19 09:50:47 2008