2008 Woodie Awards
China vows to protect territory from attacks
By: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Issue date: 3/18/08 Section: World
BEIJING - China accused Tibetan supporters of the Dalai Lama of attacking its embassies around the world, vowing yesterday to protect its territory in the central government's first comments on violent protests against Chinese rule of Tibet.
The statement came as more clashes erupted in other Chinese provinces and a midnight deadline passed for protesters in Tibet's capital to surrender or face harsh consequences. Residents of Lhasa feared a military sweep after midnight, the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet said.
"The Chinese government will unwaveringly protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.
Protests that began in Tibet have spilled over to neighboring provinces and even to the capital, Beijing, where students staged a sit-down demonstration yesterday. There have been sympathy protests around the world as well, many of them outside Chinese diplomatic missions.
"Tibetan independence forces used violent acts to break through police cordons in foreign countries and break into Chinese embassies and consulates," Liu said. He called on international governments to increase security at its missions.
He said the "atrocities of the Tibetan independence forces manifested ... the hypocrisy and deceit of its peace and non-violence propaganda," a reference to supporters of the Dalai Lama.
The fiercest anti-China protests in Tibet in almost two decades have attracted more international scrutiny of the communist government's human rights record in the run-up to the Beijing Summer Olympics, which China had hoped would boost its image in the world.
Britain's Cabinet minister for Asian affairs warned that tough handling of the unrest in Tibet could undermine China's efforts.
"This is a China engaged with the world which is using the Olympics to demonstrate a new openness, and it risks all of that collapsing in on it if it is seen as being the enforcer of a crackdown on Tibetans," Mark Malloch-Brown told British Broadcasting Corp. television.
The statement came as more clashes erupted in other Chinese provinces and a midnight deadline passed for protesters in Tibet's capital to surrender or face harsh consequences. Residents of Lhasa feared a military sweep after midnight, the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet said.
"The Chinese government will unwaveringly protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.
Protests that began in Tibet have spilled over to neighboring provinces and even to the capital, Beijing, where students staged a sit-down demonstration yesterday. There have been sympathy protests around the world as well, many of them outside Chinese diplomatic missions.
"Tibetan independence forces used violent acts to break through police cordons in foreign countries and break into Chinese embassies and consulates," Liu said. He called on international governments to increase security at its missions.
He said the "atrocities of the Tibetan independence forces manifested ... the hypocrisy and deceit of its peace and non-violence propaganda," a reference to supporters of the Dalai Lama.
The fiercest anti-China protests in Tibet in almost two decades have attracted more international scrutiny of the communist government's human rights record in the run-up to the Beijing Summer Olympics, which China had hoped would boost its image in the world.
Britain's Cabinet minister for Asian affairs warned that tough handling of the unrest in Tibet could undermine China's efforts.
"This is a China engaged with the world which is using the Olympics to demonstrate a new openness, and it risks all of that collapsing in on it if it is seen as being the enforcer of a crackdown on Tibetans," Mark Malloch-Brown told British Broadcasting Corp. television.
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