公開挺藏
西藏示威抗議延伸到北京，中國著名自由作家王力雄昨出面公開呼籲，號召「全體漢族人民起來聲援西藏同胞的抗暴活動」，作為1989年天安門民主運動的延續。
寫有《天葬：西藏的命運》等西藏相關著作的王力雄，在西藏流血衝突多天後，昨公布一份「告全國人民書」，跳出來呼籲漢人支持西藏抗暴。
博訊網報導，王力雄指出，在北京親眼看到幾百名藏族學生舉行靜坐示威，認為此次北京大學生的抗議聲援活動具有重要意義，因為這將重演1989年天安門廣場「英勇無畏的學生民主運動！」他說：「這場運動後來雖被中國反動派的軍隊鎮壓，造成生命的巨大損失，但是火種生生不息！」

論壇

北京夢美 拉薩夢碎

西藏僧侶與平民在三月中旬達賴喇嘛流亡49年紀念日發動抗議，印度的藏人也幾乎同時展開返鄉行動。中國政府說這是國際國內聯手的反華陰謀；雖然有點過頭，但事件的發生倒顯非偶然。而且又正值北京召開人大會、中國信誓旦旦要辦好奧運的節骨眼，讓中國高層感到措手不及，安全部門更是臉上無光。
解放軍採取高壓手段，遭到台灣和國際排山倒海批評。過去中國從農村到城市抗爭無數，流血鎮壓從未停止。但國際上始終未予重視，台灣也無動於衷。為什麼西藏這麼不同呢？ 

面臨挑戰
西藏拉薩爆發20年來最大規模衝突事件，流亡印度近半世紀的西藏精神領袖達賴喇嘛，長期致力與中國和平對話的「中間之路」理念，正遭受挑戰。一名達賴的資深幕僚坦承，許多年輕藏人逐漸不耐，從焦躁不安轉化為挫折，最後終究訴諸暴力。

巴黎聲援 斥中國說謊

 各國關切
中國政府在西藏與鄰省進行鎮壓，引爆美國紐約、法國巴黎和尼泊爾加德滿都等地的示威潮，各國元首也紛紛對西藏局勢表達關切。
流亡尼泊爾的藏人昨天在聯合國加德滿都辦公室外頭激烈抗議，高喊「解放西藏」、「停止殺戮」等口號，尼泊爾警方以警棍驅散抗議人群，逮捕至少44名示威者。 

法國 警民衝突 
聲援西藏獨立的人士，昨在法國巴黎示威，抗議中國以血腥手段鎮壓拉薩情勢。法新社

日籲冷靜勿影響奧運
中國駐巴黎大使館前天聚集500名高舉「支持達賴喇嘛」、「中國說謊，西藏垂死」等標語的抗議人士，一名示威者甚至爬上大使館一樓陽台強拆中國國旗，改掛西藏旗幟，警方被迫動用催淚瓦斯驅散變調的示威行動。
紐約曼哈頓的中國領事館人員前天遭人丟石頭抗議。美國國務卿萊斯(Condoleezza Rice)再次呼籲中國政府與達賴喇嘛展開對話，解決西藏問題。德國外交部致電中國外長楊潔篪，「要求中國應該讓西藏情勢透明化，避免緊張情勢再度升高，讓衝突和平落幕。」
國際奧林匹克委員會希望西藏情勢盡快緩和下來，日本外相高村正彥呼籲中國政府冷靜，不要影響八月的北京奧運。法國外交部表示將密切觀察西藏局勢，但在野的社會黨黨魁霍蘭德( Francois Hollande)呼籲法國政府應該考慮杯葛北京奧運，但歐盟則反對杯葛奧運。國際中心

蘋果日報

拉薩銬40藏人遊街示眾
示威擴至四川甘肅 武警機槍鎮壓18死 

【大陸中心╱綜合外電報導】中國官方對參與拉薩暴動的抗議人士所設下的「自首大限」於昨午夜屆滿，軍警在昨大限前展開清城式的搜捕，沒有拉薩居留證件的人士一律逮捕，昨更有40名被逮的年輕藏族男女戴手銬在軍警戒護下遭遊街示眾。

藏人示威抗暴
西藏周邊省份聲援拉薩的示威活動有擴大之勢，甚至擴大到遙遠的中國首都北京。北京市海淀區中國中央民族大學前，昨有約50多名聲援拉薩藏人的群眾發動無聲示威，但未與警方發生衝突。四川省成都市前晚有藏民示威砸車，這是藏人抗議首度蔓延到非藏族聚集地，警方昨緊急封鎖成都市主要街道。
英國《泰晤士報》報導，昨在四輛軍車護衛下，40名戴手銬的藏族男女在警方監看下，緩步跟著軍車行走。拉薩警方昨挨家挨戶搜索，只要無法出示合法居留證件，一律抓人。 
 
逐記者沒收影帶記憶卡
法新社引述成都市一名公安的話表示，前晚市區發生零星抗議，有自動提款機與汽車遭砸毀，警方於昨天開始在各主要路口駐守，禁止車輛通行，只准行人與腳踏車通行。
路透報導，一名阿壩自治州紅原縣的居民透露，昨天數百名喇嘛與學生舉行抗議，隨即遭鎮壓。西藏在台流亡政府組織「達賴喇嘛西藏宗教基金會」董事長才嘉與多個西藏人權組織昨指出，前天下午阿壩縣市區與格爾登寺喇嘛爆發藏民示威，遭武警機關槍掃射，導致約18人死亡，死者包含兩名不到20歲的中學生，至今抗議還在蔓延中。
甘肅省蘭州市西北民族大學與甘南合作師專數百名學生從前天開始絕食抗議。甘肅省夏河縣則因連續三日的示威暴動而實施宵禁，警方並逮捕至少30名示威群眾。
拉薩警方昨除積極送走觀光客，全球唯一仍留在拉薩採訪的15名香港記者，昨凌晨遭公安至房間搜索，全數被公安強迫搭機離開拉薩。香港無線電視的報導稱，該台記者的錄影帶和電腦記憶卡遭沒收。香港記者協會指摘西藏當局禁絕記者採訪，違背北京奧運開放國外媒體在中國自由採訪的承諾。 
 
官方：「沒開過任何一槍」
西藏自治區主席向巴平措昨天特別召開記者會，再度改口稱14日的拉薩暴動共造成16死，其中13人是無辜平民，3人是為躲避警方追捕的藏人跳樓身亡。他並否認所有指控，「絕對沒有使用致命武器，也沒有開過任何一槍」。不少離開拉薩的觀光客堅稱，絕對聽到槍聲。

四川 武警進駐
大批武裝警察昨入駐四川省康定縣，準備至附近藏區進行鎮暴。

青海 壓制示威
藏人示威潮快速蔓延，大批警察至青海省同仁縣壓制抗議。 

甘肅 巡視防暴
甘肅省夏河縣連日來藏民與軍警激烈衝突後，武警在街頭巡查。 

拉薩暴動蔓延情形
◎四川省
．3/17 紅原縣兩所藏族學校內數百名學生上街示威，與軍警爆發衝突。
．3/16 成都市晚間爆發零星抗議。
阿壩縣數千名喇嘛與民眾攻擊公安局投擲汽油彈，警方開槍掃射，18人死亡。
甘孜藏族自治州道孚縣數百喇嘛遊行並散發傳單，遭武警驅散。
◎甘肅省
．3/16 蘭州市西北民族大學絕食抗議。
．3/14~3/15 夏河縣當地拉卜楞寺的喇嘛和藏民拿著藏旗上街抗議，15日遊行人數達四千人，武警鳴槍驅散群眾，入夜後拘捕抗議者。
◎青海省
．黃南藏族自治州同仁縣3百多人遊行示威，遭到武警開槍鎮壓。
．3/16 黃南藏族自治州同仁縣3百多人遊行示威，遭到武警開槍鎮壓。 

西藏拉薩暴動事件簿
．2008/03/10 上百名喇嘛示威紀念藏人起義日49周年，遭武警毆打，至少71人被捕。
．2008/03/14 近千名喇嘛與藏人縱火焚燒警車與商店示威抗議，當局出動坦克並開槍，至少80死。
．2008/03/15 大批武裝部隊與坦克進駐拉薩，官方要求示威民眾在3月17日前自首。甘肅、四川、青海大批藏人發動示威呼應拉薩。
．2008/03/16 上萬名軍人開坦克並持槍逐戶地毯式搜捕涉及示威人士。四川阿壩縣藏人示威遭警方開槍鎮壓，至少15死。
資料來源：《蘋果》資料室 

蘋果日報

拉薩逐屋搜捕 四川斃7藏人
中國鎮壓殺80人 達賴籲國際調查 

藏人示威抗暴
「解救西藏」組織與「西藏人權及民主中心」昨指，阿壩縣昨天上午十時有數百名藏人示威，最後演變成暴亂。目擊者說，藏人準備攻擊阿壩縣政府大樓，他們放火燒警車後，警察開火，至少七人喪生。

出動坦克重兵開路
據香港有線電視報導，西藏首府拉薩市昨天情勢仍然緊張，昨天一早約有200輛軍車在坦克和裝甲車掩護開路下，由拉薩西面開到布達拉宮和上周五爆發騷亂的八廓街附近一帶，近萬名持槍軍人進入封鎖區大肆搜捕參與上周五暴動的人士，屋頂還有狙擊手戒備。
武警和防暴隊於下午三時許進入布達拉宮附近的太陽島社區逐屋搜查。警方再度警告，犯罪者須於今天午夜前自首，否則從嚴懲處。
西藏精神領袖達賴喇嘛昨在印度發表措詞嚴厲的聲明，強調抗議是藏民不滿情緒自然宣洩的結果。他譴責中國在西藏的「文化滅絕」和「恐怖統治」。達賴喇嘛也促請國際社會介入調查這次鎮壓行動，他也重申，他支持中國舉辦奧運的立場不會改變。
英國《泰晤士報》昨則以題為「中國的恥辱」的文章痛批，北京政府以武力鎮壓西藏抗議民眾，是「無恥的行為」。總部設在印度達蘭薩拉（Dharamsala）的西藏流亡政府昨說，14日拉薩市發生的暴亂，證實已有80人遇害。

「人民戰爭」對抗獨立
針對拉薩市於14日爆發20年來最大規模動亂事件，中國國營《西藏日報》昨天說，西藏政府已宣布發動「人民戰爭」，以消滅對達賴喇嘛的支持，同時終結西藏人尋求獨立的任何理想。
台灣觀光局業務組長張錫聰昨指出，目前西藏地區並未有台灣旅行團在當地旅遊。觀光局已要求旅行社一周內暫緩出團到西藏。 

譴責

達賴喇嘛昨發表聲明，譴責中國在西藏進行恐怖統治。法新社

派令
 
中國昨派出萬名軍警巡邏拉薩，一群防暴警察正接受任務指示。法新社

驚恐
軍方昨大規模搜捕抗議人士，中央電視台畫面顯示，一名驚恐的藏族少年正被軍人抓走。法新社

搜屋
中國自昨天早上起，在拉薩市逐屋搜捕抗議人士。 

抓人

香港有線電視報導，近萬名軍警昨至拉薩回民社區搜捕。 

善後
拉薩市昨在軍警戒備下恢復平靜，官方動員大批公務員清掃暴動現場。

抗爭

一群流亡藏人在中國駐瑞士蘇黎士領事館前抗議，與警方對峙。路透 

西藏暴動至16日最新進展
◎暴動延燒：四川省阿壩縣數百名藏人昨早攻擊警局燒警車，遭到警方射殺，至少七人死亡。
◎中國官方說法：拉薩市長多吉次珠稱西藏已恢復平穩，否認戒嚴。
◎死亡人數：西藏流亡政府稱80人死於暴動，但中國仍稱10死。
◎西藏流亡政府說法：．達賴喇嘛稱他仍支持北京奧運，要求中國不要用血腥手段對付抗議者，流亡政府再度否認達賴喇嘛策劃西藏暴動。
◎國際反應
．美國務卿萊斯籲中國，處理西藏抗議事件時應「顯現自制」，並要求釋放遭拘禁的僧侶。
．國際奧委會主席羅格認為不應杯葛北京奧運，稱對選手不公平。
資料來源：綜合外電 

美籲自制 促與達賴對話

國際反應
美、日、德、澳等國前天一致敦促中國在西藏議題上「自制」，美國國務卿萊斯（Condoleezza Rice）昨重申，希望中國當局與達賴喇嘛展開「實質對話」，她在聲明中呼籲中國「尊重所有公民和平表達政治、宗教思想的權利」，並釋放和平示威而被捕的僧侶與民眾。

海外藏人激動聲援
印度政府對動亂造成無辜人民死傷「深感苦惱」，外交部發言人薩納（Navtej Sarna）表示：「希望各方努力改善局勢，以對話和非暴力方式解決問題根源。」
散居海外的西藏僑民則持續在各地發動示威，上周六紐約市中國領事館前的示威者與警方發生衝突，雙方都有人員受傷；中國駐澳洲墨爾本使館昨天也有藏人砸雞蛋示威，前天雪梨藏人的和平示威演變成暴力事件，澳洲藏人社團領袖還特別出面道歉，希望澳洲大眾體諒藏人情緒激化的表現。
但比較讓中國緊張的還是鄰國尼泊爾，尼泊爾官員透露，近日中國加派便衣警衛嚴守中、尼邊界，阻擋尼國境內西藏難民返國。
部分便衣官員甚至跨越國界，強迫在尼泊爾採訪的法新社記者刪去在邊界拍攝的照片，中國強勢要求尼泊爾加強邊防，這幾天一些計劃旅遊西藏的外國遊客也在中、尼邊界，遭到中國拒絕入境。國際中心

 論壇

血淋淋西藏 台灣的借鏡

再次的，我們又在西藏首都佛教聖城看到喇嘛被中共武警解放軍打得鮮血淋漓，一命嗚呼。彷彿時間又回到1989年中共在拉薩的武裝鎮壓屠殺藏人，1959年中共入侵強佔西藏的悲慘，再度又時空錯疊地上演。西藏人是何等的不幸，連在自己的國土上表達熱愛西藏都會被中共奪走性命，到底中國是一種什麼樣的政權，可以對被他們賦予中國國民法定身分的西藏人如此殘暴地殺害？ 


中國一再食言，使得藏人忍無可忍。圖為遊行者在達賴喇嘛照片前高呼反中。法新社

同胞聲援
旅居印度及尼泊爾的藏人持續以抗議表達對故鄉及同胞的支持。印度藏人不畏當地警方逮捕逾百人的嚇阻，昨天在德拉敦發動新的「返鄉長征」行動，誓言要走回西藏；尼泊爾首都加德滿都前晚的聲援西藏示威集會，警方與約千人爆發肢體衝突，有12名喇嘛受傷。

DHARAMSALA, India — As Tibet erupted in protests against Chinese rule, this small, normally placid town in the foothills of the Himalayas became a nerve center and soapbox for Tibetan exiles and a vital channel through which news from Tibet seeped out into the world.

Tibetans at home telephoned Tibetans here with snippets of what they saw and heard of the Chinese crackdown last week. Photographs of gory killings, which Buddhist monks said they had received by e-mail from across the border, were displayed in monasteries. Human rights workers played a tape-recorded conversation with a caller who said he had witnessed a massacre.

Dharamsala, long the seat of the Tibetan government in exile and a popular destination for spiritual tourism, has been elevated into the high-energy hub of the Tibetan uprising.

Throughout the day on Monday, hundreds of protesters gathered near the gates of the temple of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, chanting, “We want freedom!”

Their faces painted the blue, red and yellow of the Tibetan flag, they shouted praise for the Dalai Lama and furiously condemned President Hu Jintao of China. “Out, out, out,” they roared, demanding full secession for Tibet, a sharp departure from the Dalai Lama’s calls for autonomy but not independence.

By mid-morning, a group of high school students in forest-green school sweaters had gathered near the temple gates holding a flag of Tibet. One of them, Tsering Dolma, 17, said they had cut class, flouting the principal’s orders and riding a bus 90 minutes through the hills to join the protests here.

“It was the pain in our hearts,” she said in halting English. “We needed to escape.”

Many of the students, including Ms. Dolma, had made an earlier escape, crossing the mountains on foot from Tibet and leaving their parents behind.

One student, Choedak, 18, said he had spoken to his mother, in Lhasa, on Saturday night. “All the streets are smoke and tears,” she told him. “We cannot open our eyes. Every street is like empty.”

Posters for hatha yoga and Tibetan massage (as seen in Lonely Planet tour guides, they boasted) competed for wall space with angry calls for freedom. “The Game’s Over. Free Tibet,” read one ubiquitous sticker, alluding to China’s role as host of the Olympic Games. A banner said, “Stop the Killings in Tibet.”

Down the hill, at the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy, calls poured in with accounts of events across the border. Urgen Tenzin, the center’s executive director, recorded a call he received Sunday. The caller described seeing seven people shot dead at a demonstration in front of a Tibetan monastery in Sichuan Province. Callers from Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, reported police officers making house-to-house searches on Sunday evening, and a number of arrests.

Mr. Tenzin’s cellphone trilled and he grabbed his notebook. The call was a secondhand report of a protest breaking out Monday at a medical college in a province outside the Tibet Autonomous Region.

“We are quite helpless,” Mr. Tenzin said. “What we can do except disseminate information?”

In the late afternoon, monks at the Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies monastery disseminated a half-dozen chilling photographs that they said were from Aba in Sichuan Province, a city Tibetans call Ngaba. One photograph showed a tank in the middle of a street, and another showed bodies in the road and a child crouching to get a closer look. The monks said a source in Aba sent the image Monday afternoon by e-mail, somehow circumventing the Chinese government’s latest Internet restrictions.

What followed was a most unusual news conference. The monks telephoned a man who said he was in Aba and let reporters listen as he described soldiers filling the streets of the city and people vowing to resist Beijing’s midnight deadline to end their demonstrations.

The monks would not identify the caller, except to show reporters that they had indeed dialed a number inside China.

By evening, the photographs were plastered across town.

Not all the reports painted a portrait of peaceful protests. On Saturday, Kunchok Jigmey, the secretary of this monastery, received a call from an affiliated monastery, Kirti, in Zoige County, Sichuan, describing how 400 people, including monks, who poured into the streets, shouted, “Long live his holiness, the Dalai Lama,” burned Chinese flags and broke the windows of Chinese-owned shops and restaurants.

Like the other reports, this one could not be independently verified.

Many of the protesters, including young people and members of radical exile groups, openly broke with the Dalai Lama’s advocacy of a “middle way” of freedom but not independence from China. They raised a chorus of stridently anti-Chinese slogans and, before the Dalai Lama spoke to reporters on Sunday, laid Chinese flags on the road, inviting cars and pedestrians to trample on them.

The Dalai Lama, 72, has held talks with Beijing since 2002 and continues to endorse the Olympic Games this summer in China. On Sunday, he said he would not tell his followers to surrender by midnight on Monday, even though he feared that continued protests would prompt further crackdowns by Chinese authorities.

“We, the young people, feel independence is our birthright,” said Dolma Choephel, 34, a social worker active with the Tibetan Youth Congress. “We understand the limitations of the Dalai Lama’s approach.”

The president of the group, Tsewang Rigzin, went further. “There is growing frustration among the younger generation,” he said. “I certainly hope the middle way approach would be reviewed.”

Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama’s government in exile called for an independent international inquiry into the crackdown and urgent assistance for Tibet. It said that at least 80 people had been killed, and that some 400 had been wounded in Lhasa alone. On Monday night, as the deadline approached, hundreds of Tibetans, young and old, gathered in the courtyard of the Dalai Lama’s temple to recite prayers for the dead.

Tenzin Gelek, 25, sat with a candle in hand and said bloodshed was inevitable back home. “I’m sure they will kill many more after midnight tonight,” he said bitterly of the Chinese forces. “We are helpless here.”

More Photos

Nepal police arrest 44 in Tibet protests

Mar 17, 2008

KATHMANDU (AFP) — At least 44 Tibetan exiles shouting "Free Tibet" were detained in the Nepal capital on Monday after police broke up two protests outside a UN complex, using sticks and tear gas.

Some 30 of them were taken into custody after 100 people held a morning protest outside the UN compound while, 14 were held when 250 staged a demonstration later in the day.

The Tibetans said they wanted to pressure the United Nations to investigate a crackdown by Beijing on the fiercest uprising against Chinese rule of the Himalayan region in nearly two decades.
Nepalese policemen arrest a protesting Tibetan exile.

The 44 detained Tibetans would be freed later on Monday, a police officer said, asking to remain unnamed.

The demonstrators included Tibetan monks and nuns who were hit during police baton charges, according to an AFP photographer, but the police officer said he had no information about any injuries. Tear gas was also fired.

"I don't know why police are attacking our peaceful demonstration. We've gathered here to put pressure on the United Nations to investigate the crackdown on Tibetans in Lhasa," protester Tashi Lama, 29, told AFP.

Exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama called Sunday for an international probe into the situation in his homeland, which he fled in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule.

Some 20,000 Tibetan refugees have lived in Nepal for decades after large numbers started coming over the Himalayas in 1959 following the uprising.

Today, around 2,500 still arrive annually at a UN-run reception centre in Kathmandu and then most proceed to Dharamshala in northern India, home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile.

Tibet's exiled prime minister Samdhong Rinpoche said on Monday around 100 people died in unrest in the Chinese-ruled region, while the Tibetan parliament in exile reported "hundreds" killed.

China has rejected charges many have died in the unrest, saying Tibetan rioters killed 13 "innocent civilians" during violent protests in Lhasa, and that it did not use "lethal" force to quell the rioting.

蘋果日報

李察基爾憤怒 揚言杯葛奧運

國際反應
國際社會對於西藏的暴力衝突，紛表關切。在印度北部達蘭薩拉的西藏流亡政府，昨呼籲聯合國立即派代表，介入調查北京政府在西藏的侵犯人權行動。聲明指根據非證實報告，已有上百人喪生。
關注西藏人權的影星李察基爾(Richard Gere)，前天稱若中國錯誤處理藏人抗議，將面臨奧運遭杯葛的後果。他雖不支持杯葛奧運，但表示此事未妥善處理，「我們就該杯葛，人人都該杯葛。」 
 
歐盟譴責 美澳籲節制
美國白宮國家安全會議發言人約翰德羅(Gordon Johndroe)指，北京須尊重西藏文化，「總統向來都說北京須和達賴喇嘛對話。」美國務院呼籲停止對西藏暴力鎮壓，並警告美國人暫勿前往旅遊。聯合國人權事務高級專員阿伯爾(Louise Arbour)呼籲北京「允許示威者行使自由表達和集會權利，維持秩序時避免動武」。聯合國副發言人岡部萬里江（譯音）稱秘書長潘基文關注此情況，「籲各方謹慎避免衝突和暴力。」此外，歐盟表示譴責、澳洲籲中國節制。
昨天雪梨中國領事館外，數十名支持藏獨人士抗議時發生暴力衝突，警方以警棍和辣椒噴霧驅散。紐約、倫敦也都有聲援藏人的示威活動。國際中心

英國 舉標抗議
支持藏獨人士前天在英國倫敦的中國大使館外激憤抗議，並高舉標語要求中國釋放班禪喇嘛。路透
IBN News

World reacts cautiously to Tibet unrest

CNN-IBN  Published on Sat, Mar 15, 2008 at 15:54, Updated at Sat, Mar 15, 2008 in section 

World » Neighbours

New Delhi: Hollywood star Richard Gere has been a long-time supporter of the Tibetan cause and believes that the latest outbreak of violence is different than previous ones and has denied Chinese claims that the protests were orchestrated by the Dalai Lama.

"The best information I'm getting is this was not organised. There will be organised demonstrations around the Olympics. No question about that. But this was an outpouring of emotion, which was spontaneous. The fact is that it wasn't just among the monks and nuns. These are simple non-violent marches and expressions of freedom," Gere said.

"Well, that's clearly foolish and embarrassing for them (the Chinese). Tibetans been brutally repressed for 50 years, 55 years - close to six decades. When you regress the people, they will explode. All people will explode. They're incredibly loving and forgiving people. They've been uniform in keeping the movement non-violent," he said.

The Dalai Lama and governments around the world are calling on China to be restrained in their response to the protests after demonstrations in Tibet turned violent on Friday.

The United States of America, the European Union and Australia have called on China to exercise restraint, but Asian countries remain silent.

India has been disallowing protests in the country while Japan and South Korea have not yet reacted officially to the crackdown.

The Australian foreign ministry says 'peaceful expressions of dissent' must be allowed.

On Friday, US bureaucrats met senior Chinese officials to express concern over the crackdown.

The White House urged Beijing to respect Tibetan culture and have a dialogue with the Dalai Lama. European Union leaders echoed similar views.

FOR A CAUSE: Richard Gere says more protests will be organised demonstrations around the Olympics.

蘋果日報

西藏血腥衝突 網照傳全球
突破中國封鎖 目擊者記錄控暴行

【大陸中心╱綜合外電報導】西藏爆發激烈流血衝突，慣於封鎖負面消息的中國，這次卻因數位科技和網路的發達栽了跟頭。拉薩血腥衝突的畫面經由當地觀光客和目擊者以影像和文字記錄，第一時間被公布上網，繞過中國當局的打壓立刻傳遍全球。 

中國多年來苦心經營西藏，建造青藏鐵路、發展西藏觀光，希望漢化西藏減低藏人獨特的認同意識。但結果反而適得其反，藏人不但沒有放棄自治或獨立，更在發動示威遊行時，拜大量的觀光客和數位科技之賜，將中國的武力鎮壓同步呈現世人面前。
英國廣播公司(BBC)在網站上刊登六張讀者上傳照片，都是赴拉薩的外國觀光客所拍，同時還不斷希望各界貢獻更多照片與影片。監督西藏人權的數個網站也貼出許多關於衝突的影像證據，以及現場人士的文字描述。連各國旅遊部落格中都有相關衝突的影像。  
  
 
官方著重藏人燒砸
總部位於倫敦的「解救西藏組織」即引用拉薩藏人的話表示，至少有九百人參與示威，當局出動超過千人軍隊前往鎮壓。「西藏人權與民主中心」網站表示，甘肅省500餘名拉卜楞寺的喇嘛上街要求獨立，警方對空鳴槍，並毆打示威群眾。
中國官方媒體在流血衝突爆發的第一天(14日)，表現出奇冷淡，官方新華社只以英文發布相關消息，中文通訊隻字未提，中國媒體更是全面噤聲。而新華社的英文通訊，也只輕描淡寫表示這只是「拉薩極少數人打、砸、搶、燒破壞活動」。 
 
否認對示威者開槍
然而昨天全球媒體大幅報導後，中國眼看紙包不住火，極其罕見地在新華社中文通訊中立即承認有10人在暴動中死亡，報導著重在不滿鎮壓的藏人燒警車、燒商店等「暴行」，仍否認對示威藏人開槍，也未提及坦克進駐等敏感細節。中國一般媒體雖被允許跟進，也全部口徑一致採用新華社通稿，並置放在極不起眼的版位。
1989年中國武力鎮壓西藏時，當時傳播工具未如今日發達，也沒有那麼多觀光客搭機、搭火車湧進西藏。官方在沒有多少影像證據下，指只有11人死亡，但藏人卻稱有300多人死亡。
如今交通、通訊科技的發展，顯然幫了示威藏人一個大忙，今非昔比，也迫使中國政府需要更謹慎地處理此次事件。
 
真相曝光
匿名「約翰」的目擊者提供給BBC拉薩的衝突畫面。

示威遊行
一名藏人學生用手機拍的甘肅喇嘛和藏人集結抗議情形。 
 
街頭大火
英文新聞網站Gangkyi.com也刊發民眾提供的拉薩街頭火災情景。

蘋果日報

同胞遭受暴力 在台藏人「心痛」

蘋果日報

拉薩傳百人死 坦克街頭戒嚴
北京通牒要求「暴動份子自首」

【大陸中心╱綜合外電報導】西藏拉薩市前天開始的暴動事件，昨中國官方坦承已有10人死亡，但西藏流亡政府接獲未經證實的消息卻指約有百人在衝突中喪生，與官方數字落差很大。來自拉薩的消息指動亂雖稍事平息，但拉薩街頭坦克與解放軍終日駐守，氣氛仍十分緊張。

部隊監控
大批裝甲車與武裝部隊昨天早上進駐拉薩市中心，強力控制暴動情況。法新社

昨天中國官方媒體開始報導拉薩事件，西藏自治區主席向巴平措指這是「達賴集團策劃的一起有計劃有預謀的分裂活動」，將堅決懲治，絕不讓破壞西藏和諧穩定的陰謀得逞。他並否認軍警在拉薩開槍、戒嚴。官方新華社將事件定位為「拉薩極少數人打、砸、搶、燒」的破壞活動。
法新社轉述昨早才從拉薩飛抵尼泊爾加德滿都機場的德國遊客法蘭斯的說法：「離開拉薩時我看到40車解放軍和36輛坦克開往市中心。」並表示拉薩所有街道都布滿軍警，許多中國商店遭縱火焚燒。目前當地警方正大規模搜捕參與暴動民眾。路透引用一名目擊者指出，看到一名警察橫屍街頭。 
 
四川也驚傳5人死亡
此外，當地更傳出自來水遭人刻意下毒的消息，不過中國官方已予以否認。抗議民眾原計劃抬屍遊行，但在軍警嚴管下未能成行。中國當局並在昨天發出最後通牒，要求暴動份子在周一午夜前投案自首。
而拉薩暴動也快速傳到鄰近地區，包括甘肅、四川、以及青海的藏人皆群起示威呼應。甘肅省夏河鎮更有高達4千多名藏人前天從拉卜楞寺出發，想進行遊行抗議，卻遭大批警方包圍制止，警方對空鳴槍，示威民眾遭毆打。西藏流亡政府表示，四川昨也爆發藏人示威，遭中國軍隊鎮壓，已有4至5人死亡。法新社也報導，甘肅喇嘛和藏人昨也再度發動新一輪示威，並遭警方以催淚瓦斯驅散。
總部設在倫敦的「解救西藏組織」引述拉薩居民表示，前天暴動至少有900名藏人參與示威，當局並調派上千名武裝部隊鎮壓暴亂。

死傷未波及港澳台人
新華社則稱有10名無辜群眾被活活燒死，多名警員嚴重燒傷，但死傷未波及港澳台及外國旅客。但位在印度達蘭薩拉的西藏流亡政府則表示，至少有100名藏人遭鎮壓的軍警射殺，另有許多示威群眾在鎮暴中受傷。
西藏武警總隊政委亢進忠昨也在北京否認開槍，並稱「拉薩出現戒嚴、喇嘛自殺及有人開槍的報導，全屬謠言。」他強調目前拉薩市一切正常。
西藏法院、檢查院與警局則在昨天發布聯合通告，要求參與暴動的群眾投案自首，並鼓勵民眾積極檢舉。

出動特警
為控制前天拉薩的暴動，中國當局出動特警持槍進入市中心鎮暴。法新社 

燒五星旗
拉薩的抗議民眾前天焚燒五星旗表達藏人憤怒。路透

警民對峙
甘肅夏河鎮前天有4千多名喇嘛手持西藏流亡政府的旗幟「雪山獅子旗」走上街頭示威，並與警方發生對峙。法新社

達賴疾呼
達賴喇嘛前天呼籲停止暴力，並希望中國盡快開啟對話解決西藏問題。

否認開槍
西藏自治區主席向巴平措昨在北京受訪時強力否認軍方開槍鎮壓。

中國對西藏重大鎮壓事件
◎1959/03/10 藏人為反抗中國政府強行實施社會主義統治，於拉薩發動武裝抗暴，但遭中國解放軍血腥鎮壓，至少8萬7000名藏人遭屠殺。達賴喇嘛在起義失敗後，3月17日帶領大批藏人流亡印度，並於達蘭薩拉成立西藏流亡政府。此後3月10日被稱為西藏人民起義日（抗暴日）。
◎1989/03/05~07 西藏大批喇嘛於拉薩街頭示威，中國當局第一天未採取行動，但第二天凌晨以衝鋒槍屠殺鎮暴，引發警民流血衝突。時任西藏自治區書記的胡錦濤在3月7日宣布戒嚴，還因此獲國家主席鄧小平賞識成為中共第四代接班人。事後官方稱11人死亡，但其他管道顯示約387死，721傷。
◎2008/03/10至今 為紀念抗暴日49周年，大批喇嘛走上拉薩街頭示威，遭警方以催淚瓦斯鎮暴。3月14日示威情勢升高，部分參與示威的藏人縱火焚燒警車與商店，警方開槍鎮壓。目前官方稱10人死亡，但西藏流亡政府表示有上百群眾喪生。
資料來源：《蘋果》資料室、綜合外電

Tibetans look at the Chinese riot police standing in formation at a Chinese army compound in Xiahe, Gansu Province, China, Sunday, March 16, 2008. On Saturday, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of Buddhist monks and other Tibetans after they marched from the historic Labrang monastery and smashed windows in the county police headquarters in Xiahe, witnesses said.(AP Photo/Andy Wong) (AP)

By CARA ANNA and TINI TRAN Associated Press Writers
TONGREN, China Mar 16, 2008 (AP)
Font Size
  
Protests spread from Tibet into three neighboring provinces Sunday as Tibetans defied a Chinese government crackdown, while the Dalai Lama decried what he called the "cultural genocide" taking place in his homeland.

Demonstrations widened to Tibetan communities in Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu provinces, forcing authorities to mobilize security forces across a broad expanse of western China.

In Qinghai province, riot police sent to prevent protests set off tensions when they took up positions outside a monastery in Tongren. Dozens of monks, defying a directive not to gather in groups, marched to a hill where they set off fireworks and burned incense in what one monk said was a protest, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.

In a sign that authorities were preparing for trouble, AP and other foreign journalists were ordered out of the Tibetan parts of Gansu and Qinghai provinces by police who told them it was for their "safety."

Meanwhile, police in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, searched buildings as a Monday deadline loomed for people who took part in a violent anti-Chinese uprising last week to surrender or face severe punishment.

Tibet's governor Champa Phuntsok said Monday that 13 civilians were killed and dozens were wounded in violence that broke out in Lhasa on Friday. China's state media said earlier that 10 civilians were killed.

Speaking from India, the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetans, called for an international investigation into China's crackdown on demonstrators in Lhasa, which his exiled government claims left 80 people dead.

"Whether intentionally or unintentionally, some kind of cultural genocide is taking place," the Dalai Lama said, referring to an influx of Chinese migration into Tibetan areas and restrictions on Buddhist practices — policies that have generated deep resentment among Tibetans.

Tensions also boiled over outside the county seat of Aba in Sichuan province when armed police tried to stop Tibetan monks from protesting, according to a witness who refused to give his name.

The witness said a policeman had been killed and three or four police vans had been set on fire. Eight bodies were brought to a nearby monastery while others reported that up to 30 protesters had been shot, according to activist groups the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy and the London-based Free Tibet Campaign. The claims could not be confirmed.

Sunday's demonstrations follow nearly a week of protests in Lhasa that escalated into violence Friday, with Tibetans attacking Chinese and torching their shops, in the longest and fiercest challenge to Chinese rule in nearly two decades.

Complicating Beijing's task, the spreading protests fall two weeks before China's celebrations for the Beijing Olympics kick off with the start of the torch relay, which will pass through Tibet.

Though many were small in scale, the widening Tibetan protests are forcing Beijing to pursue suppression while on the run, from town to town and province to province across its vast western region. Sunday's lockdown in Tongren required police imported from other towns, the locals said.

The Chinese government attempted to control what the public saw and heard about protests that erupted Friday. Access to YouTube.com, usually readily available in China, was blocked after videos appeared on the site Saturday showing foreign news reports about the Lhasa demonstrations, montages of photos, and scenes from Tibet-related protests abroad.

Television news reports by CNN and the BBC were periodically cut during the day, and the screens went black during a live speech by the Dalai Lama carried on the networks.

China's communist government had hoped Beijing's hosting of the Aug. 8-24 Olympics would boost its popularity at home as well as its image abroad. Instead the event already has attracted the scrutiny of China's human rights record.

Thubten Samphel, a spokesman for the Dalai Lama's government, said multiple people inside Tibet had counted at least 80 corpses since the violence broke out Friday. He did not know how many of the bodies were protesters. The figures could not be independently verified because China restricts foreign media access to Tibet.

In Lhasa, hundreds of armed police and soldiers patrolled the streets on Sunday. Hong Kong Cable TV reported some 200 military vehicles, carrying 40 to 60 armed soldiers each, drove into the city center.

Footage showed the streets were mostly empty other than the security forces. Messages on loudspeakers warned residents to "discern between enemies and friends, maintain order" and "have a clear stand to oppose violence, maintain stability."

James Miles, a BBC correspondent in Lhasa, said troops carrying automatic rifles were "letting off the occasional shot." He said people were scared to come out of their homes for fear of being hit by a bullet.

Westerners who were told to leave Lhasa and arrived by plane in the city of Chengdu said they heard gunshots and explosions throughout Saturday and overnight.

"The worst day was yesterday. It was completely chaotic. There was running and screaming in the street," said Gerald Scott Flint, director of the medical aid group Volunteer Medics Worldwide, who had been in Lhasa four days. Flint said he could see fires burning six or more blocks away.

Tashi Wangdi, president of the Office of Tibet that represents the Dalai Lama in New York, called the departure of tourists worrisome.

"I think there will be total blackout of information to the outside world," he said. "Our worry is they will be more brutal and will use more force now."

The unrest in Tibet began March 10 on the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule of the region. Tibet was effectively independent for decades before communist troops entered in 1950.

The Tibetan communities living far outside what China calls modern Tibet are parts of former provinces of past Tibetan kingdoms, and many inhabitants still revere the Dalai Lama.

"We want freedom. We want the Dalai Lama to come back to this land," said a monk from Rongwo in Tongren. The monks display his pictures, though they have been ordered to remove them.

Inspired by the protests in Lhasa, monks and Tibetans in the town of Xiahe in Gansu province staged two days of protests, one peaceful in which they raised Tibetan national flags, the other in which government offices were smashed and police tear-gassed the crowd of more than 1,000.

Authorities clamped a curfew on Xiahe overnight. Patrols of riot police, in black uniforms, helmets and flak jackets, and armed police in green uniforms carrying batons marched through the town Sunday in groups of 10 and 20.

Smaller protests were reported in two other nearby towns, witnesses said, in both cases drawing truckloads of armed police.

In the Gansu provincial capital of Lanzhou, more than 100 Tibetan students staged a sit-down protest on a playing field at Northwest Minorities University, according to the activist group Free Tibet.

———

Tini Tran reported from Beijing. Associated Press writers David Wivell in Xiahe and Carley Petesch in New York contributed to this report.

———

On the Net:

International Campaign for Tibet: http://www.savetibet.org

Chinese official news agency (in English): http://www.chinaview.cn

Tibet Daily: http://www.tibetdaily.com

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

坦克鎮壓西藏暴動 數人喪生

【大陸中心】西藏首府拉薩市昨天爆發嚴重暴亂，中國解放軍出動坦克開進布達拉宮前廣場，鎮壓已持續一個星期的藏人示威，結果引發抗議群眾火燒警車、縱火燒商店的暴亂。據法新社引述拉薩市急救中心官員昨晚的說法，此次抗議活動中，有數人喪生，自由亞洲電台亦轉述目擊者說法，稱在拉薩舊城區內街上目睹兩具屍體。流亡印度的藏人精神領袖達賴喇嘛表示希望中國領導人停止武力，正視藏人長期累積的憤怒情緒，並盡快與藏人展開對話，也呼籲藏族同胞停止暴力。而包括美國總統布希與歐盟皆同聲譴責中國的武力鎮壓，呼籲中國克制。

西藏當局出動大批軍警在拉薩鎮壓示威群眾，不滿的民眾向載著鎮暴軍警的車輛投擲石塊。法新社



西藏拉薩市中心大昭寺前的八廓街上，可見到遭抗議群眾縱火焚燒的車輛及散落的抗議布條。路透

抗議打壓
達賴喇嘛自1959年因中國血腥鎮壓而被迫逃離西藏並組成流亡政府後，多年來一直採用和平方式爭取解決西藏問題的機會，卻仍不斷遭到中國當局的抹黑與打壓。此次西藏所爆發近20年來最嚴重的武裝暴力衝突，顯示藏人欲藉由北京奧運的機會發出聲音，爭取更多的權利與尊嚴。 


中國軍隊已包圍西藏拉薩三大寺廟，情勢緊張。圖為昨天甘肅夏河拉卜楞寺藏人從佛寺典禮中離開。法新社

當局輕忽西藏妥協
印度主流媒體《印度快報》社論稱，近來在西藏首府拉薩市和鄰近地區發生的一連串藏人示威活動，打破了近20年來「西藏與中國」之間的寧靜狀態，即便中國政府有意淡化事件的嚴重狀態，並聲稱這只是「少數份子」的破壞活動，但實際上，西藏地區所有的主要寺廟都參與了這次抗爭活動。
在過去5年中，達賴喇嘛先後表達了多次軟化和妥協的立場，包括明確表明藏人尋求的是自治而非獨立，並承諾西藏未來仍是屬於中國的一部分。但中國當局的輕忽表現，並拒絕回應達賴喇嘛表現的誠意，已讓大部分藏人放棄對西藏問題能有合理解決的希望。在別無選擇之下，藏人惟有利用稍縱即逝的短暫時機，在8月北京奧運之前，發出他們的聲音，爭取國際社會的關注。
大陸中心


CNN   March 17, 2008 -- Updated 2305 GMT (0705 HKT)

American film crew kept from China protests

(CNN) -- Chinese authorities sequestered an American film crew in their hotel rooms so they would not see anti-government protests outside a Buddhist temple last week, a member of the crew said.

Spence Palermo, an American working on a freelance documentary about how China is changing, said his crew was prevented from returning to the centuries-old Labrang Monastery in Xiahe, China, after spending several days filming inside the complex.

Newsweek magazine reported Monday that as many as 4,000 monks and laypersons clashed with police near the monastery Friday and Saturday. The report said they marched to Xiahe "where they pelted government offices and police vehicles with rocks and debris."

The Xiahe protests were part of a wave of anti-Chinese protests centered in nearby Tibet, an autonomous province of China taken over by the Communist government in Beijing almost 60 years ago.

According to the U.S. State Department, Beijing's "repressive social and political controls continued to limit the fundamental freedoms of Tibetans and risked undermining Tibet's unique cultural, religious, and linguistic heritage."

The Labrang Monastery is one of six important to the Yellow Hat Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, according to the China Tibet Information Center.

Palermo, from Eugene, Oregon, said Chinese officials prevented his group from returning to the Labrang Monastery on Friday, sending them instead to another monastery 40 miles away.

When they returned to Xiahe Friday evening, he said, they were confined to their hotel, watched over constantly, and denied Internet access.

But what troubled Palermo the most, he said, was "not knowing what was happening to the wonderful monks who had welcomed us so heartily into their incredible world and with whom we had bonded with over the last couple of days."

The worry was compounded on Saturday morning, he said, when he looked outside his hotel room and saw a column of Chinese military vehicles heading toward the monastery.

"All of the trucks were filled with soldiers in riot gear," Palermo said.

The sight of the military column, which he estimated contained 400 soldiers, gave him a "feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach," he said.

"Suddenly there was a pounding on the [hotel room] door and a very irate and panicky official started grabbing my gear and hustling me down to the lobby, saying that we had to leave immediately," Palermo said.

As they were taken to another temple 40 miles away, the film crew learned through cell phone calls and messages about the anti-government protests in Tibet and nearby areas, like Xiahe, in China's Gansu province.

Later, their Chinese government minders told them they could not return to their Xiahe hotel and that all their belongings would be gathered and brought to them in Lanzhou, about a five-hour drive away.

"Apparently the protests had spread through the whole town and our hotel -- state-run of course -- had been targeted, all of the windows smashed out and fires burning on the street," Palermo said.

As they were being driven away from the Xiahe area, Palermo said, they encountered a convoy of 20 Chinese military trucks headed toward Xiahe.

"Most of them were loaded with Chinese soldiers, but ... about half of the trucks were empty," he said. "All I could think of was that they would soon be filled with the amazing, wonderful, kind and happy [Labrang Monastery] monks who would most likely be taken away to who knows where." 


Monks and protesters face off with police in a street in Xiahe, China, on Friday.


Spence Palermo and a monk at the Labrang Monastery talk last week.

軍警拉薩開槍 藏人怒燒車
坦克開抵布達拉宮廣場 實施宵禁緊張升高

蘋果日報

嚴重侵人權榜 中國除名
美公布報告 無視中國迎奧虐囚 被批「開倒車」 

【國際中心╱綜合報導】美國國務院前天公布2007全球各國人權報告，往年被列入侵害人權最嚴重國家的中國，今年脫離黑名單。報告並未解釋中國脫離黑名單的原因，僅強調中國整體人權紀錄仍然不佳。人權團體抨擊此舉是開倒車，因為中國為迎接奧運，戕害人權的狀況較以往有過之而無不及。

美國
美國務院自1977年起每年發表各國人權報告，詳列美國以外各國人權狀況，但報告評價並不會影響華府與該國的外交關係。中國在2005及2006年均與北韓等國同列10大侵害人權最嚴重國家，今年則改列「變化中的獨裁國家」。報告強調中國正經歷經濟改革，但「並未進行民主政治改革」。2007侵害人權最嚴重10國黑名單中除北韓、緬甸外，新增敘利亞、烏茲別克及蘇丹三國。

台灣助拍長征紀錄片

行動聲援
面對藏人強力爭取人權的呼聲，台灣民間團體以行動直接聲援，已派出由台灣人組成的劇組人員到達印度達蘭薩拉，協助藏人拍攝「返鄉長征」紀錄片。

拉薩鎮壓 捕71藏人 武警動粗 
群眾哭喊 返鄉長征 印度封殺 

【大陸中心╱綜合外電報導】繼上千名藏人前天在尼泊爾示威，與警方發生流血衝突後，中國西藏拉薩市也傳出上百名示威藏人遭武裝警察毆打。消息指當地警方派出20輛大型警車，阻止喇嘛進入拉薩市中心抗議，至少有71人遭逮捕。此外，前天在印度發起「返鄉長征」活動的流亡藏人，雖遭印度官方強力禁止，但該組織表示：「我們已準備好為此獻出生命，沒有任何警力能阻止我們。」

自由亞洲電台報導，為了紀念西藏對抗中國武裝血腥鎮壓49周年，全球各地的流亡藏人從前天開始紛紛發起各種示威活動。但西藏自治區首府拉薩市大批示威藏人卻遭西藏武裝警察暴力鎮壓，一名不願透露姓名的目擊者稱：「10多名藏人揮舞西藏的旗幟，並散發傳單。後來武裝警察來了，他們拘捕和毆打了抗議的人，很多圍觀的人都在哭和喊叫。」
另有300多名欲遊行10公里至拉薩市中心示威的哲蚌寺喇嘛，則遭警方出動的20輛大型警車與大批武裝警察阻攔，至少有71人被逮捕。抗議事件後，拉薩市中心的八廓街市場遭到關閉。西藏自治區主席向巴平措昨日雖承認有抗議事件，但否認有人遭逮捕。他說：「這真的沒有什麼，就帶走幾個人問一問，很快就釋放了」。 

「準備奉獻生命」
此外，預計在北京奧運開幕日前，從印度達蘭薩拉走回西藏的流亡藏人「返鄉長征」活動前天遭印度官方禁止。印度北部坎格拉區警察局長弗吉爾表示，「我們已發布限制令，要求參與長征者不得離開坎格拉區，如違令將採取一切必要措施。」但活動領導者之一丹真宗智昨天指活動仍將和平進行，長征者周三（今天）就會抵達坎格拉區。他說：「我們已準備好面對各種阻礙，許多人已準備奉獻生命。」
中國外交部發言人秦剛昨在記者會上批評達賴，指他繼續歪曲事實，甚至將西藏問題同北京奧運會掛鉤的企圖是不明智的。 

街頭對峙 尼泊爾
在尼泊爾街頭，前天有上千名爭取西藏獨立的示威群眾與警方對峙。 

舉牌抗議 美國
美國舊金山市政府外，支持西藏獨立的抗議群眾進行示威。

藏民全球連線抗議情況
註：另有美國紐約、荷蘭海牙、捷克布拉格等各國藏人至當地中國大使館進行抗議
資料來源：綜合外電 

燭光紀念 印度

印度加爾各答大批民眾手持蠟燭，紀念中國對西藏血腥鎮壓事件49周年。路透

BEIJING: Chinese police used tear gas to disperse several hundred Tibetan Buddhist monks who gathered for a second day of protests near the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, U.S. government-funded Radio Free Asia reported Wednesday.

More than 1,000 armed police and security personnel surrounded an estimated 500 to 600 monks from the Sera monastery Tuesday as they marched near a police station, and police fired tear gas into the crowd, one witness told the RFA's Tibetan service.

"There were probably a couple of thousand armed police, (public security bureau) personnel, wearing different uniforms. Police fired tear gas into the crowd," the unidentified witness said.

The monks, who had been on their way to demand the release of fellow monks detained in protests Monday, shouted "We want freedom," "We want an independent Tibet!" and "Free our people or we won't go back!" according to other unidentified witnesses.

It was difficult to get independent corroboration of the event.

A woman who answered the phone at the public security bureau in Lhasa denied knowledge of the incident. At the local government office, a man who identified himself as Bianba said he was aware that an incident took place Tuesday, but would not give further details.

The latest incident came a day after Buddhist monks staged two major protests in a bold, public challenge to China's rule, using the anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Beijing rule in 1959.

Several hundred monks from the Drepung monastery began their march Monday afternoon, splitting into three groups heading in different directions, an eyewitness monk told the Free Tibet Campaign, another advocacy group.

One group shouted "Free Tibet" as they walked until they were broken up at a checkpoint and dragged away from each other by police, he said. Some of the monks were arrested while those who were not returned to the monastery around midnight, he said.

RFA also reported gunshots were heard overnight from the direction of the monastery, which remains blocked off by police.

Champa Phuntsok, the head of the Tibetan regional government, confirmed Tuesday authorities briefly detained some monks from Drepung monastery, but said they were released shortly afterward after being questioned and "counseled."

Radio Free Asia and phayul.com Web site, which is run by Tibetan exiles, said as many as 71 people, mostly monks, were detained following the Monday protests.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang also confirmed Tuesday there had been protests. "Some ignorant monks in Lhasa abetted by a small handful of people did some illegal things that can challenge the social stability," he told a news conference.

Monks in two more monasteries in northwestern Qinghai province — the Lutsang monastery and Ditsa monastery — also staged protests on Monday, RFA said, quoting "sources." Police surrounded the Ditsa monastery during the protest but did not intervene or detain anyone.

The protests in Tibet came as several hundred Tibetan exiles defied police orders against a march to Tibet from Dharmsala, India, where their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has presided over a government-in-exile since the abortive 1959 uprising.

The march aimed to protest the Beijing Olympics. Indian police said it violated an agreement between New Delhi and the Tibetan government-in-exile.

The march has not been publicly endorsed by either the exile government or the Dalai Lama, who at a separate event in India accused China of "unimaginable and gross violations of human rights" in the Himalayan region.