Monks storm briefing, accuse China of lying

Lhasa remains scarred by the rioting that spread over two days, with at least 22 people dead by official count. Rows of shops in and near the old Tibetan quarter were burned-out shells after being torched by rioters. The unrest has left Tibetans angry and shook the confidence of many Chinese who migrated to Lhasa for work.

"Ethnic unity? This was an ethnic conflict," said one middle-aged Tibetan in a shop selling yak butter in the Old City of Lhasa.

Shrine to riot victims
The Chinese-owned Yishion clothes shop where five young women burned to death when rioters set fire to the two-story building has become a shrine. Yellow flowers and paper funerary wreaths surrounded photos of the victims.

Li Kunjian and his wife left the central city of Chongqing a year ago and, with a $17,200 bank loan, set up a small grocery store on the outskirts of Lhasa — only to see it burned by more than 100 rampaging Tibetans.

"We never thought this kind of thing would happen and leave us with nothing," said Li, now living at a government aid center.

The Dalai Lama said Thursday that he was in touch with "friends" to try to start a dialogue with Chinese officials.

"I think this is time the Chinese government and Chinese officials, I think, must accept the reality," he said in New Delhi. "Now in any case we are (in the) 21st century, pretending or lies cannot work."

Uncompromising position
In Lhasa, the Chinese-installed vice governor, however, signaled an uncompromising line toward protesters and the Dalai Lama. He denied the March 10 protests by monks were connected with the riots four days later, and he vowed to punish those who took part, saying 414 were in custody. Only 10 of the 53 most wanted have been detained, however.

But he blamed the unrest on the Dalai Lama and other exile groups such as the Tibetan Youth Congress, which has challenged the spiritual leader's policy of nonviolence.

"The Dalai clique has been bent on separating China, and this time this incident was caused by separatist forces both inside and outside China acting in collusion," Baima Chilin said at a testy news conference. When asked for proof, he offered none but said it would be released in time.

As for the monks at Jokhang, Baima Chilin said they had previously been confined to the monastery because some had taken part in the protests. But he promised they would not be punished for their outburst.

"We will never do anything to them. We will never detain anyone you met on the streets of Lhasa. I don't think any government would do such a thing," he said.

State TV, which has widely covered the foreign journalists' tour, showed the Jokhang visit on its evening newscast, but not the monks' outburst.

Rioters hit Chinese interests
Almost none of the business owners and managers the foreign journalists were taken to interview would say why their establishments were targeted by rioters. Many of the burned buildings were linked to the government or run by Chinese or Chinese Muslims, who have dominated commerce.

"We were attacked because we're the Bank of China and we're a sponsor of this year's Beijing Olympics," said manager Han Hongjun, whose branch was a charred hulk except for a sign of the Olympic mascots. "Perhaps they wanted money too."

Many of the interviews raised more questions than they answered. At the Tibet Emergency Center, where many injured were brought, director Wang Shoubi said the hospital made no "distinction whether they were criminals or not." Asked if they treated any rioters, she said, "Up to now, no."

After the last violent uprising in Lhasa in 1989, Tibetans claimed many more Tibetans died than the official toll of 16 because families feared punishment if participants went to hospitals.

Injured troops at the People's Armed Police Tibet Hospital said they confronted rioters with no weapons, batons or shields, even though the riot occurred four days after protests began, reinforcing concerns that commanders bungled the operation.

"The people who attacked me weren't real Tibetans, not ordinary Tibetan people," said Wang Xinmao, 45, with lines of stitches above his eyes from where he had been hit with stones. He said an elderly Tibetan woman saved him, adding: "This shows that the Chinese and Tibetans have no contradictions."

At a detention center, reporters interviewed Tibetan prisoners as police stood by and interpreted into Mandarin.

"All my friends were setting fires so I joined them," said 25-year-old said Luoya, who like many Tibetans uses one name. He was charged with burning down a motorcycle shop east of Lhasa in an incident widely reported in Chinese media.

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