China increases police presence in Tibet town

updated 4:45 p.m. ET Nov. 24, 2008

XIAHE, China - Chinese paramilitary police with riot shields and batons abruptly took up posts Monday on the main street of this Tibetan town, disrupting the bustle of Buddhist pilgrims in a reminder of China's determined control of the region.

With some Tibetans pushing harder against Chinese rule, the communist government is determined to pacify the area.

The show of force Monday was meant to deter unrest while a local court sentenced a group of Tibetans for taking part in large anti-government protests in March in Xiahe, a small town abutting a sprawling complex of golden-roofed temples.

Though the verdicts were not publicly announced, the trial also seemed timed to answer the complaints of the Dalai Lama and other exiled leaders meeting in India over the weekend that Tibetans' patience with China's domination was thinning.

Seven months after Tibetans across western China exploded in the largest uprising against Chinese rule in nearly 50 years, the authoritarian government is adjusting tactics. Police checkpoints and guard posts in place for months are suddenly dismantled, only to reappear without warning days later.

"We are in the grip of the Communist Party. Tibet is occupied. The Dalai Lama has fled to India. My heart is sad," said a monk who has studied at Xiahe's Labrang monastery for 15 years and declined to give his name for fear of government reprisals.

On a spare altar in his small room was a framed portrait of the Dalai Lama.

Riot squads
Monday's police action in Xiahe came after several weeks in which riot squads had rarely been seen on the streets, residents said.

Helmeted police with truncheons and six-foot-long poles stood outside the courthouse and government buildings. At a checkpoint with sandbags chest high on a bridge, uniformed officers studied identification papers and stopped all but a few dozen vehicles from entering the one-street town.

On high-altitude grasslands 90 miles to the south, the 200-year-old Xicang monastery, site of a violent demonstration in March, was open again for visitors, but tense. Senior clerics finished leading Sunday midday teachings in the main hall and immediately shuffled to another meeting — a rollout of a new government-ordered study session.

About 90 monks sat on the cold stone courtyard. In front of them hung a red banner with white Tibetan and Chinese writing: "Work Meeting for the Second Phase of Xicang Monastery's Rule of Law Propaganda Education Campaign."

Such mandatory campaigns — which stress that religion must never veer into political action — have been used repeatedly to keep the clergy in line.

Heavy hand
Beijing maintains the Dalai Lama is promoting secession, not reconciliation, and that the government is bringing economic development to an impoverished area, while preserving Tibet's culture and religion.

But the communist leadership's heavy hand over Tibet and disregard for the Dalai Lama is adding to the gloom of Tibetans in China and in exile.

Though they number only 5 million, Tibetans are spread across a quarter of China and remain loyal to the Dalai Lama, a popular international figure who gives their cause a global impact.

After the weeklong meeting called to discuss a so-far failed policy of rapprochement with China after 50 years in exile, the Dalai Lama and other exiled leaders said they would maintain their push for genuine autonomy with China.

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