International Herald Tribune

Tibetans clash with Chinese police in second city

By Jim Yardley
Sunday, March 16, 2008

BEIJING: Thousands of Buddhist monks and other Tibetans clashed with the
riot police in a second Chinese city on Saturday, while the authorities
said they had regained control of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, a day
after a rampaging mob ransacked shops and set fire to cars and
storefronts in a deadly riot.

Conflicting reports emerged about the violence in Lhasa on Friday. The
Chinese authorities denied that they had fired on protesters there, but
Tibetan leaders in India told news agencies on Saturday that they had
confirmed that 30 Tibetans had died and that they had unconfirmed
reports that put the number at more than 100.

Demonstrations erupted for the second consecutive day in the city of
Xiahe in Gansu Province, where an estimated 4,000 Tibetans gathered near
the Labrang Monastery. Local monks held a smaller protest on Friday, but
the confrontation escalated Saturday afternoon, according to witnesses
and Tibetans in India who spoke with protesters by telephone.