Chinese forces on alert for anniversary
Authorities in Tibet and restive parts of western China were on heightened alert today for possible unrest on the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule and the Dalai Lama’s flight from Tibet.
Residents and businesses in the regional capital of Lhasa reported seeing increased patrols of armed police throughout the city.
“There are more paramilitary police in the streets. They’re at bus stations, road intersections, even small alleys,” said a staffer at the West Tour Go tourism agency in the capital, who declined to give his name.
Calling it a sensitive time, he said the stepped up security “actually makes me feel safer. The police will get rid of any small riots”.
Photos taken on the eve of the anniversary showed squads of paramilitary police carrying automatic rifles across their chests patrolling the streets around the Jokhang temple, Tibetan Buddhism’s holiest shrine.
Beijing has sought to head off trouble on the anniversary that marks the start of the 1959 abortive Tibetan revolt against Chinese rule.
A peaceful commemoration last year by monks in Lhasa, Tibet’s regional capital, erupted into rioting against Chinese rule four days later and spread to surrounding provinces – the most sustained and violent demonstrations by Tibetans in decades.
