Demonstrations turn violent in Tibet

Demonstrations have turned violent in the Tibetan capital city of Lhasa as hundreds of people took to the streets to protest against Chinese rule.

Peaceful street marches by Tibetan Buddhist monks over past days gave way to the biggest protests in the region for two decades.

Angry crowds of hundreds confronted anti-riot police in the remote region - testing China's rule just as it readies for the Olympic Games.

China said the protests were "organised, premeditated and masterminded" by the "Dalai clique" and vowed to restore control. Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has called on China not to use "brute force" against his people.

"Now it's very chaotic outside," an ethnic Tibetan resident said by telephone. "People have been burning cars and motorbikes and buses. There is smoke everywhere and they have been throwing rocks and breaking windows. We're scared."

Radio Free Asia said Chinese police fired on protesters, killing at least two. Another source said two Tibetans were shot dead near the Ramoche Monastery near Lhasa. The deaths could not be further verified.

Earlier, there were reports that more than ten monks had been arrested.

The International Campaign for Tibet said it strongly condemned the "imposition of martial law", though there was no word from China that martial law had been imposed.

The Chinese government's first public reaction suggested a harsh response may come. An official said: "The violence, involving beating, smashing, looting and burning, has disrupted the public order, jeopardised people's lives and property.

"The plots by the very few people against the stability and harmony of Tibet run counter to the will of the people and are doomed to fail. He added that the government was "fully capable of maintaining social stability" in the region.

Residents near the Jokhang temple in old Lhasa said they had seen lines of anti-riot police, but none spoke of gunfire. "We are waiting to see what will happen tomorrow," said an ethnic Tibetan woman. "It could get much worse."

Up to 400 protesters gathered around the market near the Jokhang temple and were confronted by about 1,000 police, according to the Free Tibet Campaign in London.

An ethnic Tibetan resident said some protesters shouted for independence from China. "It's no longer just the monks. Now they have been joined by lots of residents," the man said.

Elsewhere, hundreds of monks from the Labrang monastery in the northwestern province of Gansu also led a march through the town of Xiahe, the Free Tibet Campaign said.

The eruption of anger comes despite Beijing's repeated claims that the Tibetan people are grateful for improved lives and it threatens to stain preparations for the Olympics in August, when the government hopes to show off national prosperity and harmony.

"These protests are a manifestation of the deep-rooted resentment of the Tibetan people under the present governance," the Dalai Lama said in a statement.

"I therefore appeal to the Chinese leadership to stop using force and address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people through dialogue with the Tibetan people."

The region has been periodically restive since Chinese troops invaded in 1950. Nine years later, the Dalai Lama staged a failed uprising against Chinese rule and fled into exile in India.

China imposed martial law in Tibet in 1989, the same year as the Tiananmen Square protests were crushed in Beijing, to quell anti-Chinese demonstrations.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.