Fending off mounting global pressure, China on Monday said it had shown "maximum restraint" without using lethal force to quell the fiercest monks-led pro-independence protests in two decades in Tibetan capital Lhasa last week which claimed at least 13 lives.
Beijing, at the same time, vowed to deal "harshly" with protesters who committed "serious crimes", as the midnight tonight deadline for surrender to rioters neared amidst increasing international calls to Beijing, the host of the Olympic Games in August to exercise restraint.
"We showed maximum restraint. We did not use lethal weapons. No guns were used. We only used tear gas and water canons," Tibet Autonomous Regional Government Chairman Qiangba Puncog told a news conference, as he singled out the "Dalai clique", groups associated with Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, for violence that left at least 13 people dead and dozens injured.
"Thirteen innocent civilians were either hacked or burnt to death," he said, amidst reports that the protests by monks had spilled into neighbouring areas, but the top Tibetan official insisted he was not aware of it.
The Tibetan government in exile had put the death toll in the unrest at about 80.
Qiangba dismissed the higher toll figures of about "35 to 70 to 80 deaths" as baseless.
China, already under global watch over its human rights record and annoyed over attempts to link it with the Olympics, has come under a closer scrutiny ahead of the Games in Beijing from August 8 to 24, in the aftermath of the convulsions in Tibet.
The central government had made it clear to police to perform their duties in "a civilised manner" and in accordance with the law, Qiangba said.
I can tell you with full responsibility that the guns were not used at all," Qiangba said and even denied the People's Liberation Army (PLA) was involved to tackle the riots.
"It is only yesterday and today that the PLA has been used to clean up the roads and maintain public order," he said.
Armoured vehicles and armed policemen with their overwhelming presence kept a close watch in the riot-scarred Lhasa to thwart any trouble.
Qiangba said the situation in Lhasa was normal today.
Tibet came under tighter control as the entry of foreigners to the Himalayan region was prohibited by the authorities, citing "safety concerns." The tourists were also asked to leave.
The regional government of Tibet has suspended handling the application of foreigners to travel to Tibet for "safety concerns," a local official said.
More than 20 foreign tourists had left Tibet safely with the help of the local government, Ju Jianhua, Director with the region's foreign affairs office, was quoted as saying by the official news agency.
The local civil aviation, railway and highway departments would facilitate foreign travelers who want to leave, the official said.
Xinhua said schools reopened today as Lhasa was gradually returning to normal.
"All our teachers and students came to school, except a dozen students, because some roads damaged by the rioters are waiting to be cleared," it quoted a teacher of a primary school as saying.
Wang Mu, a students driven to the school by his father, said, "I dare not to go to school, as I watched the rioters on the TV. It is so dreadful."
The deadline set by the government for those involved in anti-China protests to surrender ends midnight tonight.
Qiangba said leniency would be shown to those who turn in and more to those who provide information also. But, "we will deal harshly with those who have committed serious crimes."
The protests in Lhasa began early last week to mark the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule with an unspecified number of monks arrested before the outburst of violence on Friday with marauding mobs taking control of the streets.
Qiangba said dozens of policemen and 61 armed policemen were injured, six seriously, and the rioters set ablaze more than 300 places, including residential houses and 214 shops, and smashed and burned 56 vehicles in violence which was "premeditated, incited and organised" by the Dalai clique.
In two "extremely brutal" cases, the marauding mobs poured gasoline on a man and burnt him and in another a police officer was beaten until he slipped into coma after which the rioters "cut out a piece of flesh as big as fist from his buttock," he said.
The banks, schools, telecommunication services and offices of the state-run Xinhua news agency and Tibet Daily were also attacked, he said.
The violence was meticulously planned and organised "by these people in collusion with inside and outside forces," he said.
He also said three persons jumped off a building while resisting the arrest by police but made no mention about their fate.
Source: DDNEWS
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