WORLD : China to End Lhasa Martial Law
Chinese authorities announced today that they are ending martial law in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa at midnight, nearly 14 months after imposing it to quell nationalist rioting.
“In view of the fact that the situation in the city of Lhasa has become stable and social order has returned to normal, the task of enforcing martial law in the city has been successfully fulfilled,” said a Cabinet order signed today by Premier Li Peng.
The decision was announced by the official Xinhua News Agency, which also ran a commentary indicating China has no intention of easing up on security in the region.
“Separatists on both sides of the border . . . are still plotting to continue their separatist and destructive activities. We absolutely cannot relax our vigilance,” it said.
Martial law was imposed March 8, 1989, after three days of the bloodiest rioting there since a failed 1959 uprising.
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