Anti-China Protests Flare in Tibet City
Anti-Chinese protests erupted in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa on Monday, with police using tear gas and rioters stoning government buildings.
An unconfirmed report said one person was killed. A Lhasa police spokesman said today that eight or nine policemen were injured, some seriously.
Some Tibetans were arrested, and police confiscated film from foreigners who witnessed the protests, tourists in Lhasa said.
The clash was preceded by a peaceful protest in the heart of the old quarter of the city, foreign tourists said. Estimates of the number of demonstrators ranged from about 500 to more than 2,000.
It was not clear which came first, the use of tear gas by police or the attacks on government buildings, but some reports indicated the violence erupted after police used the tear gas.
It was the worst outbreak of violence in Lhasa since police opened fire on pro-independence demonstrators there in early 1989. That clash, which left at least 16 people dead, was one in a series of suppressed protests that began in the fall of 1987.
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