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Tibet protests spread
16/03/2008 16:08 - (SA)
Beijing - Violence spilled over from Tibet into neighbouring provinces on Sunday as Tibetans defied a Chinese government crackdown and the Dalai Lama warned that the area faced "cultural genocide" and appealed to the world for help.
Supporters of the Dalai Lama said 80 people had been killed during the protests in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, and at least another 72 injured. It was the latest negative publicity for China ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August.
Protests were reported in Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu provinces. All are home to Tibetan populations.
The demonstrations came after five days of protests in Lhasa escalated into violence on Friday, with Buddhist monks and others torching police cars and shops in the fiercest challenge to Beijing's rule over the region in nearly two decades. Re-education programmes
"Whether intentionally or unintentionally, some kind of cultural genocide is taking place," the Dalai Lama said, referring to China's policy of encouraging the ethnic Han majority to migrate to the region, as well as restrictions on Buddhist temples and re-education programmes for monks.
He told reporters in Dharmsala, the north Indian town where Tibet's self-declared government-in-exile is based, that an international body should investigate the government's crackdown on the protests in Lhasa.
Hong Kong Cable TV said about 200 military vehicles, each carrying dozens of armed soldiers, drove into the centre of Lhasa on Sunday.
The footage showed streets that were mostly empty except for armoured and military vehicles patrolling and soldiers searching buildings. International criticism mild
Loudspeakers on the streets repeatedly broadcast slogans urging residents to "discern between enemies and friends, maintain order".
International criticism of the crackdown in Tibet has so far been mild, with no threats of an Olympic boycott or other sanctions.
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said he opposed an Olympic boycott over Tibet.
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