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Tibetan exiles break into Chinese embassy in India: police
New Delhi (AFP) March 21, 2008 Tibetan exiles broke into the Chinese embassy complex in New Delhi on Friday after making repeated failed bids since launching their pro-independence protests 12 days ago, police said. About 50 Tibetans draped in bright yellow, red and blue Tibetan flags sneaked past police cordons and rushed towards the walls of the compound in the diplomatic Chanakyapuri district. About 15 of the protesters, screaming "Free Tibet," managed to scale the high railings and storm the complex, police said. They were wrestled to the ground after they reached a cultural centre within the sprawling embassy complex, police added. The demonstrators "were overpowered (by Indian police and Chinese security men) and arrested," said one police officer, who asked not to be named. The protesters shouted anti-Chinese slogans as they were dragged into police vans. Another Indian officer said "there were injuries on both sides" as security forces subdued the protesters but could give no details. Previous attempts by Tibetan exiles to enter Chinese diplomatic missions in India since the unrest erupted on March 10 had been thwarted by Indian police. The Tibetans posed as tourists in their bid to reach the heavily guarded embassy, the activists said. "We wanted to show the Chinese what they are doing in (Tibet's capital) Lhasa is wrong and they cannot get away with it," said Dorjee Dhondup, vice president of the pro-independence Tibetan Youth Congress, which is spearheading the anti-Chinese unrest in India. The storming of the embassy came after China's envoy to India, Zhang Yan, attacked statements criticising China's crackdown in Tibet by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Dharamshala, the Indian mountain town which is home to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. "We oppose any country, any organisation, any person interfering in China's internal affairs," Zhang said. There was no immediate reaction to the security breach from Chinese authorities. Police also had no immediate comment on how the security lapse occurred. India, which has given sanctuary to the self-exiled Dalai Lama, has consistently insisted that Tibetan exiles not use Indian soil as a springboard for their anti-China political campaign. India is host to the world's largest Tibetan refugee population who fled their homeland along with the Dalai Lama in 1959 following an abortive anti-Chinese uprising. It has about 100,000 exiles, many of whom are second or third-generation. The Indian government said earlier this month it "does not permit Tibetans to engage in anti-China political activities in India" and that "any activity which causes disruption would be dealt with in accordance" with Indian law. The embassy attack came ahead of a scheduled visit by the Dalai Lama to the Indian capital later on Friday. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links China News from SinoDaily.com
Chinese TV screens Tibet riot special amid foreign pressure
Beijing (AFP) March 20, 2008China on Thursday broadcast a special report on the Tibet violence showing monks and other rioters marauding through Lhasa as it continued to push its claim that the Dalai Lama was behind the unrest. |
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