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I found two reports on the same subject, one by CNN, and one by Sydney Morning Herald. CNN says 100 people killed (according to unconfirmed source in India), while Sydney SMH says dozens injured.
Ironically, CNN used the same photo, but with parts cut off, that showed up in SMH's news.
Question is, are we looking at some sort of media bias on Tibet? I understand news were to capture people's imaginations, but is it usual to use unconfirmed Indian source in a big news title report as a matter of factly, or is the Aus more pro China than CNN.
Here is CNN report ..
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapc...ref=newssearchReport: 100 dead in Tibet violence
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Violent protests in the Tibetan capital Lhasa against Chinese rule have left at least 100 people dead, according to unconfirmed reports from exiles in India, while official media put the death toll at 10.
Tibetans throw stones at army vehicles as a car burns on a street in the capital Lhasa.
1 of 3 The protests, sparked by the anniversary of the failed 1959 uprising that sent Tibet's Dalai Lama into exile, are the latest embarrassment to hit 2008 Olympic-host China, which has attracted international criticism over its human rights record.
Quoting the Tibetan government, China's state-run Xinhua news agency said 10 were killed in Lhasa Friday after police blocked a march by monks, sparking the violence.
"The victims are all innocent civilians, and they have been burnt to death," an official with the regional government told Xinhua.
Tibetan exiles in India meanhwile cited unconfirmed reports that at least 100 people were killed and many more injured.
Video broadcast on China's CCTV Saturday showed flames and black smoke rising the market, where hundreds of rioters used hands, feet and sledge hammers to break down doors and shatter windows. Watch CCTV's images of the violence »
One of the targets of their violence was a Bank of China branch. Protesters, including some monks dressed in red robes, could be seen overturning cars and throwing rocks to chase away other people. There was no sign of Chinese police in the video.
The protests in Tibet began Monday when hundreds of monks rallied on the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Beijing that forced the Dalai Lama into exile.
Police used gunfire and tear gas to quell the Lhasa protest, according to witnesses, human rights groups and Xinhua.
Demonstrators set fire to vehicles and shops. One source said late Friday that up to a third of the city may be on fire and that power lines had been cut.
A main market in Lhasa, Tromsikhang Market, was set on fire, said Kate Saunders, a spokeswoman for the International Campaign for Tibet. The market has many Chinese traders, and she said Tibetans have been concerned about the influx of Chinese into the area.
Some ethnic Tibetan shopkeepers hung scarves outside their stores in an effort to spare them from the protesters' wrath, a witness reported.
Chinese bloggers and U.S.-based human rights groups said Chinese security forces had sealed off the three main monasteries around Lhasa after the violence broke out. The bloggers also said police wearing armored vests were moving toward Lhasa in armored personnel carriers.
Beijing is hosting the Summer Olympics in August, and Tibetan exile groups told CNN they plan to hold demonstrations when the torch is carried through India in April.
The protests had been largely peaceful until Friday, when monks from Ramoche Temple on the north side of Lhasa attempted to march to the capital, rights groups said.
In India, Tibetans planned a protest Saturday at the Jama Masjid, old Delhi's principle mosque. In Nepal, about 100 Tibetan exiles said they were starting a hunger strike in protest.
At least 12 Tibetan refugees -- including some monks -- were arrested Saturday for obstructing traffic in front of the United Nations office in Kathmandu, Nepali police said.
"They were arrested because they were obstructing the road in front of the U.N. office," police spokesman Sushil Bar Singh Thapa told CNN. "They will be released by evening."
However, Free Tibet activists put the figure of those arrested at 48. "Police hit those on hunger strike with batons and arrested them," said Thupten Tenzing Jamphel in a phone interview with CNN.
Indian police surrounded the Tibetan community in old Delhi Friday, effectively sealing it to prevent anyone from going in or out after a Friday night protest, a spokesman for the Tibetan Youth Congress told CNN.
Police arrested 61 people at the protest Friday night, including four who demonstrated at the Chinese embassy, said Youth Congress spokesman Komchok Yarphel.
Yarphel also said that protesters planned to restart a march from the northern Indian city of Dharmsala to the Tibet border that was forcibly stopped Thursday by Indian authorities. Those 100 protesters have been jailed for 14 days, but Yarphel said another 100 will begin the march from Dehra, where the first attempt ended after only three days and 75km.
Police have banned the march and are likely to stop it again.
The protesters planned to reach the border for a confrontation with Chinese authorities in time for the opening of the Beijing Olympics in August.
Dharmsala is home to the Tibetan exile government and the Dalai Lama.
In Switzerland, police said they fired tear gas at pro-Tibet demonstrators who tried to storm the Chinese consulate in Zurich, according to The Associated Press.
Hundreds of people took part in the protest Saturday.
CNN sought permission to enter Tibet on Friday, but the permission had not been granted by Friday evening Beijing time. CNN reporting on Tibet was being blacked out Friday in mainland China.
Chinese authorities blamed the Dalai Lama for the unrest, but the Dalai Lama said the protesters were simply acting out of "deep-rooted resentment" of the Chinese government.
"As I have always said, unity and stability under brute force is at best a temporary solution. It is unrealistic to expect unity and stability under such a rule and would therefore not be conducive to finding a peaceful and lasting solution," he said in a written statement.
"I therefore appeal to the Chinese leadership to stop using force and address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people through dialogue with the Tibetan people. I also urge my fellow Tibetans not to resort to violence." E-mail to a friend
and here is Sydney Morning Herald report
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/tib...472088728.htmlTibet burns as protests defy police
Lindsay Beck and Chris Buckley
March 15, 2008
Page 1 of 2 | Single page
AT LEAST a dozen people were injured and shops and cars set alight during violent protests in Tibet's capital of Lhasa.
Hundreds of people had again taken to Lhasa's streets in defiance of Chinese authorities and despite a heavy police presence and reports of a lockdown of monasteries, sources said.
The US embassy said it had received reports of gunfire in Lhasa and advised its citizens to stay indoors.
"The police are everywhere," said one cafe owner in Lhasa. "There are big problems."
Chinese rule in remote, Buddhist Tibet has become a focus for critics in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics, and marches around the world this week to mark the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against communist rule have spilled into Tibet itself.
A report from China's Xinhua news agency quoted witnesses saying that a number of shops were burnt and nearby businesses closed.
Yesterday 300 to 400 residents and monks demonstrated in Lhasa, a source quoted a witness as saying, capping a week of daily protests led by the Buddhist clergy, an echo of the anti-government protests that rocked neighbouring Burma last year.
"Some are angry and some are scared. The security forces are checking houses to see if any monks are hiding," said the source, who is in touch with Tibetan residents.
Hundreds of monks from the Labrang monastery in the north-western Chinese province of Gansu led a march through the town of Xiahe, the Free Tibet Campaign said, citing sources in Dharamsala, the Indian home to Tibet's government-in-exile.
More than 10 monks had been arrested and tanks were patrolling the square near Lhasa's Potala Palace, the person said, referring to the former winter residence of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. "It's very chaotic … all the police have come out," said one Lhasa resident. "The monks and nuns have been marching and protesting," the woman said, adding residents were afraid to go out.
"People have been burning cars and motorbikes and buses. There is smoke everywhere and they have been throwing rocks and breaking windows. We're scared," another resident said.
An American witness in Lhasa told BBC World he saw Chinese troops kicking and beating Tibetan protesters at the temple. He said he saw troop carriers arriving with soldiers in camouflage gear carrying guns.
A businesswoman surnamed Xia said: "It's martial law … There are People's Armed Police out, and they've been fighting the lamas."
At least a dozen people were injured and taken to hospital following the protests, a nurse at one hospital said. Another nurse from the People's Hospital said they could not confirm any details of injuries, saying they had been ordered by the Government not to say anything.
China's State Council Information Office declined to comment, referring only to earlier remarks by a Foreign Ministry spokesman who said the protesters were "seeking to spark social turmoil". This week's shows of defiance are precisely what the Chinese Government has been trying to avoid as it seeks to secure a stable environment for the Olympics, which open on August 8.
The region has been periodically restive since Chinese troops invaded in 1950. Nine years later the Dalai Lama staged a failed uprising against Chinese rule and fled into exile in India.
China imposed martial law in Tibet in 1989 to quell anti-Chinese demonstrations.
On Monday 500 monks from the Drepung monastery marched in Lhasa, followed by action from monks at the Lhasa-area Sera and Ganden monasteries. Security personnel fired tear gas on at least one demonstration, reports said.
The Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet said authorities had sealed off all three monasteries.
"There is an intensified atmosphere of fear and tension in Tibet's capital," the group said.
The US Government-funded Radio Free Asia said monks from Sera were on a hunger strike, demanding the withdrawal of Chinese paramilitary forces from the monastery compound and the release of monks detained earlier this week. Two monks from Drepung were in critical condition after attempting suicide by slitting their wrists, the radio station said.
The number of Tibetans detained could not be confirmed, but independence support groups said they expected government reprisals.
Nepal says it will block access to Mount Everest in early May to prevent pro-Tibetan protests while China takes the Olympic torch to the roof of the world.
At least a dozen people were injured and taken to hospital following the protests, a nurse at one hospital said. Another nurse from the People's Hospital said they could not confirm any details of injuries, saying they had been ordered by the Government not to say anything.
China's State Council Information Office declined to comment, referring only to earlier remarks by a Foreign Ministry spokesman who said the protesters were "seeking to spark social turmoil". This week's shows of defiance are precisely what the Chinese Government has been trying to avoid as it seeks to secure a stable environment for the Olympics, which open on August 8.
The region has been periodically restive since Chinese troops invaded in 1950. Nine years later the Dalai Lama staged a failed uprising against Chinese rule and fled into exile in India.
China imposed martial law in Tibet in 1989 to quell anti-Chinese demonstrations.
On Monday 500 monks from the Drepung monastery marched in Lhasa, followed by action from monks at the Lhasa-area Sera and Ganden monasteries. Security personnel fired tear gas on at least one demonstration, reports said.
The Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet said authorities had sealed off all three monasteries.
"There is an intensified atmosphere of fear and tension in Tibet's capital," the group said.
The US Government-funded Radio Free Asia said monks from Sera were on a hunger strike, demanding the withdrawal of Chinese paramilitary forces from the monastery compound and the release of monks detained earlier this week. Two monks from Drepung were in critical condition after attempting suicide by slitting their wrists, the radio station said.
The number of Tibetans detained could not be confirmed, but independence support groups said they expected government reprisals.
Nepal says it will block access to Mount Everest in early May to prevent pro-Tibetan protests while China takes the Olympic torch to the roof of the world.
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Originally Posted by beNder
