China Says It Will Combat Tibetan Separatism, Ensure Stability

China's provincial government in Tibet said it will combat any separatist movement and ensure stability in the Himalayan region as the biggest protests in almost 20 years spread to neighboring provinces.

Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Government, said police ``showed restraint'' in tackling demonstrators and rejected the Dalai Lama's criticism of the security crackdown, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

Thirteen civilians were burned or stabbed to death by protesters in the capital, Lhasa, on March 14 and the Dalai Lama's portrayal of the demonstrations as peaceful is ``ridiculous,'' Qiangba told reporters in Beijing today.

Tibetan activists are stepping up an international campaign against Chinese rule, as the government in Beijing prepares to host the Olympic Games in August. Tibet's government-in-exile says at least 80 protesters were killed in the demonstrations that began last week.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, yesterday accused China of committing ``cultural genocide'' in the territory and condemned its ``rule of terror.''

Protests began March 10 when hundreds of Buddhist monks marched in Lhasa calling for an end to religious restrictions and the release of imprisoned colleagues. The date marked the anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, after which the Dalai Lama fled to India.

Lhasa Riots

Rioters in Lhasa set fire to more than 300 buildings and smashed 56 vehicles, Xinhua cited Qiangba as saying. Sixty-one police officers were injured in the violence, which seriously disturbed social order, he added.

``Whether intentionally or unintentionally, some kind of cultural genocide is taking place,'' the Dalai Lama told reporters yesterday in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala, where the government-in-exile is based.

``Particularly the local leaders, they simply rely on using force in order to achieve stability and peace,'' said the Dalai Lama, the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Demonstrations spread into the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu yesterday, forcing authorities to deploy security forces, the Associated Press reported. In Lhasa, authorities set a deadline for demonstrators to surrender to police by today.

At least seven people were killed in Sichuan province when police shot at hundreds of rioting Tibetans in the town of Ngawa, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday, citing a resident and two unidentified activist groups.

Olympic Games

Hundreds of people protested outside Chinese embassies in The Hague, Paris, Prague, Rome, Brussels and New York yesterday condemning China's crackdown, AFP said. Some demonstrators called for a boycott of the Olympic Games.

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, who rejects boycotting the Games, said yesterday the body is ``very concerned'' by the situation in Tibet, AP reported.

The IOC hopes there can be an appeasement as soon as possible,'' the news agency cited him as saying in St. Lucia.

The Dalai Lama said the event should go ahead.

``China deserves to be a host of the Olympic Games,'' he said. ``The international community has a moral responsibility to remind the Chinese government to be a good host.''

Tibet had varying degrees of autonomy from China until the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949. It deployed troops there a year later and annexed the region in 1951.

The protests are the largest in Tibet since pro- independence demonstrations in 1989 prompted President Hu Jintao, who was then head of the region's Communist Party, to declare martial law.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today called the situation ``disturbing'' and said the Chinese authorities should ``exercise restraint.''