China takes foreign press to Tibet
Foreign Desk Report

BEIJING—China moved Wednesday to show it had the situation in Tibet under control, escorting foreign journalists on a tour of the region and saying more than 660 people had surrendered over deadly unrest. The media trip came as Chinese state-run press and online forums ramped up criticism over Western reporting about the unrest and French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned he might boycott the Olympic opening ceremony.
The small delegation of selected foreign journalists landed in Lhasa on Wednesday afternoon for a three-day reporting trip expected to be tightly controlled and slanted toward China’s version of the Tibetan unrest. China has indicated the journalists — the first allowed into Tibet since the unrest — would be allowed to speak with victims of the violence and shown property damaged by rioters, but gave no assurances on reporting freedom.
The group did not include AFP and some other major global news agencies. Foreign reporters have been barred from visiting Tibet and neighbouring Chinese provinces with large Tibetan populations affected by the unrest, making it nearly impossible to independently verify the number of dead and arrested. Protests against Beijing’s rule of Tibet began in Lhasa on March 10 — the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule of the vast Himalayan region.
The demonstrations turned bloody four days later and spilled over into other parts of the country, with the Chinese authorities accused of heavy-handedness in putting down the demonstrations. Tibet’s government-in-exile has said 140 people were killed in the unrest, while China has reported a total of 20 deaths, 19 of them in Lhasa. China has accused the Dalai Lama of masterminding the protests — a charge the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, who fled his homeland after the 1959 uprising, vehemently denies.
The Dalai Lama, who has said he is open to dialogue with Beijing, on Tuesday reiterated a pledge to resign as spokesman for the Tibetan people if there were more violent anti-Chinese protests. Beijing has sought to highlight attacks by Tibetans on ethnic Chinese, and on Wednesday trumpeted the number of people who had turned themselves in to face punishment from their involvement in the unrest.
More than 280 people had surrendered in Lhasa, while 381 others had turned themselves in in Ngawa county, in southwest Sichuan province, the official Xinhua news agency reported. “Most of those who have come forward are ordinary people and monks who were deceived or coerced,” said Shu Tao, a local Communist Party chief, according to the state-run China Daily.
Lhasa prosecutors have also issued arrest warrants for 29 people allegedly involved in a protest that broke out in the Tibetan capital on March 14, while police have put 53 suspects on a “most-wanted” list, Xinhua said. The unrest comes at a delicate time for the Chinese authorities amid world anticipation of the Beijing Games, due to begin in just over four months.