Two killed in violent Tibetan protests Sarkozy refuses to rule out Olympic ceremony boycott

Chinese soldiers march past burned-out shops in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, last week
Photograph: The Himalayas Journey Society/Reuters

TIBET/CHINA: TWO PEOPLE were killed in fresh violence in ethnic Tibetan areas of western China yesterday as security forces made further arrests in Lhasa and French president Nicolas Sarkozy refused to rule out a boycott of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics if China continued its crackdown in Tibet, writes Clifford Coonan in Beijing.

"The police were forced to fire warning shots, and dispersed the lawless mobsters," Xinhua said, without mentioning the death of any Tibetan protesters.

There have been reports of ongoing unrest in the west of China, despite a huge deployment of troops in the region.

The government says 19 people were killed in this month's protests, while Tibetans in exile say 140 were killed in the violence, which began with demonstrations by monks and quickly widened as frustrated Tibetans vented their anger against ethnic Han Chinese.

The use of the term "mobsters" reflects the broader direction of the media coverage in China, which says the unrest in Lhasa and other Tibetan areas was carried out by a lawless gang instigated by the Dalai Lama, the Nobel Peace prize-winning Buddhist monk who is Tibet's spiritual leader and lives in exile.

Foreign journalists are barred from Tibet itself and ethnic Tibetan areas of China.

This month's crackdown on unrest in Tibet continues to have an impact on the Beijing Olympics. Protesters are planning to use the games to highlight their causes, while China hopes to use the Olympics as a platform for its remarkable advances of recent years.

Foreign minister Qin Gang described as "disgraceful" an effort by protesters to disrupt the lighting of the Olympic torch in Greece. The journey of the torch around the world is expected to be marked by protests.

The prospect of high-profile boycotting of the opening of the games was also raised again when Mr Sarkozy said he could "not close the door to any possibility" in reference to the gala opening.

Mr Sarkozy urged China to show responsibility over the unrest. "I don't close the door to any option, but I think it's more prudent to reserve my responses to concrete developments in the situation," he said when asked about a possible boycott.

Mr Sarkozy spoke shortly after a media rights group which staged a brief protest at the Olympic torch-lighting ceremony in Greece on Monday urged him to threaten to boycott the opening ceremony of the games. Aides later said he was talking only of a possible boycott of the opening ceremony, not of the games in general.

In Washington, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said there was no change in US president George Bush's plans to attend the games.

"We believe that China should respect minority cultures - particularly, in this case, the Tibetan culture - and we want to make sure that there is freedom of the press and international access to the area," Ms Perino said.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times