Monks Spoils Foreign Media Visit To Tibet

Lhasa, China (AHN) - What was supposed to be a well-orchestrated move by the Chinese communist government to allow a foreign journalists to tour Tibet's capital of Lhasa, was disrupted by a group of some 30 monks who "greeted" the journalists by shouting pro-Tibetan slogans and defended the exiled Dalai Lama.

The move by the monks near the Jokhang Temple just as the foreign journalists and their Chinese hosts, embarrassed the Chinese government who were trying to paint Lhasa to have re-established its calm after weeks of bloody protests.

China last week barred foreign media from Lhasa to prevent the coverage of the growing unrest in the region, demanding independence, riding on the attention given by international media to Beijing with the upcoming Olympic Games in August.

China has accused the Dalai Lama of masterminding the protest, a charge the exiled spiritual leader deny saying he had always advocated for Tibet autonomy from China and not independence.

Several Western countries have been appealing Beijing to hold dialog with the Dalai Lama to find lasting peace in the region and also called on Chinese authorities to show restraint on the protesters.

Chinese officials placed the death toll at 19 since the unrest began on March 10, while the Tibetan government-in-exile placed the death toll at 140 due to crackdown launched by the Chinese security forces.

The unrest has since spread to neighboring regions.

The monks, dressed in red robes, were shouting slogans such as, "Tibet is not free!" as the journalists were touring the Jokhang Temple, one of Tibet's holiest shrines.

One young monk shouted, "Tibet is not free! Tibet is not free!" while another yelled the rioting "had nothing to do with the Dalai Lama."

Chinese security forces have cordoned off the whole Lhasa and the monks were not allowed to leave the temple ever since the March 14 rioting.

Government handlers tried to prevent the monks from being seen by the journalist and hoarded them away.

One journalist who toured Lhasa, described the scene as war zone because of the site of burnt out buildings, shattered shops and uniformed soldiers at almost every corner

"The smell of burning buildings still hangs in the air nearly two weeks after violent rioting swept through the old Tibetan quarter of Lhasa," the Financial Times's Geoff Dyer reported.