Tibet chairman: Police exercised 'great restraint'

Police showed great restraint and used no lethal force in dealing with the riots in Lhasa last Friday, the chairman of the Tibet autonomous regional government said yesterday.

"The riots caused heavy loss of life and property, and seriously disturbed social order," Qiangba Puncog told a news briefing in Beijing.

Thirteen innocent civilians were burned or stabbed to death, he said, adding that calm had returned to Lhasa.

On Friday, violence involving physical assault, destruction of property, looting and arson broke out in urban Lhasa. Rioters set fires at more than 300 locations, including 214 homes and shops, and smashed and burned 56 vehicles.

In one case, a civilian was doused with gasoline and burned to death by rioters.

Sixty-one members of the armed police were injured, including six critically. Rioters beat a police officer into a coma and cut a fist-size piece of flesh out of his buttock, he said.

Yet "public security personnel and police showed maximum restraint during law enforcement" and "throughout the process, (security forces) did not carry or use any destructive weapons. Only tear gas and water cannons were employed," Qiangba Puncog said.

The regional government immediately organized task forces to put out the fires, rescue the injured and protect hospitals, schools, banks and government offices.

The military was not involved in quelling the riots, but participated in rescue work, he said.

In a notice issued over the weekend, law enforcement agencies promised leniency to rioters who turned themselves in by last night.

Qiangba Puncog underscored the terms of the notice, saying: "If these people provide further information about others involved in crimes, they will be treated even more leniently.

"Those who committed serious crimes in the riots will face the full force of the law."

He said he did not know if anyone had surrendered so far.

Qiangba Puncog said that the riots were the result of a conspiracy hatched by domestic and overseas separatists advocating "Tibet independence".

It was "premeditated, organized and masterminded" by the Dalai Lama clique, he said.

"A tiny handful of separatists and lawless elements engaged in extreme acts with the goal of generating publicity to wreck stability during this crucial period of the Olympic Games," he said.

Qiangba Puncog also said he was indignant that some Westerners and the Dalai Lama group had spread a distorted version of the unrest by describing the riots as a "peaceful demonstration".

He said no democratic country would tolerate the brutality shown by the rioters in Lhasa.

Yet he expressed confidence in maintaining social stability and order under the leadership of the central government.

"Any plot to destroy social stability or to mastermind the secession of Tibet are against the will of the people in Tibet and doomed to failure," he said.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry last night condemned the attacks against Chinese embassies and consulates in Europe and the US by Tibetans linked to the Dalai Lama.

Rioters smashed doors and windows at China's embassies and consulates, said spokesman Liu Jiancohao. He urged foreign governments to increase security at Chinese missions.

"The atrocities of the Tibetan independence forces manifested again the splittist nature of the Dalai clique and the hypocrisy and deceit of its peace and non-violence propaganda," Liu said.