Tibetans in SF Protest Tibet Attacks

The Tibetan Association of Northern California plans a vigil beginning at noon today at the Chinese Consulate at Geary and Laguna streets in San Francisco to protest attacks on Tibetan monks and citizens in Tibet by the Chinese Army.

“The Chinese have cut off phone and e-mail service,” said the association’s Tsering Gyurmy, and press reports say two people have been killed. But some people have cell phones and they have called out and we’re being told the protests are going on and maybe a lot of Tibetans are being killed by the Chinese military in Lhasa.

“We think this is wrong and must stop,” he said.

This vigil will continue until 3:30 p.m. and another protest is being planned for Berkeley tonight, but details have not been worked out, he said.

Associated Press reports that protests led by Buddhist monks against Chinese rule in Tibet turned violent, with shops and vehicles torched and gunshots echoing through the streets of the ancient capital, Lhasa. A radio report said two people had been killed.

The biggest demonstrations in nearly two decades against Beijing’s 57-year control of the Himalayan territory come at a critically sensitive time for China as it attempts to portray a unified and prosperous nation ahead of the Olympic Games in August.

AP reports China blamed the disturbances on a plot by followers of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled Buddhist leader whom the communist regime has accused of trying to sabotage the Beijing Olympics and that witnesses reported hearing gunfire and seeing vehicles in flames in the Barkor shopping district in the center of Lhasa. Crowds hurled rocks at security forces and at restaurant and hotel windows, apparently targeting Chinese-owned businesses.

The Berkeley-based Tibetan Association said it welcomes Bay Area Tibetans plan noon protest of attacks on Tibetans in Tibet by Chinese at China’s Consulate in San Francisco

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