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<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7308169.stm>
Last Updated: Friday, 21 March 2008, 07:54 GMT
US lawmaker speaks out on Tibet
Chinese police set up a road block near Linxia, Gansu province, on 19 March 
2008
Chinese police and troops have converged on restive areas
A senior US lawmaker, Nancy Pelosi, has called on the international community 
to denounce China's rule in Tibet.

The Chinese authorities are continuing to tighten security following days of protests by Tibetans in the main city, 
Lhasa, and in surrounding provinces.

Ms Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, spoke out while 
holding talks in northern India with the Dalai Lama.

Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of inciting the violence.

"If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China and the Chinese in Tibet, we have lost all 
moral authority to speak out on human rights," Ms Pelosi told a crowd of thousands of cheering Tibetan exiles, including 
monks and schoolchildren, in Dharamsala.

Ms Pelosi's visit at the head of a congressional delegation was planned 
before the anti-China protests began.

On Thursday, China admitted for the first time that troops had shot and 
injured protesters during the unrest.

Rifles and bayonets

Anti-China protests began on 10 March in Lhasa and gradually escalated, spreading to Tibetan communities in neighbouring 
Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai provinces.

        
TIBETAN PROTESTS
Map
Tibet: Protests began in Lhasa on 10 March, dozens reported dead over weekend
Gansu: Unrest spread to Machu, where Tibetan government in exile says 19 died, and near Hezuo, where protesters were 
filmed tearing down Chinese flag
Sichuan: State media says four people 'shot and wounded' by police in Aba
Qinghai: Other unrest reported

Key events and places
Tibet's unsettled borders
Gansu streets deserted
Controlled life of monks

China says 13 people were killed by rioters in Lhasa. The Tibetan government-in-exile says at least 99 people have died 
in a crackdown by Chinese troops.

China is not allowing foreign journalists into Tibet. Troops have also sealed off towns in the surrounding areas where 
unrest has taken place, witnesses say.

But the BBC's James Reynolds spent 24 hours in Hezuo in Gansu, where earlier this week Tibetan protesters tore down the 
Chinese flag.

Chinese security forces had swamped the town and the streets were full of 
police cars, check points and military trucks.

On the southern entrance to Hezuo there were rows of soldiers carrying AK47 
rifles and bayonets, our correspondent said.

Public notices and police broadcasts told protesters to surrender by midnight 
on 25 March or face arrest and punishment.

Other witnesses have reported seeing hundreds of troop carriers heading for 
Tibetan areas in recent days.

Protesters shot

On Thursday Chinese authorities admitted that members of the security forces 
had fired on Tibetan protesters.

Police wounded four protesters "in self-defence" last Sunday in Aba county, a Tibetan area of Sichuan province, Xinhua 
news agency said.

An earlier Xinhua report said police had shot the four dead, but it was 
quickly changed.

Picture published by Tibetan monks in Dharamsala, allegedly showing a crowd gathered around the bodies of demonstrators 
said to have been killed during a protest in Aba on 16/3/08
Tibetan activists say police killed protesters in Aba on Sunday
Xinhua did not provide further details of the incident, but Tibetan activists say at least eight people were killed at a 
demonstration against Chinese rule near the Kirti monastery in Aba on Sunday.

Earlier this week, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy circulated photos of bodies with apparent gunshot 
wounds, which it said were the result of police firing indiscriminately at protesters.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held telephone talks with her Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, in 
which she urged Beijing to show restraint.

But Mr Yang told her the protesters were trying to sabotage both the Olympics and social stability - and reiterated 
China's position that it blamed the Dalai Lama for the violence.

The Dalai Lama - who in 1989 won the Nobel Peace Price for his commitment to non-violence in the quest for Tibetan 
self-rule - has called for talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

VIDEO AND AUDIO NEWS
Analysis of the Dalai Lama's role in the Tibet protests

TENSION IN TIBET

KEY STORIES

US lawmaker speaks out on Tibet
China steps up Tibetan crackdown
Dalai Lama urges Tibet dialogue
Tibet kept on Olympic torch route

FEATURES AND ANALYSIS

Tibetan Buddhist monks in exile shout anti-China slogans at a protest in 
Dharamsala, India China's quandary
Could Tibet gain independence or greater autonomy?

Tibetan monks: A controlled life
China cracks down on news
Dalai Lama's home off-limits
Tibet's unsettled borders

VIDEO REPORTS
Protester on horseback Protesters defiant in Tibet row
watch Dalai Lama
watch Wen Jiabao

BACKGROUND

Key places and events
Guide: Inside Tibet
Q&A: China and Tibet
Profile: The Dalai Lama

EYEWITNESS

Tibetans describe unrest
Chinese react to violence
Lhasa now 'in cinders'
Monk 'kicked to the floor'


TOP ASIA-PACIFIC STORIES
US lawmaker speaks out on Tibet
Tibet focus for Taiwan election
Strong quake hits western China