| Of all the times to have a flare up in Tibet, | | | | they're not careful with this. |
| a few months ahead of the Summer Olympics is | | | | |
| not a good pieace of public relations | | | | In a statement quoted by the state-run news |
| strategy. And as riots break out in this | | | | agency Xinhua, the Tibetan government urged |
| mountainous nation, International Olympic | | | | "the lawbreakers to give themselves in by |
| Committee President Jacques Rogge poured cold | | | | Monday midnight" and promised that "leniency |
| water Saturday on calls for a boycott of the | | | | would be given to those who surrender". Hey, |
| Summer Games in Beijing over China's | | | | I've got some great property in Arizona and |
| crackdown in Tibet, saying it would only hurt | | | | Florida that I'd seel at a great price as |
| athletes. | | | | well. This Chinese crackdown in Tibet is |
| | | | going to be about as bad a PR piece to them |
| Demonstrations against Chinese rule in Tibet | | | | as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright was-is to Obama |
| on Friday-the most violent riots there in | | | | (can you say not good?). |
| nearly two decades-left at least 30 | | | | |
| protesters dead, according to a Tibetan exile | | | | The violence - the worst in Tibet since 1989 |
| group. China ordered tourists out of Tibet's | | | | - erupted on the fifth day of largely |
| capital and troops patrolled the streets on | | | | peaceful protests that began on Monday's |
| Saturday. | | | | anniversary of a 1959 uprising against |
| | | | Chinese rule. Fires broke out near the |
| Police used tear gas to disperse | | | | Jokhang temple, one of the most sacred sites |
| demonstrators defying a curfew in the old | | | | for Tibetan Buddhists, and Xinhua reported |
| quarter of the city, and police later | | | | that shops, banks and hotels were destroyed. |
| cordoned off the centre. "Lhasa is completely | | | | The demonstrations - like those last |
| closed and there is Chinese military all | | | | September in Burma - were initially led by |
| over," Danish tourist Bente Walle told | | | | Buddhist monks and then attracted crowds of |
| Reuters news agency. | | | | ordinary people. |
| | | | |
| China could be exporting the American | | | | And here I thought Buddhists were peaceful. |
| financial disaster to their own shores if | | | | |