New Riots Erupt In Tibetan Areas Of China; And Calls For Olympic Torch To Bypass Tibet

Beijing, China (AHN) - There are reports of fresh Tibetan rioting in China on Thursday even as an envoy of the Dalai Lama urged the Chinese government to drop its provocative plans to carry the Olympic torch through Tibet on its relay run from Greece to China, according to reports Friday.

China's official news agency, Xinhua, said a riot erupted late Thursday in a Tibetan area of western China leaving at least one government official seriously injured. The fresh violence broke out near government offices in Garze, Sichuan province, after a week of unrest in Tibetan areas.

According to BBC news reports, because foreign journalists can't report freely from Tibetan areas facts are difficult to ascertain. But BBC reports that exile groups are saying that Chinese forces killed dozens of protesters while the government says about 19 people were killed in the rioting.

The protests were initially peaceful and turned violent, and are part of a wave of protests in Tibet and Tibetan areas of China.

Earlier Thursday, Chinese officials said that more than 1,000 people had either been arrested or surrendered in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, according to UPI reports Friday.

The call for Beijing to abandon plans to carry the Olympic flame through Tibet was made by the Dalai Lama's envoy, Lodi Gyari, during a U.S. Congressional hearing on Thursday. Beijing has responded by dismissing the call as an attempt to sabotage the Olympic games, according to AFP reports.

Gyari said the planned torch relay through Tibet should be canceled "because that would be very deliberately provocative and very insulting after what has happened," according to AFP reports Friday.