Kathmandu - Nepalese police Monday detained nearly 150
anti-China demonstrators in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu as Tibetan
exiles kept up their protests against repression in their homeland.
The demonstrators were rounded up and dragged into police vans and
trucks from the Chinese embassy visa office, which has become the new
focus of Tibetan demonstrations.
The anti-Chinese demonstrations by Tibetans on Monday were by far
the biggest since the protests erupted on 10 March.
About 350 demonstrators, including monks, nuns and youths, carried
placards calling for a free Tibet and denounced Chinese actions in
Lhasa recently.
The demonstrators also carried with them Tibetan national flags
and chanted 'Free Tibet, Long Live Dalai Lama', 'Stop killings in
Tibet,' from the trucks and vans as they were driven off to detention
centres.
The demonstrators tried to converge on the Chinese embassy visa
offices in small groups but were detained by riot police before they
could reach the area.
Most of the detained protestors were expected to be released by
Monday evening.
More than 20,000 Tibetan exiles are concentrated mainly in
Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara in western Nepal.
The figure does not include Tibetans who arrived in the country
after 1990 because the Nepalese government stopped registering them
as refugees.
An estimated 3,000 Tibetans arrive in Nepal each year, crossing
dangerous mountain passes and risking their lives to flee Chinese
rule.
The Nepalese government has repeatedly said it considers Tibet to
be part of China and will not tolerate anti-Chinese activities.
Nepal has continued to break up Tibetan protests using force
despite coming under intense criticism from human rights groups.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story