|
|
Namibia: Govt Denounces Tibetan Rioters
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
New Era (Windhoek)
7 April 2008
Posted to the web 7 April 2008
Petronella Sibeene
Windhoek
The Namibian Government has denounced recent acts of deadly unrest involving rioters in Lhasa, Tibet, saying such activities were aimed at undermining the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the People's Republic of China.
Last week the Namibian Government reaffirmed its support for the One-China Policy, adding that Tibet will remain an integral part of China. "Namibia firmly supports China's efforts towards the peaceful reunification and rejects any actions which may compromise China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as threaten the peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait in particular, and the Asia-Pacific region in general," stated a media release issued through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Three weeks ago, mobs organised by the "Tibetan Government in Exile" went on a rampage and rioted in Tibet.
"Riots involving beating, smashing, looting and burning broke the peace in Lhasa. Many rioters were carrying backpacks filled with stones and bottles of inflammable liquid, some holding iron bars, wood sticks and long knives," the Chinese Ambassador to Namibia Ren Xiaoping said on Friday. Rioters set fire to more than 300 locations including residences and 214 shops. They smashed and burned 56 vehicles, and attacked schools, banks, hospitals, shops, government offices and other utilities.
Thirteen civilians were burned or slashed to death, including an eight-months old baby. Dozens of policemen on patrol and 61armed policemen were injured. According to the ambassador, "the riot not only caused heavy losses of life and property in the city, but also seriously disturbed social order," despite the mobs claiming that the demonstration was peaceful. She said those who engaged in these violent activities came fully prepared. Their attempt was to create violent incidents to attract international attention, spread lies to vilify the Chinese government and call for boycotting the Beijing Olympic Games, she said.
Activities as carried out by the rioters, the Chinese ambassador said, exposed the secessionist nature of the Dalai Lama clique and the hypocritical and fraudulent nature of its so-called "peace" and "non-violence" allegations. She equally condemned foreign media for allegedly distorting the truth in their reporting and accusing those who wanted to restore order of using violence and lethal weapons. She said after violence broke out, the Tibet Autonomous Region authorities promptly organized public security officers, armed police and other personnel to put out the fires, treat the injured and strengthen protection of all the people and services.
|
The ambassador emphasized that the response to the incident by the public security officers and armed policemen showed great restraint and they performed their duties strictly in accordance with the law and in a civilized manner.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 New Era. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
