China cracks down in Tibet, exiles say

[Coventina]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Dharamsala, India -- China has further tightened control in its ethnic Tibetan region in recent weeks, exile groups say, even as it was ostensibly negotiating in good faith with the Dalai Lama's envoys.

Stepped-up patrols and increased paramilitary presence in Lhasa, the regional capital, and along major transport arteries coincide with a strategy meeting attended by exiles in northern India this week, members of exile groups say.

"We've monitored an even more intense crackdown in the past couple of weeks," Kate Saunders, communications director with the advocacy group International Campaign for Tibet, said Thursday.

The group said a source inside China this week reported seeing three convoys of up to 15 Chinese military vehicles west of the town of Kangding in Sichuan province, an area of significant unrest, along with roadblocks, bunkers and armed forces around bridges and government buildings.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-tibet21-2008nov21,0,161133.story