(TibetanReview.net, Mar 11, 2009) — China said that any disturbance that might occur in Tibet around the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan national uprising day of Mar 10 would be assumed to have been caused by a few people under the guise of religious cause. “If there were really disturbance, it must be caused by a few people instigated under the disguise of religious cause,” the official Xinhua news agency Mar 9 quoted Kang Jinzhong, political commissar of armed police corps in Tibet, as saying.
After cutting it off from foreign visitors – both media and tourists – and deploying massive new troops, Kang had said the situation in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) was “very stable”. However, he had added, the troops were ready to handle what he called any infiltration and sabotage activities by the Dalai Lama clique and other hostile forces.
“All the armed police forces across Tibet are on routine duty. The armed police force has the ability to handle any emergencies any time,” he was further quoted as saying.
Likewise, the official China Daily newspaper Mar 9 cited Legqog, chairman of the standing committee of the TAR people’s congress, as saying in Beijing that intensified police patrols in parts of TAR were temporary security measures against possible disruptions by the Dalai Lama’s followers and Western “Tibet independence” groups. It also quoted Legqog as saying, “This year they have intensified secessionist activities, trying to collude with their agents in Tibet.”
Massive troop deployments were also reported to have taken place in the Tibetan areas in other provinces which too remained under security lockdown. In Sichuan province, soldiers armed with machine guns and anti-riot gear had been seen marching past the main Tibetan town square while military convoys with armoured personnel carriers had been seen shuttling between towns in the province, reported english.aljazeera.net Mar 9. It said military checkpoints had been set up and access to the internet cut off.
Also, the AP Mar 9 reported that Sichuan’s Ganzi prefecture, was shut off to all foreigners, with similar blocks have been issued in Tibetan areas in neighboring Gansu and Qinghai provinces.