03 April 2008
Arrests and ideological education in TAR
(AP) More than 1,000 people have been arrested or turned themselves in to police after the demonstrations in Lhasa in March, the city's deputy Communist Party secretary said. Trials will be held before 01 May, Wang Xiangming was quoted as saying by the official Tibet Commerce newspaper. Wang said 800 had been arrested in the Lhasa violence, while another 280 had surrendered to take advantage of a police offer of leniency. Alongside increased security, the officials have ordered boosted ideological education and ramped-up propaganda in Tibet "to build anti-separatist sentiment", another official newspaper said. The region's Communist Party leader also ordered harsh punishments for local party officials found lacking in their commitment to Beijing's official line. "We absolutely will not condone violations of political and organizational discipline and will definitely find those responsible and mete out harsh punishment", said Zhang. Also indicating Beijing's haste to return Tibet to normal, the regional tourism authority announced that the region would reopen to foreign tourist groups from 01 May.