10. Mar 2009
Troop deployments confirmed
(AFP; TibetanReview.net; TibetInfoNet; Xinhua) China admitted that it had deployed security forces in the TAR but maintained that this accorded with the region's current needs. Xinhua quoted Kang Jinzhong, political commissar of the TAR Armed Police Division, as saying the deployment of armed police in Tibet is "no exceptional practice", as they are deployed in all other Chinese provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. AFP cited the Chairman of the TAR Government Qiangba Puncog as saying the troop deployment was a "usual and necessary" security measures for the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising. Although Puncog disputed a link with the unrest of 2008, circumstantial evidence indicates that most security troops who came then to Tibet are still stationed there. There appears to be no clear evidence that additional troops were brought up more recently to the plateau.