China locks down restive regions

By BBC News
March 21, 2007

Chinese authorities are continuing to tighten security following days of protests by Tibetans in the main city, Lhasa, and in surrounding provinces.

In one town in Gansu, a BBC journalist saw rows of armed soldiers and heard broadcasts telling people to surrender.

On Thursday, China admitted for the first time that troops had shot and injured protesters during the unrest.

A senior US lawmaker, Nancy Pelosi, has called on the international community to denounce China's rule in Tibet.

Ms Pelosi is holding talks in northern India with the Dalai Lama, who Chinese authorities accuse of inciting the violence.

As Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Ms Pelosi is outranked only by the president and the vice-president.

Her visit to Dharamsala was planned before the anti-China protests began.

"If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China and the Chinese in Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak out on human rights," Ms Pelosi told a crowd of thousands of cheering Tibetans, including monks and schoolchildren.

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