Independence protesters burned shops and cars in the Tibetan capital Lhasa today and Chinese police were reported to have shot dead at least two people, in the fiercest unrest in the region for two decades.
China accused supporters of the exiled Dalai Lama of "masterminding" the uprising, which shatters its carefully-cultivated image of national prosperity and harmony in the buildup to the Beijing Olympic Games.
A spokesman for the Tibetan spiritual leader called the allegation "absolutely baseless". The Dalai Lama earlier appealed to China to stop using force and begin dialogue with Tibetans. Similar protests in the past have been crushed by security forces with gunfire and mass arrests.
The Dalai Lama
Peaceful marches by Buddhist monks in recent days have given way to angry crowds confronting riot police.
Radio Free Asia, quoting witnesses, said Chinese police fired on protesters, killing at least two. A source said
two Tibetans were shot dead near the Ramoche Monastery near the capital, Lhasa . The deaths could not be further verified.
Up to 400 protesters, including monks, gathered around a market near the Jokhang temple early today and were confronted by about 1,000 police, according to a witness cited by Matt Whitticase of the Free Tibet Campaign in London.
China's role in Tibet has become a focus for its critics in the run-up to the Olympics, with marches held worldwide this week to mark the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Beijing's rule that led to the Dalai Lama fleeing to India.
Those marches apparently galvanised Buddhist monks to take to Lhasa 's streets, defying a heavy police presence and reports of lockdowns at several monasteries.
"These protests are a manifestation of the deep-rooted resentment of the Tibetan people under the present governance," the Dalai Lama said in a statement. "I therefore appeal to the Chinese leadership to stop using force and address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people through dialogue with the Tibetan people."
Chinese authorities were uncompromising. "The government of Tibet Autonomous Region said there had been enough evidence to prove that the recent sabotage in Lhasa was 'organized, premeditated and masterminded' by the Dalai clique," Xinhua news agency reported.
"The violence, involving beating, smashing, looting and burning, has disrupted the public order, jeopardised people's lives and property, an official with the government said."
China was "fully capable of maintaining social stability" in Tibet, the official said.
The protests present hard choices for President Hu Jintao, who was Communist Party boss in Tibet in 1989 when China imposed martial law to quell anti-Chinese protests. The rioting has become a diplomatic issue, with the United States and European Union urging Beijing to avoid a harsh response.
About a dozen Tibetans living in exile in India were arrested when they tried to storm the Chinese embassy in New Delhi today. Police also arrested six pro-Tibet protesters outside UN headquarters in New York.