McClatchy: Foreboding on Tibetan plateau as China gathers forces

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Exclusive: Foreboding on Tibetan plateau as China gathers forces
By Tim Johnson | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Tuesday, March 18, 2008




LITANG, China — High on the Tibetan Plateau, an eerie quiet has settled on the usually bustling city of Litang. Few shops open their doors. Only police vehicles and packs of dogs roam the streets.

The city is under police lockdown. Convoys of troops whir by, some with flashing lights. Most residents stay indoors. A massive paramilitary buildup appears under way in the region, but no one knows where or when it might unleash its force.

As in many Chinese cities with heavy ethnic Tibetan populations, authorities in Litang are racing to prevent new racial riots after a week of bloody clashes in Tibet and several neighboring provinces. Since early Monday, they've banned private vehicles from the streets and ordered store owners to close up.

No significant unrest has yet occurred in this city, which lies in a traditionally Tibetan area of western Sichuan province. But the government clearly is ready with a sledgehammer if it needs to respond. One resident who gave his name only as Dorje said, "It could get bad here."

Paramilitary trucks jam the main highway leading from central Sichuan into the Tibetan areas in the western part of the province. Among the more than 100 military trucks Tuesday were ambulances, paddy wagons, armored vehicles and troop carriers. Soldiers carried automatic weapons.

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