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WORLD NEWS Thursday 21 February 2019

China closes Tibet to foreigners for sensitive anniversaries

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN killed 18 people.
Associated Press An unknown number of Ti-
BEIJING (AP) — China is betans were killed by secu-
barring foreign travelers rity forces in the aftermath.
from Tibet over a period of China claims Tibet has been
several weeks that includes part of its territory for more
a pair of sensitive political than seven centuries and
anniversaries questioning regards the Dalai Lama as
the legitimacy of Beijing’s a dangerous separatist.
rule over the Himalayan re- Many Tibetans insist they
gion. were essentially indepen-
Travel agencies contacted dent for most of that time
Wednesday said foreign and have protested what
tourists would not be al- they regard as China’s
lowed back into Tibet until heavy-handed rule im-
April 1. It’s not clear when posed after the People’s
the ban started, although Liberation Army’s battled
some monitoring groups its way into the Himalayan
said it began this month. region in 1950.
The ban was confirmed by More recently, traditionally
the online customer service Tibetan regions of western
portal of the Tibet Youth In- China have been racked
ternational Travel Service, In this Feb. 9, 2019, photo released by Xinhua News Agency, tourists pose for souvenir photos in by a series of self-immo-
as well as staff at the Tibet front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. lations by Buddhist clergy
Vista and Go to Tibet travel Associated Press and lay people protesting
agencies. Both are based rule in Tibet, while anti- ground, Tibet is almost en- India and the beginning of Chinese rule and calling
in the southwestern city government riots occurred tirely closed to foreign jour- increasingly harsh Chinese for the return of the Dalai
of Chengdu — the main March 14, 2008, in the re- nalists and diplomats and rule over the region. Nearly Lama, now aged 83.
jumping-off point for visits gional capital Lhasa. information about actual five decades later, anger Despite the suffocating lev-
to Tibet. Staff members de- Although the foreigner trav- conditions there is difficult exploded in a series of pro- el of security, Tibet is an in-
clined to give their names el ban is an annual occur- to obtain. tests in an around Lhasa creasingly popular destina-
or offer details. rence, the occasion of the The 1959 uprising resulted that culminated in attacks tion for tourists looking for
March 10 is the 60th anni- 60th anniversary is drawing in the flight of Tibet’s tradi- on Chinese individuals and mountain adventure and
versary of an abortive 1959 added attention. tional Buddhist leader, the businesses in which the monuments to its unique
uprising against Chinese Amid heavy security on the Dalai Lama, into exile in government says rioters Buddhist culture.q
US, North Korean envoys to meet in Hanoi ahead of summit

Associated Press officials after that meet- Trump said Tuesday that
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — ing that they discussed the he wants to see North Ko-
U.S. and North Korean spe- concrete steps they want- rea eventually give up its
cial envoys are to meet in ed from each other, and nuclear weapons program,
Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, that they would meet one but that he is not in any rush
to make final preparations more time before the sum- because relations between
for a second summit next mit to finalize the plans. the two countries are good.
week between President Trump and Kim met for their He said his second meet-
Donald Trump and North first summit in Singapore ing with Kim would be “very
Korean leader Kim Jong Un. last June, during which Kim exciting,” but did not say
U.S. Special Envoy for North pledged to work toward what he hoped to achieve.
Korea Steve Biegun was to the “complete denuclear- When he earlier an-
arrive in Hanoi on Wednes- ization” of the Korean Pen- nounced the location of
day, U.S. officials said. insula, without providing their second meeting,
No details of his sched- a clear timetable or road- Trump showered praise on
ule were immediately an- map. Kim, whom he used to de-
nounced. U.S.-led diplomacy aimed risively call “Little Rocket
The two envoys met earlier at getting North Korea to Man.” Months after their
In this Jan. 23, 2019, file photo provided by the North Korean this month in North Korea’s abandon its nuclear pro- Singapore summit, Trump
government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, meets capital to discuss details gram in return for outside said that Kim had written
Kim Yong Chol, who traveled to Washington to discuss
denuclearization talks, in Pyongyang, North Korea. of the Feb. 27-28 summit. concessions has since him “beautiful letters” and
Associated Press Biegun told South Korean made little headway. that the two “fell in love.”q