LEAD: Monks attempt suicide in Tibet protests: report

BEIJING, March 14 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING QUOTES FROM LHASA)

Two monks in Tibet have attempted suicide as part of a series of protests staged against Chinese rule this week, a U.S.-government funded radio station has reported.

Radio Free Asia quoted unnamed sources late Thursday as saying the two men stabbed themselves in the chest, hands and wrists and are now in a serious condition. Both are said to be refusing hospital treatment and are likely to die.

The authorities in Tibet confirmed earlier this week that monks from the two men's monastery at Drepung in Lhasa staged a protest Monday, demanding the release of fellow clerics arrested in earlier demonstrations.

Radio Free Asia correspondents in Nepal also reported Thursday that monks at another monastery in Lhasa are staging a hunger strike, as part of what human rights groups have described as some of the most serious antigovernment demonstrations in the Tibetan capital in nearly 20 years.

The pressure group International Campaign for Tibet said Friday that tourism operators have told them that three monasteries in Lhasa have now been sealed off by police and soldiers to try to halt the protests.

''There is an intensified atmosphere of fear and tension in Tibet's capital,'' the group said in a statement released from London.

Radio Free Asia says at least two protests also took place this week in the ethnic Tibetan area of Qinghai Province, neighboring Tibet.

A spokesman for the Tibetan regional government told Kyodo News he had not heard any information about the recent protests or security crackdown and he suggested the reports were fabrications released by the Dalai Lama's supporters overseas.

''Tibetan people's life and work are continuing as normal,'' he said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing on Thursday that a small number of monks had tried to create social unrest in recent days, but the situation has now been ''stabilized.''

He declined to give details of the security operation, but also blamed the Dalai Lama for attempting to fuel unrest.

''The scheme of the Dalai Lama group is doomed to fail. The development of Tibet cannot be blocked by any forces. China's determination to secure its territorial integrity is resolute,'' he said.

Kyodo News spoke to several businesses in Lhasa on Friday, but most of them were reluctant to comment publicly.

One staff member of a hotel said it had decided to temporarily close, while another hotel employee urged tourists not to visit the city. ''It's not safe to come here,'' he said.

A foreign tourist in Lhasa who left a note on the Lonely Planet travel guide online message board Friday said he had seen hundreds of police and security personnel on the streets in the past week.

''I talked to some other tourists yesterday (who) were held up by the police for several hours. The situation seems to be very nervous and paranoid up here. There are police and military everywhere. It's quite strange to see hundreds of police watching you from every corner,'' he said.

The Tibetan regional government and authorities in Beijing have only confirmed that two protests took place this week.

They say the protests were staged Monday in Lhasa, the anniversary of the failed uprising against Chinese rule that led the Dalai Lama to flee into exile.

The government says nobody was arrested during the Drepung protest march and during another smaller pro-independence demonstration largely staged by monks in the center of Lhasa.

Radio Free Asia and sources quoted by rights groups say dozens were arrested and the protests continued for three days until the monasteries were sealed off.

A spokesman for the U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch, Sophie Richardson, said, ''We are witnessing the most visible wave of peaceful dissent against Chinese rule in the Tibetan capital for the past two decades.''

''What is unusual is the harsh crackdown on similar protests in democratic India and Nepal, which raises concerns about whether China is pressurizing those countries.''

The Dalai Lama released a statement from his home in exile earlier this week saying Tibetans had faced increased ''repression'' under Chinese rule in recent years and that the region's culture and language are under threat.

China says massive investment has improved the livelihoods of all Tibetans and it rejects allegations that Tibet's religion and culture are not protected under Communist rule.

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