Tibetans protest China PM visit
New Delhi: Hundreds of Tibetan exiles marched through New Delhi on Wednesday to protest against Beijing's rule over Tibet, as Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao began a visit to the Indian capital.
India is home to tens of thousands of Tibetan exiles including the Dalai Lama, their spiritual leader who has been based in the northern hill town of Dharamshala since fleeing Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising.
The Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), which organised the protest in Delhi, said it wanted to highlight China's 'occupation and oppression' of Tibet, a mountain region that has seen regular violent unrest against Beijing.
The protesters, who burned an effigy of Wen and said they would demonstrate against the premier's visit until he leaves India for Pakistan on Friday, waved flags and shouted anti-China slogans as they marched through Delhi.
"We will shed our blood and give our lives for the freedom of our homeland," they chanted as armed police monitored the rally closely.
TYC president Tsewang Rinzin called on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to raise the Tibetan homeland campaign during official talks on Thursday.
"History shows that occupation and oppression never lasts forever and until that day comes and to hasten the arrival of that day, we will keep our fight alive," the TYC said in a statement.
The group campaigns for complete independence for Tibet, in contrast to the Dalai Lama who favours autonomy for the region under Chinese rule.
However Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of inciting unrest and wanting to split up China by covertly pushing a pro-independence agenda for Tibet.
Decades of on-off negotiations between Tibetan exiles and the Chinese government have made no tangible progress.
In March 2008, protests in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, against Chinese rule erupted into violence that spread to other areas of western China with Tibetan populations.
Tibet's government-in-exile said more than 200 Tibetans were killed in a subsequent Chinese crackdown.
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