Police just doing their job, witness says

CHICAGO: Police were just doing their job of upholding the peace in Lhasa, Jim Kreston, a 60-year-old American who witnessed the violence in Tibet, told the Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday.

"I cannot use the word 'crackdown' to comment on the Chinese government's dispersal of the rioters in Lhasa," Kreston, an engineer who lives in Wisconsin, a Midwestern state in the United States, said.

Kreston's family arrived in Lhasa on March 14, the day the riots started, after visiting several other Chinese cities and scenic spots, such as Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Wuhan and the Three Gorges Dam.

"We were to stay at the Dhood Gu Hotel, but as that was at the center of the riots, we were transferred to Xin Ding Hotel.

"We had a wonderful view of the Potala Palace from our bedroom. But we saw some smoke coming from the area of the riots.

"We were not kept from leaving the hotel except that our tour guide said she would appreciate it if we did not leave.

"The shops and repair places were open across the street and there was a fair amount of pedestrian traffic around the hotel including many monks," Kreston said.

"Most of us went to the roof of the hotel for a better look at the situation. No one kept us from going up there," he said.

Kreston said he was disappointed by the US media's reports on the incident.

"In many American newspapers there are pictures of Chinese soldiers beating some demonstrators with sticks. They said they were Chinese soldiers. In fact they are Nepal soldiers."

"I saw Chinese soldiers, I know how they dressed," he said.

"We saw no military and no one carrying weapons. Even at the checkpoints the guards had no weapons."

Commenting on the disruption caused by protesters during the Olympic torch relay, Kreston said: "The Olympic Games has nothing to do with the issue of Tibet.

"And I will be so disappointed with President Bush if he doesn't attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games."

Xinhua

(China Daily 04/17/2008 page6)