A top Tibet official Thursday corrected a misconception that the recent riots in Lhasa targeted only Han residents, saying the notion is meant to undermine ethnic unity.

Tibetans also fell victim to the March 14 riots, said Baema Chilain, vice-chairman of the Tibet autonomous region.

Of the 18 innocent people killed, three were Tibetans; and stores owned by Tibetans and Hui people were also burnt down or looted around the city's business center, he said.

While Tibetans make up more than 90 percent of the population in the region, Baema Chilain stressed the government is obliged to protect the rights of people of about 20 other ethnic groups.

He made the remarks while addressing a media group, including overseas journalists, on a three-day trip to Lhasa to interview victims, police officers and criminal suspects.

Some rioters, mostly Tibetans and a few Han people, said they were forced to join the looting and arson. Others said they had no idea what was going on when they were summoned by mobs.

"I was threatened and forced by some strangers to take part in the riots. I feel very regretful over that I want to say sorry to the victims," said 25-year-old Daindar, who turned himself in.

According to Baema Chilain, the local police have detained 414 criminal suspects for taking part in the riots. Among them are Tibetans, both monks and laymen, as well as Han people, he said.

Baema Chilain also said that 289 people who took part in the riots had turned themselves in so far, and 111 had been released.

Meanwhile, six of the 53 most wanted leaders of the riots have also surrendered to the police; and four more have been arrested.

With the situation in Lhasa back to normal, the local authorities are offering tax exemptions or interest-free loans to businessmen whose stores were destroyed in the riots, China Daily has learnt.

Baema Chilain also promised that tourists from both home and abroad might soon be able to come here. "Tibet is, and will, remain open to the outside world. The recent riots will not hinder our development and stability."

The mayor of Lhasa said yesterday that monks who participated in the recent riots still perform their religious duties and have full access to food, water and power supply.

Doje Cezhug made the remarks in response to some overseas reports that daily supplies for those monks had been cut off.

Major temples including Jokhang Temples, Sera Temple and Zebang Temple "enjoy stable water, food and power supply. And the religious activities there are normal as usual," he said.

The media group yesterday visited a Tibetan clinic and a school which were destroyed, and a clothing store where five sales assistants were burnt to death by rioters.

Monks' disruption played up

LHASA: The first group of overseas journalists to visit Lhasa after the March 14 riots yesterday reported extensively on a group of Buddhist monks who disrupted a media tour at the Jokhang Temple in the morning.

A group of 30 monks in crimson robes, mostly in their 20s, rushed suddenly toward the journalists as they were being taken into an inner sanctum of the temple.

The monks screamed that the recent riots had nothing to do with the Dalai Lama but did not provide any proof to back up their claims.

Some of their claims were contradictory. For example, they claimed to be eyewitnesses to casualties during the riots. But they also said they had been confined at the temple by local police for security reasons since March 11 when some monks began to hold protests.

The monks' one-sided claims were widely quoted and broadcast by the overseas journalists, who did not check their veracity.

Organizers of the media tour, including officials from the State Council Information Office, did not interrupt the interview, letting it continue for about 15 minutes, the same duration as other on-the-spot interviews on the itinerary.

The journalists, from 19 media organizations including the Associated Press, Financial Times and South China Morning Post, are on a three-day trip to Lhasa which ends today.

(China Daily March 28, 2008)