China rounds up alleged rioters in Tibet

BEIJING, April 3 (UPI) -- More than 1,000 people have been arrested or have surrendered in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, Chinese officials said Thursday.

Those arrested were allegedly involved in riots in Tibet and in heavily Tibetan areas in China, The Washington Post reported. On the official Lhasa Web site aimed at tourists, the government said that the suspects will be tried in April on charges of inciting to riot.

While the government was cracking down on unrest, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao was urging unity and promising assistance during a tour of Yunnan Province in southwestern China.

"All ethnic groups form one big family," Wen said, as quoted by the New China News Agency. "We must be united and help each other, to prosper and make progress together."

At a news conference in Beijing, Xiao Youcai, deputy chief of the Aba prefecture government in Sichuan Province, said that more than 200 police officers and local officials were hurt during an anti-government riot on March 16. He argued that police showed "great restraint."

China blames the Dalai Lama, the exiled leader of Tibetan Buddhists, for the protests.