Clash over Tibet brings lock-down

BEIJING, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- A clash between Chinese security forces and Tibetan monks and others brought a lockdown to the county of Lithang in Sichuan province, residents said.

The latest furor over Tibet began near the county's main vegetable market Sunday and by the next day had escalated to several hundred Tibetans gathered downtown shouting, "Long live the Dalai Lama." The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists lives in exile in India.

The activist group Free Tibet said the protests were the largest across the Tibetan plateau since violence last spring, which left at least 18 civilians and one police officer dead, The Washington Post said Thursday.

Authorities have gone to great lengths to seal off Tibet. No foreign journalists, except on escorted tours, have been allowed into the region and few Tibetans have been allowed to leave, the Post said.

With the approach next month of the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising of 1959 that ended with the flight of the Dalai Lama to India, the crackdown has become even harsher, residents told the newspaper.