China tightens Tibetan security

BEIJING, March 9 (UPI) -- China has tightened security in the Tibetan region as people there prepare to mark the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against Beijing.

A police car and a fire engine were damaged when crowds threw homemade bombs during a protest Monday, The Times of London reported. There were no reports of casualties.

Although Tibet technically is autonomous, its current government is directed from Beijing. The Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhists' spiritual and political leader, lives in exile in India. Tuesday commemorates a failed 1959 rebellion that sent the Dalai Lama into exile.

"We have made due deployment and tightened controls at border ports, and key areas and passages along the border in Tibet," Fu Hongyu, an official with China's Ministry of Public Safety Border Control Department, said.

"We will firmly crack down on criminal activities in Tibet's border area that pose a threat to China's sovereignty and government."

Monday's violence occurred in western Qinghai province, China's state-run news agency, Xinhua, reported. The incident began when security officers stopped and searched a truck, resulting in a confrontation that drew onlookers who eventually joined the dispute, Xinhua said.