Beijing, April 5:

China today signalled it would step up a campaign to re-educate Tibetans in an effort to turn them into “patriots”, following nearly a month of protests against Chinese rule of Tibet.

“It is necessary to reinforce patriotic education,” Tibet’s deputy Communist Party chief Hao Peng was quoted in the Tibet Daily as telling a group of influential monks in the remote Himalayan region.

“Guide the monks so that they continue to foster the tradition of love of religion, love of the country and to hold high the banner of patriotic progress.

“(You must) set an example among the temples of Tibetan Buddhism.” Hao was speaking on Thursday at the ancient Tashilumpo monastery in Shigatse, the seat of the Panchen Lama, who ranks number two in Tibetan Buddhist’s hierarchy behind the Dalai Lama.

China has been trying to quell nearly four weeks of protests against its 57-year rule of Tibet, unrest that has turned deadly and deeply angered leaders in Beijing as they prepare to host the Olympics in August. China says Tibetan rioters have killed 18 civilians and two policemen in the unrest, while Tibet’s exiled leaders say 135-140 people have been killed in a Chinese crackdown.

In the latest major protest, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported police were forced to fire warning shots at “rioters” in Garze county, Sichuan province, on Thursday after the protesters seriously injured a local official.

But Tibetan activist groups said police fired directly into the protesters, killing at least eight.

The activist groups said tensions in the area escalated after authorities went to the local monastery and tried to conduct a “re-education” campaign.

Monks at the Tonkhor monastery were ordered to denounce the Dalai Lama. They refused to do so, according to the activists. In his speech, Hao called for the Tashilumpo monks to teach others to “strictly respect” Chinese law.

Paris sets conditions

PARIS: French President Nicholas Sarkozy will boycott the opening of the Beijing Olympics unless China opens dialogue with the Dalai Lama and frees political prisoners, a French minister told Le Monde on Saturday.

Secretary of State for Human Rights Rama Yade said these conditions were “indispensable” for Sarkozy to attend the opening of the Games in Beijing. Sarkozy will announce his decision “after consulting with our European partners, because he will then be speaking as current EU president,” Yade said. — AFP