China Admits Shooting Tibet Protesters!
Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 01:25PM 
China today admitted for the first time that anti-government demonstrations had spread to other regions and that soldiers had shot rioters "in self-defense".
The state-run Xinhua news agency reported recent unrest in Sichuan and Gansu provinces, blaming supporters of the Dalai Lama.
It said Chinese forces had shot and wounded four rioters "in self defence" during unrest in Sichuan last weekend.
China has come under international pressure to act with restraint in Tibet.
The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, was reported to have "strongly urged" her Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, to tread carefully in the region during a 20-minute phone call.
Rice also pushed Beijing to open talks with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.
Yesterday, Gordon Brown said the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, had told him he was willing to meet the Dalai Lama if the Tibetan leader ruled out independence and renounced violence - conditions which have already been met.
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