British government "concerned" at unrest in Tibet, urges restraint

Mar 17, 2008, 12:18 GMT

London - Britain Monday expressed 'concern' at the unrest in Tibet and said it had urged the Chinese government to exercise restraint in dealing with the protests, a spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.

He said the government was in daily touch with the authorities in Beijing and the Chinese embassy in London, and had called for restraint.

'We are following with concern recent unrest in Tibet, as well as related incidents in India and Nepal and have called on the Chinese authorities to exercise restraint,' said the spokesman.

'We are taking this very seriously...It is difficult to establish at the moment what the full facts are,' said the spokesman.

Tibetan exiles in Britain were Monday planning a further demonstration at the Chinese embassy in London as the Chinese 'deadline' over an end to unrest in the province comes into force.

But a spokesman for the Free Tibet campaign in Britain Monday urged the government to make 'strong representations' in Beijing.

'The British government must now pull its head out of the sand. The government must make very strong representations to China,' said Matt Whitticase, spokesman for the group.

Brown's spokesman said the European Union (EU) would be making a statement on the situation later Monday.