Nearly 150 anti-China demonstrators arrested in Nepal

Mar 31, 2008, 8:54 GMT

Kathmandu - Nepalese police Monday detained nearly 150 anti-China demonstrators in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu as Tibetan exiles kept up their protests against repression in their homeland.

The demonstrators were rounded up and dragged into police vans and trucks from the Chinese embassy visa office, which has become the new focus of Tibetan demonstrations.

The anti-Chinese demonstrations by Tibetans on Monday were by far the biggest since the protests erupted on 10 March.

About 350 demonstrators, including monks, nuns and youths, carried placards calling for a free Tibet and denounced Chinese actions in Lhasa recently.

The demonstrators also carried with them Tibetan national flags and chanted 'Free Tibet, Long Live Dalai Lama', 'Stop killings in Tibet,' from the trucks and vans as they were driven off to detention centres.

The demonstrators tried to converge on the Chinese embassy visa offices in small groups but were detained by riot police before they could reach the area.

Most of the detained protestors were expected to be released by Monday evening.

More than 20,000 Tibetan exiles are concentrated mainly in Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara in western Nepal.

The figure does not include Tibetans who arrived in the country after 1990 because the Nepalese government stopped registering them as refugees.

An estimated 3,000 Tibetans arrive in Nepal each year, crossing dangerous mountain passes and risking their lives to flee Chinese rule.

The Nepalese government has repeatedly said it considers Tibet to be part of China and will not tolerate anti-Chinese activities.

Nepal has continued to break up Tibetan protests using force despite coming under intense criticism from human rights groups.