By IANS
Kathmandu : Unable to stop US President George W. Bush from meeting Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama and furious at the US Congress for bestowing its highest civilian honour on the exiled Nobel laureate, China has stepped up curbs in Tibet, closing down websites and blogs in the latest offensive.
At least five Tibetans were arrested in Tibet’s Amdo province for celebrating after the Dalai Lama received the Congressional gold medal while a popular website and two blogs were closed down.
The first to be axed was www.tibettl.com/blog that was closed Oct 16. Soon after, www.tibetcm.com and www.tibetcm.com/blog suffered the same fate.
The closure of the websites comes in the wake of international media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders issuing a report, saying how repressive governments, in a bid to undermine media freedom, were turning their sights on websites and blogs.
With Beijing due to host the 2008 Olympics, China has been trying to block any reference to the Dalai Lama and Tibet that shows the people of the region do not identify with the Chinese and want to adhere to their own culture, religion and language.
China has begun a massive public relations exercise in its southern neighbour Nepal, inviting groups of Nepali journalists to Tibet so that they can write about the region’s development and prosperity under Beijing’s control.