By Prensa Latina
Beijing : China is paying compensation to the relatives of the civilian victims of the violent secessionist riots in Tibet and will continue to pay as victims are officially identified.
The first recipients were the relatives of two youth and three workers from a Yishion chain store that the rioters sacked and burnt on March 14 in downtown Lhasa, capital of Tibet.
The first identified bodies were those of He Xinxin, 19, that began working at the shop seven days earlier, and Tibetan Cering Zhoigar, who worked to help her family of farmers.
Most of the 18 fatal victims, including an 18-month baby and a policeman, fell in the arson caused by secessionists, which wounded 623, including 382 civilians and 241 law enforcement agents.
Chinese Foreign Minister Jiang Yu denied statements by Dalai Lama claiming rumors that hundreds of soldiers mingled with the rioters, adding that the truth on the violent crimes in Lhasa is well exposed with solid, undeniable evidence, added the official.
Luo Jie, 14, whose picture the German media circulated as victim of Chinese repression, said the agents rescued him from rioters that stoned and battered him with sticks. His face was all bloody when the police rescued him and took him to an ambulance.