Chinese leader says fight against Tibetans remains 'very serious'

Islamabad, Oct 27 (ANI): Reacting to comments made by overseas activist groups that Chinese soldiers had executed up to four Tibetans for their role in anti-Chinese riots in the region in March 2008, China's top Communist Party leader in Tibet said the fight against separatism remains "very serious".

According to the Chinese state media, a foreign ministry spokesman on Tuesday confirmed two of those executions, telling reporters that their cases had been handled "in strict accordance with the law."

The unrest, which started in Lhasa, spread to other Tibetan-inhabited regions in China, embarrassing the government as it prepared to host the Beijing Olympics, a foreign news agency reported.

In a speech in Lhasa, Zhang Qingli, urged all levels of government, as well as the military, to step up efforts to ensure public order in the Himalayan region hit by a deadly unrest in 2008, The News reported.

"Since 2005, we have made important contributions to safeguard overall social stability by hitting hard and preventing (separatism) and by building a solid line of defence to strike at hostile people," Zhang said.

"But, at present the anti-separatist struggle in our region remains very serious," the paper quoted him, as saying this week. (ANI)