China on Saturday said 19 people were killed in riots last week and the official media warned against the unrest spreading to the northwest region of Xinjiang, where Uighur Muslims bridle under Chinese control.

Eighteen civilians and one policeman were killed in Lhasa, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday quoting Chinese officials. It said another 58 people were seriously injured.

But exiled Tibetans claim as many as 100 have died in the protests that spilled over this week into neighbouring ethnic-Tibetan areas.

“China firmly opposes any encouragement or support for the secessionist attempt of the Dalai’s clique,” Foreign Ministry Spokes-man Qin Gang said.

Moreover, pro-Tibet independence elements had attacked 17 Chinese embassies in the US, Europe, Australia and India, The Beijing Times reported.

“The attacks occurred almost simultaneously, an “obvious” sign they were planned and organised by the Dalai clique,” the paper quoted another Chinese Foreign Ministry spokes-man Liu Jianchao. 

Media war

The China Daily dedicated its front page to a report and graphic illustrating what it said was “inaccurate” or “biased reporting” in the West that has put China in a bad light. The state media of the northwest region of Xinjiang also warned against outbreaks of unrest there inspired by Tibetan protests. “No matter whether it’s Tibetan independence, Xinjiang independence or Taiwanese independence, their goal is all the same — to create chaos and split the motherland,” said a commentary on the official Xinjiang news website.

“The Olympic Games in 2008 has led separatists to believe they have a golden opportunity. To put it bluntly, if they don’t wreck things, they won’t feel comfortable, because they won’t have achieved their goal of spoiling China’s image,” the news agency said.