LHASA settled into an uneasy calm yesterday as police and plain-clothes agents patrolled the city to prevent renewed turmoil after two days of anti-Chinese riots by Tibetans, according to Western travellers in the Tibetan capital.
Many shops stayed closed and the presence of undercover security agents created an atmosphere of intimidation, they said.
''It's an eerie quiet,'' said one European. ''Normally there are a lot of people on bikes, in cars, and wandering around the stalls. Normally it's crowded around Barkor,'' he said, referring to the main square in Lhasa.
Many of the Chinese and Tibetan stalls around the Barkor were closed yesterday, although department stores and Chinese-run shops in other parts of the city were open for business.
Jokhang temple, the holiest of Tibet's Buddhist shrines, was open, but the numbers of people arriving to worship was far fewer than normal.
The presence of uniformed security forces yesterday was scaled back from Tuesday, when, according to one traveller, ''police were at every corner''.
However, undercover agents seemed to be out in force following the protests. ''It's really unpleasant,'' said one Swiss traveller. ''There are so many plain-clothes . . . asking so many questions. You need to take care when you speak. It is difficult to know who is a policeman.'' A number of foreigners had their visas cancelled for taking pictures during the protests or for simply having been seen walking the streets with cameras. One European said police forced him to write a self-confession, fined him 600 yuan (HK$809), and gave him until today to leave China because he had allegedly participated in the demonstrations and taken pictures.
