BEIJING (AFP) — China on Sunday stepped up security on the eve of the arrival of the Olympic torch from Greece, where protesters angry over Beijing's crackdown in Tibet tried to disrupt the flame's handover.
Authorities in Beijing clamped down on Tiananmen Square, where the torch will be officially welcomed on Monday before a worldwide relay expected to be dogged by protests over the deadly unrest in Tibet.
Tensions continued to simmer in the Himalayan region, with activist groups reporting a fresh protest in Lhasa at the weekend, while in neighbouring Nepal, police baton-charged Tibetan protesters Sunday, detaining more than 100 people.
Diplomatic shockwaves also reverberated as China hit out at EU foreign ministers who expressed concern over the situation.
"The Tibet issue is completely China's internal affair. No foreign countries or international organizations have the right to interfere in it," said foreign ministry official Jiang Yu, according to Xinhua news agency.
In Athens, Greek officials handed the Olympic flame to the head of the Beijing organising committee, Liu Qi, after police arrested a handful of protesters shouting "Free Tibet."
China, taking no chances before Monday's torch-welcoming ceremony, announced new spot checks on visitors to Tiananmen Square, site of the 1989 democracy protests that were crushed by the government.
The torch, now heading to Beijing on a specially chartered flight, is set to depart China on Tuesday for a four-month relay around the world and throughout China, including stops in Tibet.
Protests in the Tibetan capital Lhasa on March 10 to mark a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule escalated into widespread rioting in the city, which then spread to neighbouring Chinese provinces populated by Tibetans.
Beijing says rioters killed 18 civilians and two police officers. Exiled Tibetan leaders have put the death toll from the Chinese crackdown at 135-140 Tibetans, with another 1,000 injured and many detained.
A fresh protest erupted in Lhasa on Saturday when hundreds of residents panicked as police moved in to check identity papers, according to the International Campaign for Tibet and the Free Tibet Campaign.
The incident prompted police to surround key Buddhist temples in the area and close many shops, according to the activist groups, which added they had received no reports of violence.
Local authorities corroborated the incident in a text message to phone subscribers which said the security checks caused "frightened citizens" to flee, according to the activist groups.
"Please obey the law and please follow the rules," it pleaded. "Don't create rumours, don't believe rumours."
China has come under heavy foreign pressure to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, on the future of the Chinese-ruled region.
The 27 EU foreign ministers meeting in Slovenia added their voice to the calls in discussions on Saturday, earning an angry rebuke.
"We strongly hope the EU and its member states, to make a clear distinction between right and wrong, explicitly condemn the violent crimes of beating, smashing, looting and burning and all those offenders, and avoid taking double-standards," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang said.
Elsewhere, police in Nepal's capital Kathmandu baton-charged protesters -- most of them Tibetans -- during a demonstration outside a Chinese embassy office, detaining more than 100 people, police and witnesses said.
In India, exiled Tibetans on Sunday lit an anti-Olympic "independence torch" that will also be taken around the world, and in Taiwan, demonstrators chanted "Who is the killer? Hu Jintao!" referring to China's president.
China pursued its crackdown at the weekend, with Xinhua reporting late Saturday that police had arrested 26 people and seized guns and other weapons from a monastery whose monks rioted on March 16.
China has ruled Tibet since 1951, a year after sending troops in to "liberate" the region from what it said was feudal rule.
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