Over 70 Japanese evacuate restless Tibet

More than 70 Japanese, mostly tourists, have left the Tibetan capital of Lhasa following protests that turned bloody late last week, sources said Monday.

However, 15 Japanese remained in the city as of noon Monday, according to the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo.

Four are there on long-term visas and the remaining 11 are short-term visitors, the sources said.

There were no reports of injuries among Japanese amid reports that dozens of people may have been killed.

On Saturday, the ministry issued a warning that urged Japanese to postpone planned trips to Lhasa, the capital of the Tibetan autonomous region in western China.

Riots erupted there on Friday.

In response to the warning, travel agencies in Japan are scrambling to tell their customers that scheduled package tours to Lhasa and nearby areas are suspended.

According to Nittsu Ryoko, a travel arm of transportation company Nippon Express Co., 28 tourists on the company's package tour had been in Lhasa since March 8 for a one-week stay.

The tourists, many of whom were university students, did volunteer activities as well as sightseeing.

Most of the 28 tourists left the city as scheduled on Saturday by taking a Qingzang railway train bound for Xining, capital of Qinghai province, which is adjacent to the Tibetan autonomous region.

However, some of the tourists were forced to stay in Lhasa until Sunday, when they took a flight for Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, also bordering the autonomous region.

The two groups were united in Shanghai on Sunday evening.

A total of 34 customers of Tokyo-based Caravan Travel Co. were also forced to change their schedules. As a result of the change, they left for Chengdu on Sunday.

They are slated to return to Japan through Xian, capital of Shaanxi province, today.

An official of a different travel company said, "There are no moves to cancel participation in tours to other parts of China. But we are getting nervous as we get closer to the Olympic Games."(IHT/Asahi: March 18,2008)