Ragdi indignant over distorted Western coverage on Lhasa riot

Source: Xinhua | 03-19-2008 11:28

BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Former vice-chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee Ragdi said here Wednesday morning that the distorted news coverage on the recent Lhasa riot is "outrageous and ill motivated".

"Some Western media purposely distorted the facts and viciously described severe crime as peaceful demonstration, so as to slander our legitimate efforts to keeping social stability as violent crackdown," the Tibet-born Ragdi said.

"It's outrageous that the irresponsible news coverage of some Western media even failed to discover facts of the riot," Ragdi told a meeting of the Counseling Committee on Development of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

"Without knowing even the basic facts about the crime made by rioters," Ragdi said, "some Western media posed as hypocrites to clamorously advise the Chinese government not suppress peaceful demonstration and respect human rights."

"No government in the world would sit idly by as such a severe riot occurs, no government would do nothing to prevent further harmful activities, no government would allow the lawless to make terrors and destabilize social security," Ragdi said.

Editor:Zhang Ning