Official: Situation in Tibet stable, riots unlikely

In response to some media reports that many Tibetan people chose not to celebrate the Tibetan New Year, which fell on Feb 25, to "mourn the activities in 2008", Legqog, director of the standing committee of the Tibetan autonomous regional people's congress, said it was "untrue".

"Everything went on smoothly. People celebrated the New Year exactly the way they always do," he said.

"The Tibetans are enjoying a good life now, so there's no reason for them to not celebrate their traditional holiday," Legqog said.

Kang Jinzhong, political commissar of the armed police force in Tibet, also said the situation in the autonomous region is "stable".

"But we'll pay attention to nip the problem in the bud," he said.

"Maintaining the social stability in Tibet is a lasting and unavoidable responsibility for us."

Kang also said the armed force in Tibet will try to beef up their anti-terrorism efforts, but did not elaborate.

"The Mumbai terrorist attack last year sounded an alarm for us, and we shall be prepared for possible terrorist activities."

Editor:Liu Anqi