Fresh anti-government protests erupted in western China prompting a new spate of arrests, Tibetans groups said on Friday as Beijing faced blunt calls from prominent world leaders to “face the reality” in Tibet which had become an “international” issue.Police assaulted monks and local residents who were demanding release of fellow Buddhist clergy at a local market in Tongren county in Qinghai province, the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy said.More than 100 ethnic Tibetans, including monks, were detained, the local monastery of Rongwo had been closed to visitors and overnight curfew clamped, AP reported.Japan’s Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi that Beijing must face the reality that Tibetan conflict has become an international issue and should start talks with Tibetans.“China must face the reality that the Tibetan conflict has become an international issue, and should do its utmost to prevent it from affecting the Beijing Olympics,” Fukuda told Yang who is in Tokyo to prepare for Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit.China insists Tibet is an internal issue.Fakuda also asked Beijing to be more open about its recent crackdown on anti-government protests in Tibet that erupted in Lhasa on March 14 coinciding with the 59th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising.European Commissioner Jose Manuel Barroso also intends to “confront” China on the human rights issue when he leads a high-ranking delegation to China next week, the Commission said in Brussels adding “the recent events in Tibet are a further reason to speak about them”.In Paris, French President Nicholas Sarkozy, who had said that he was ready to boycott the August 8 opening ceremony of Olympics unless China starts dialogue with the Dalai Lama, held talks with senior Chinese envoy Zhan Jinjun and discussed the violence in Tibet.
