Russia supports China, UN silent

Russia, which currently enjoys close ties to China, has strongly supported its actions in Tibet and urged its ally to do whatever it had to do to "curtail unlawful actions".

"We express hope that the authorities of the People's Republic of China will take all necessary measures to curtail unlawful actions and ensure the speedy normalisation of the situation in the autonomous region," the Foreign Ministry said.

Western countries offered limited criticism yesterday of China's crackdown on separatist unrest in Tibet while the UN Security Council will likely keep silent about China's crackdown on demonstrations in Tibet, mostly due to belief that provoking Beijing would accomplish nothing, diplomats said yesterday.

China, like the US, Britain, France and Russia, is a permanent veto-wielding member of the council and would be able to block any attempts by the council to act on Tibet.

Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, currently president of the council, told reporters without elaborating that he did not expect the 15-nation Security Council to discuss Tibet. Several other ambassadors confirmed this view.

One diplomat from a council member country, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, told Reuters that the council would likely remain silent.

"I think the idea is that even calling for a discussion of this issue would be rejected by the Chinese and people wonder whether this would accomplish anything," he said.Another diplomat confirmed this view. He also declined to be identified.

The council has in the past taken up issues that some countries have said were purely domestic. After Myanmar authorities cracked down on anti-government protests in the country last year, the UN Security Council issued a statement saying it "deeply regrets" the junta's brutal suppression of protesters.

Myanmar complained about the statement, which its neighbour and trading partner China supported, saying the crackdown was a domestic matter unrelated to international peace and security.

The Security Council has also traditionally been loath to provoke Washington by bringing up issues related to Pakistan, a key US ally in Washington's fight against terrorism.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour on Friday urged the Chinese to allow demonstrators to protest and to ensure that all detainees were treated properly.

The governor of Tibet said no guns had been used against protesters in Lhasa, the regional capital, and that 13 "innocent civilians" had been killed when days of anti-Chinese protests broadened into riots and looting on Friday.

Exiled representatives of Tibet have put the death toll from the protests at 80.