To: Smiling Bob who wrote (11946 ) 3/15/2008 9:33:43 AM From: Smiling Bob Respond to of 19256 China- Amazes me when I hear analysts talk about the hot market See post this is linked to Message #11946 -- DJ UPDATE: Police Tear Gas Pro-Tibet Protest In Western China . (Updates with government confirmation of protest, details) XIAHE, China (AP)--Police fired tear gas to disperse Buddhist monks and others staging a second day of protests Saturday in western China in sympathy with anti-Chinese demonstrations in Lhasa, local residents said. Several hundred monks marched out of historic Labrang monastery and into the town of Xiahe in the morning, gathering hundreds of other Tibetans with them as they went, the residents said. The crowd attacked government buildings, smashing windows in the county police headquarters, before police fired tear gas to put an end to the protest, the local residents said. A London-based Tibetan activist group, Free Tibet Campaign, said 20 people were arrested, citing unidentified sources in Xiahe. "Many windows in shops and houses were smashed," said an employee at a hotel, who did not want either his or the hotel's name used for fear of retaliation. He said he did not see any Tibetans arrested or injured but said some police were hurt. Local government offices confirmed the protest occurred, but not arrests. An official in the Religious Affairs Bureau said the protesters were not from Xiahe and were told to leave. Hours after the morning protest, windows in the police headquarters stood shattered. Paramilitary police with helmets and riot shields and two armored personnel carriers sealed off streets hung with advertisements for mobile carrier China Unicom where the protesters had marched. Labrang is one of several large Buddhist monasteries built hundreds of years ago on the fringes of the Tibetan plateau. On Friday, hundreds of Labrang monks marched through Xiahe holding aloft Tibetan flags, which are banned in China, in a show of support for Tibetans demonstrating in the Tibetan regional capital of Lhasa. The Lhasa protests turned violent and Chinese security forces locked down the capital Saturday, patrolling the streets in visible numbers. Matt Whitticase of the Free Tibet Campaign said Tibetans in the area told his group about two other protests in other towns. (END) Dow Jones Newswires March 15, 2008 09:15 ET (13:15 GMT) Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 09 15 AM EDT 03-15-08