West criticizes China mildly; Russia offers support

By Kevin Liffey

LONDON (Reuters) - Western countries offered limited criticism on Monday of China's crackdown on separatist unrest in Tibet, while Russia urged its ally to do whatever it had to to "curtail unlawful actions".

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.

On Monday, troops poured into neighboring areas to enforce control as a midnight deadline neared for protesters to give up.

"Everybody is very concerned about the violence. The Chinese really need to exercise restraint," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters on her plane on her way to Moscow.

"We have really urged the Chinese over several years to find a way to talk with the Dalai Lama, who is a figure of authority, who is not a separatist, and to find a way to engage him and to bring his moral weight to a more sustainable and better solution of the Tibet issue."

Australia, Great Britain, the European Union, and the United Nations echoed the U.S. calls for restraint.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "increasingly concerned" about reports of violence and loss of life in Tibet.

"At this time I urge restraint on the part of the authorities and call on all concerned to avoid further confrontation and violence," Ban told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York.

The EU said in a statement: "We urge the Chinese authorities to refrain from using force against those involved in unrest and call on demonstrators to desist from violence."

By contrast Russia, which currently enjoys close ties to China, strongly supported its 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 normalization of the situation in the autonomous region," the Foreign Ministry said.

There was a more forceful response from the Czech Republic, which lived through more than four decades of authoritarian communist rule in the last century.

"The Czech government demands an immediate release of the detained people, and demands that they are not exposed to inhumane treatment," it said. It also urged access to the region for independent media, and the lifting of censorship.

The U.S. State Department also said it was disturbed by reports China had ordered all remaining foreign journalists out of Tibet.