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The Chinese regime is defending the shooting of Tibetan protesters in China's southwest Sichuan province on the first and second day of the Lunar New Year. Activists are saying the oppressive regime was what triggered the unrest in Tibet.

On Tuesday, the Chinese regime defended its shooting of unarmed Tibetan protesters in China's Sichuan Province on the first and second day of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Overseas Tibetan advocacy groups said at least seven Tibetans were killed and dozens were wounded during the two days of shooting.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said external forces had instigated the protests and the series of self-immolations in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman called the unarmed protesters criminals.

[Liu Weimin, Foreign Ministry Spokesman]:
"Currently the situation has been effectively dealt with. We believe that the recent series of events had clearly been masterminded and stirred up by someone behind the scenes."

The Chinese regime blames exiled Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama—the Tibetan spiritual leader—who fled to India after a failed uprising in 1959, for encouraging the protests.

According to Radio Free Asia, three more Tibetans set themselves on fire last Friday, in the aftermath of the shooting.

Amid the unrest, the Chinese regime has stepped up its already-heavy security across the Tibetan Autonomous Region—cutting off communications and blocking foreign media correspondents from reporting.

A Tibetan poet and activist said the protests and self-immolations show Tibetans' growing despair.