About 30 people have been killed during unrest in Lhasa, according to the Tibetan government-in-exile in India, although China's state-run Xinhua news agency earlier put the figure at 10, citing government officials.

The arm-flexing has caused newspapers around the world to start talking about a possible boycott of the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing.

'This incident fully reflects the Chinese government's characteristics: dictatorship and bullying. Such a government won't tolerate the Tibetan people in their pursuit of speech of freedom,' pro-independence President Chen Shui-bian told a crowd in southern Chiayi city Saturday.

Taiwan's foreign ministry added in a statement that 'China attempts to promote the illusion of its 'peaceful rise' by hosting the 2008 Beijing Olympics but in fact it targets Taiwan with missiles and suppresses Tibetan people's pursuit for freedom and democracy'.

Beijing still regards Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification - the two sides split in 1949 after a civil war - and has repeatedly threatened to invade should it declare formal independence.

The Tibetan issue is already a source of tension between New Delhi and Beijing, with India playing host to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama as well as his government-in-exile.

'We are distressed by reports of the unsettled situation and violence in Lhasa, and by the deaths of innocent people,' India's foreign ministry said in a statement.

'We would hope that all those involved will work to improve the situation and remove the causes of such trouble in Tibet, which is an autonomous region of China, through dialogue and non-violent means,' it added.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday urged the Chinese government to 'exercise restraint' in responding to protests in Tibet and called for the release of detained monks.

'We call on the Chinese government to exercise restraint in dealing with these protests, and we strongly urge all sides to refrain from violence,' Dr Rice said in a statement.

'We urge China to respect the fundamental and universally recognized right of all of its citizens to peacefully express their political and religious views, and we call on China to release monks and others who have been detained solely for the peaceful expression of their views,' she said.

Japan, which has been trying to repair relations with China, has taken a relatively low profile on Tibet, but a foreign ministry statement urged Beijing to show restraint.

Germany meanwhile backed the Tibetans' rights to religious and cultural autonomy, while 'supporting the policy of a single China'.

'A lasting solution to the Tibet question can perhaps only be found through a peaceful and direct dialogue,' Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said in a statement.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said in his blog: 'The fact that Tibet is a part of China does not relieve Chinese authorities of their duties (...) Quite the contrary. It is their utmost responsibility to ensure that Tibetan rights are fully respected.' Meanwhile, nearly 2,000 people rallied in Zurich with Swiss nationals joining Tibetan protesters outside the Chinese consulate, the news agency ATS reported.

Some demonstrators pelted the building with stones before police intervened with tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Switzerland's foreign ministry demanded the 'immediate' liberation of peaceful protesters held in Tibet.

Italy also demanded an end to the 'intolerable' 'repression and killings' and strongly condemned the crackdown.

Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said Europe had been asking China for years to engage in talks.

'The Dalai Lama doesn't want independence, he's not trying to break up one China, but he does want recognition for the Tibetan people's rights, their history and their religious expression,' Mr D'Alema added.

But the minister refused to comment on calls to boycott the Beijing Olympics, saying that 'would only serve to create division and spread confusion'. -- AFP

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