Chinese troops converged on Tibetan areas of western China Friday as the government issued a 'Most Wanted' list for 21 rioters involved with last week's protests in Lhasa, Tibet's capital.
The list, posted on major Internet portals, shows grainy photos of 21 people accused of endangering national security.
The group is cited for a variety of activities including beating, smashing, looting and arson.
One suspect is shown with a long sword and another mustached man is recognizable from footage showing him attacking another man with a foot-long blade.
China's official state media said Friday that two of the 21 suspects had been arrested and a third turned himself into authorities.
Rewards are being offered for the other suspects. So far, 24 people have been arrested and 170 others have turned themselves in, said state media.
Tibetans began protesting early last week, timed for the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against the Chinese government.
China took control of a then-independent Tibet in 1950.
The initial protests, which eventually turned violent, led to further demonstrations in neighbouring provinces, prompting a heavy-handed reaction from the Chinese government.
"What happened in Lhasa and central Tibet last week really just sparked people's emotions," Lhadon Tethong, executive-director of Students for a Free Tibet, told 麻豆影视net on Friday.
"People feel so frustrated, so marginalized, they just feel pushed to the edge and they have nothing left to lose."
She said even though Tibetans know going into the streets is for many a "certain death sentence" they don't care anymore.
"Although their fearful, that's how bad life is inside," she said.
On Friday, thousands of troops on foot and in trucks and helicopters were sent into western China and tourists and journalists have been warned to stay away.
"The government is trying to clamp down hard and stop all dissent in these areas," CTV's Steve Chao reported Friday from Beijing.
Pelosi visits the Dalai Lama
Meanwhile, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met Friday with the Dalai Lama in India and called the current crisis "a challenge to the conscience of the world."
Pelosi, a long-time critic of China's human rights record, is the first major official to visit the Dalai Lama since the protests turned violent last week.
"If freedom loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China and the Chinese in Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak out on human rights," Pelosi told a crowd of thousands of Tibetans.
China has accused the Dalai Lama of orchestrating the protests which began as peaceful demonstrations ahead of this summer's Beijing Olympics, which begin on Aug. 8.
"There's no question that the international community is turning a great deal of attention on China and how China deals with this crackdown," said Chao.
Tibetan exile groups claim 99 people have been killed, 80 in Lhasa and 19 in Gansu, reports The Associated Press. However, Beijing says only 16 have died.
The protests mark the biggest uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet in almost two decades.
With files from The Associated Press
