Chinese conscript Tibetans

DARJEELING, Jan. 15 (PTI)--All Tibetans in the age group between 14 and 40 have been called up for militar y training under a new Peking regulation which has made the training compulsory, according to reports received here.The conscripts the reports added, were now undergoing intensive training in the use of automatic weapons.

The reports said Potala Palace, which once housed the Dalai Lama, as well as the buildings at Shigatse, seat of the Panchen Lama, had been turned into army headquarters. A new massive building in black brick was going up by the side of Potala Palace Yatung, once a flourishing trade centre near Nathu La pass, had been virtually turned into an army camp housing at least forty thousand Chinese troops, the reports said.

They added that the Chinese had massed troops along the borders of Lachen Lachung in North Sikkim, besides consolidating their positions in Chumbi Valley, an enclave now under their occupation.