(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-19 23:04

LANZHOU  -- Rioters shouting "Tibet independence" slogans attacked government office buildings, schools and burnt down shops in northwest China's Gansu Province, an official with the government said on Wednesday.

Riots that broke out in the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in southern Gansu from Saturday onwards was not coincidental, but coordinated and closely linked with the unrest in Lhasa last Friday, said Zhang Yusheng, a spokesman with the government.

"These sabotages were organized and premeditated, and their roots were  the Dalai Clique, whose ulterior motive was to create unrest, disturb the Beijing Olympics, destroy the peace and stability and separate the country," he said.