Chinese state-sponsored media today blasted US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her stance supporting Tibet. Belligerent editorials from the official Xinhua news agency ripped Pelosi as "the most disgusting person" and a "protector of mobsters, arsonists and murderers." Pelosi has urged President Bush to boycott the opening ceremony of the upcoming Olympic games to protest China's human rights abuses.
The broadside came a day after nine Buddhist monks were arrested for allegedly bombing a Chinese government building, and amid rumors that new clashes between Tibetan activists and Chinese security forces loomed in Lhasa. The Dalai Lama, meanwhile, spoke yesterday to an enthusiastic crowd of 50,000 people in Seattle. (More 2008 Beijing Olympics stories.)