Chinese Internet users have mourned victims died in Lhasa riot on March 14 and condemned Dalai clique as well as its followers since Friday, the Qingming festival, or grave-sweeping day.

An Internet user with a name "Heng Yan" initiated a BBS on www.xinhuanet.com in which netizens are called on to present virtual Khatag, a kind of long piece of silk used by Tibetans for blessing.

"In the riot on March 14 in Lhasa, 18 innocent people were killed. They are our compatriots who once lived as relatives, neighbors, colleagues or friends around us," Heng Yan wrote in the posting.

"Please present a bouquet of flower, a piece of Khatag or just a word to express your condolence," Heng Yan said.

The invitation was responded quickly by postings from netizens who grieve over misery of the victims and their families.

A netizen using a name of Carlos morned the dead with an original poem which emphasized that there were no gulf between Tibetan and Han nationalities or monastery and atheists.

The www.sohu.com also opened a column special for morn the victims. Zhou Rong, executive vice editor-in-chief with news center of the website told that there had been more than 9.6 million bouquets of virtual flower left to the victims on the website by 20:00 on Saturday.

Netizens have published more than 200,000 postings on sohu to morn the victims in the riot with more than 5 million visiting records, according to sohu.

Zhou Xiaopeng, vice director of news center of www.sina.com told Xinhua that the website have received morn than 1.5 million visits with more than 2,500 postings to a BBS on sina.

A posting on sina said, "Although I lived in Linzhi (a city southeast to Lhasa in Tibet), the riot has interfered my peaceful days and Dalai clique with its followers should be punished for the fatal violence, since he who wants to split China will be the enemy of all 1.3 billion Chinese."

"Support to the cracking down on separatists and maintain China's unification" has become consensus of many netizens.

"Rioters are doomed to be punished, 'Tibet Independence' is doomed to fail and no one can destroy China's unification. All hail to the People's Republic of China!" an Internet user posting on sohu from Beijing.

Another sohu user from Jiangsu Province expressed great condolence to the police officer killed in the riot and respect for the police officers on duty in Tibet.

(Xinhua News Agency April 6, 2008)