Supporters of a free Tibet chided Canadian airplane and train maker Bombardier for signing a new contract to link large Chinese cities with the Tibetan capital Lhassa by rail.

Last October, the manufacturer and its partners were contracted by Beijing to build 20 high-speed trains -- the order was doubled in May -- depositing 382 million US dollars into Bombardier's coffers.

The pro-Tibet demonstrators chastised Bombardier for its involvement in the rail project, which they claimed provided China with the means to accelerate the eradication of Tibet's Buddhist culture and further dominate the once independent country.

"The Chinese government already encourages Chinese settlers to move into Tibet in order to assimilate Tibetans and eliminate their resistance to Chinese rule. The railway will increase this population transfer exponentially, posing a dire threat to Tibetans survival as a people," Lhadon Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, said in a news release.

However, a Canadian analyst who asked not to be named, said the railroad project was planned long before Beijing began a large-scale colonization of Tibet in 1949-1950, dating back to the beginning of the 20th century when president Sun Yat-Sen envisioned connecting all Chinese territories.

Last week, a handful of French protesters chained themselves to a Paris restaurant where Bombardier executives were dining while others picketed the company's headquarters in Montreal during the multinational's annual shareholder meeting.

"Bombardier is derailing Tibet," "Bombardier out of Tibet," and "Cultural genocide" read signs carried by about 20 protesters hoping to sensitize investors of the political risks involved in the project.

"The whole world knows, whether it's a primary school student or head of state like (Canadian Prime Minister) Paul Martin, that there are serious problems in Tibet," Tenzin Dargyal, president of the Canada Tibet Committee, told AFP.

"When you're a businessman, you have to analyze all the risks: financial, technological and political."

"Resolving the political disagreement between China and Tibet is not our responsibility," Bombardier chairman and chief executive Laurent Beaudoin told shareholders, noting that the Dalai Lama, Tibetan political and spiritual leader, approved of the construction to stimulate economic development in the region.

But, pro-Tibet groups rejected those arguments, saying that the railway construction had nothing to do with development. Rather, it threatened the survival of the Tibetan people.

The issue was reignited Thursday when Canadian opposition MP and free Tibet supporter Stockwell Day summoned Canadian government officials and Bombardier executives appear before a foreign affairs committee meeting to explain their actions.

"It's time to make sure the people of Tibet get the answers and assurances they need," he said.

Bombardier has received substantial financial aid from Ottawa, most recently receiving 262.5 million US dollars to develop a new line of airplanes.