Unrest spreads in China's Tibetan areas
By Marianne Barriaux (AFP)
BEIJING Police in China shot dead more protesters in Tibetan-inhabited areas as unrest spread, official media and an advocacy group said Wednesday, amid signs of a physical and virtual lockdown on the region.
China's Sichuan province, which has big populations of ethnic Tibetans, many of whom complain of severe repression, has been rocked by violent clashes this week -- some of the worst since huge protests against Chinese rule in 2008.
The United States on Tuesday said it was "seriously concerned" by the situation, calling on Chinese security forces to "exercise restraint" and urging authorities to allow journalists and diplomats into flashpoint areas.
There were indications on Wednesday that the authorities were restricting movement and communications in the region as unrest spread.
Phone numbers that previously worked were suddenly unavailable and one local reached by AFP said his town had been closed off by authorities.
The situation has prompted Lobsang Sangay, head of the India-based Tibetan government-in-exile, to call on the international community "to not remain passive" and "to intervene to prevent further bloodshed".
The unrest comes at a time of increasing tensions in Tibetan-inhabited areas, where at least 16 people have set themselves ablaze in less than a year -- including four this month alone -- over a lack of religious freedom.
In the latest bout of violence, police opened fire on a protest in Seda county on Tuesday, killing two protesters and injuring scores of others, according to the exiled Tibetan government and advocacy group Free Tibet.
The official Xinhua news agency, citing local authorities, said police had shot dead only one "rioter" and injured another, adding they had to use lethal force after a violent mob attacked them with knives, gasoline bottles and guns.
The government, police and locals in Seda contacted by AFP would not comment.
Free Tibet Director Stephanie Brigden disputed the official account of Tuesday's violence, saying "there has never been any evidence of any Tibetan protest where knives have been used".
"Of all the freedom movements across the globe the Tibetan movement is probably the most well known non-violent struggle," Brigden told AFP.
The incident came a day after security forces shot at a crowd of Tibetans protesting against religious repression in the nearby town of Luhuo, killing at least two and injuring more than 30, according to locals and rights groups.
Monks reached by phone on Monday and Tuesday at the Drakgo Monastery in Luhuo said police shot at the crowd through the windows of the police station, and wounded people had taken refuge in the monastery as thousands of armed officers stood guard outside.
China's foreign ministry, however, said the Luhuo protesters were also violent. On Tuesday, spokesman Hong Lei accused "overseas secessionist groups" of trying to discredit the government by hyping accounts of what happened.
By Wednesday, AFP was unable to telephone anyone in Luhuo -- not even police and government offices -- as calls were met with a rapid beeping tone, suggesting phone lines in the town may have been disabled.
Phone calls to hotels and restaurants in neighbouring Daofu county met with the same ring tone.
The few people AFP was able to contact described a huge security presence and restrictions on people's movements.
In Aba county, where Free Tibet says another protest erupted on Monday but was soon quelled by police with tear gas, a hotel worker said there were "lots of armed forces and armed vehicles on the street."
"No outsiders can come freely into Aba. People who want to come in must be screened and show valid ID," the man, who refused to be named, told AFP. Another hotel employee in the same place confirmed the big security presence.
Beijing insists Tibetans enjoy freedom of religious belief and says their lives have been made better by huge ongoing investment into Tibetan-inhabited areas.
It blames the Dalai Lama -- who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule -- for fomenting much of the unrest in a bid to split Tibet from the rest of China, which the Buddhist spiritual leader denies.
On the Tibetan government-in-exile's website, prime minister Sangay said it was "high time for (the international community) to intervene to prevent further bloodshed" following the unrest this week.
"How long and how many tragic deaths are necessary before the world takes a firm moral stand?" he said.
On Tuesday, Maria Otero, special coordinator for Tibetan issues at the US State Department, said Washington had repeatedly urged China to address "counterproductive policies in Tibetan areas".
AFP: Unrest spreads in China's Tibetan areas
---------- Post added at 06:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:56 PM ----------
Two more Tibetans killed by Chinese forces after protests: group
(Reuters) - Two Tibetans in China's southwestern Sichuan province were killed when security forces fired on demonstrators, a Tibetan advocacy group said, upping the death toll in several clashes over government controls to four since Monday.
The violence is likely to add to rising tensions in the rebellious Tibetan highlands of Sichuan that border Tibet, where security forces have struggled to maintain control over heavily Buddhist communities.
At least two people were shot dead and many were wounded during protests in Seda County on Tuesday, the London-based Free Tibet group said late the same day.
"Locals describe the town as being under curfew: they have been told not to leave their homes and they are now afraid that if they do they will be shot," the group said in a statement.
Calls to the county government and public security bureau, about 680 km (423 miles) west of Sichuan's capital of Chengdu, were not answered.
But on Wednesday, the official Xinhua News Agency confirmed the clashes in Seda, saying police were forced to open fire killing one "rioter" when protesters attacked a police station with gasoline bottles, knives and stones.
"Police were forced to use force after efforts involving persuasion and non-lethal weapon defense failed to disperse the mob," Xinhua said, adding that 14 police officers were injured and 13 people were arrested.
The news agency earlier confirmed a separate clash on Monday in Luhuo township, called Drango or Draggo by Tibetans, in the western highlands of Sichuan near Tibet. It said one protester was killed and five police officers were hurt.
Free Tibet in a separate statement late on Tuesday said it had confirmed that at least two Tibetans had been killed in Monday's incident in Luhuo and that it had the names of 36 people wounded in the clash.
The group, which campaigns for Tibetan self-determination, also said that troops fired teargas in a third location in Sichuan -- Meruma township, Aba County, called Ngaba County by Tibetans -- after people protested.
Security forces have been on edge after 16 incidents of Tibetans setting themselves on fire over the past year in response to resentment of Beijing's controls on religion.
Most of the incidents occurred in Sichuan. Some of the protesters have called for the return of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Buddhist leader revered by many Tibetans.
Other advocacy groups and a resident in a village near Luhuo reached by Reuters had slightly varying accounts of the incidents, which are difficult to verify because the government restricts travel to Tibet and parts of Sichuan.
The Tibetan government in exile in India said on its website five people had been shot dead in the two incidents.
ON THE DIPLOMATIC BACKBURNER
The clashes come at an awkward time for China as Vice President Xi Jinping -- expected to replace President Hu Jintao in a leadership handover late this year -- prepares for a visit to Washington in February.
U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Maria Otero said in a statement the United States was "gravely concerned" about the reports of violence.
"The U.S. government repeatedly has urged the Chinese government to address the counterproductive policies in Tibetan areas that have created tensions and that threaten the distinct religious, cultural and linguistic identity of the Tibetan people," Otero said.
Analysts, however, say the government's policies leave little hope of easing tension, and China's economic influence has put other countries' efforts to broach human rights -- including those of the United States -- on the backburner.
"What dominates the U.S.-China relationship has more to do with trade and economics than human rights and Tibet," Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, said.
"We have to consider that even though these policies are failing to win over Tibetans to the Chinese state, they are very effective in cementing China's control," Bequelin said. "It seems the leadership has made the calculation that it can rule without the consent of Tibetans."
China has ruled what it calls the Tibet Autonomous Region since Communist troops marched in in 1950. It rejects criticism that it is eroding Tibetan culture and faith, saying its rule has ended serfdom and brought development to a backward region.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
China's Foreign Ministry has branded the self-immolators "terrorists" and has said the Dalai Lama, whom it condemns a supporter of violent separatism, should take the blame.
Two more Tibetans killed by Chinese forces after protests: group | Reuters
The Associated Press: Clashes spread in Tibetan region in China
By Marianne Barriaux (AFP)
BEIJING Police in China shot dead more protesters in Tibetan-inhabited areas as unrest spread, official media and an advocacy group said Wednesday, amid signs of a physical and virtual lockdown on the region.
China's Sichuan province, which has big populations of ethnic Tibetans, many of whom complain of severe repression, has been rocked by violent clashes this week -- some of the worst since huge protests against Chinese rule in 2008.
The United States on Tuesday said it was "seriously concerned" by the situation, calling on Chinese security forces to "exercise restraint" and urging authorities to allow journalists and diplomats into flashpoint areas.
There were indications on Wednesday that the authorities were restricting movement and communications in the region as unrest spread.
Phone numbers that previously worked were suddenly unavailable and one local reached by AFP said his town had been closed off by authorities.
The situation has prompted Lobsang Sangay, head of the India-based Tibetan government-in-exile, to call on the international community "to not remain passive" and "to intervene to prevent further bloodshed".
The unrest comes at a time of increasing tensions in Tibetan-inhabited areas, where at least 16 people have set themselves ablaze in less than a year -- including four this month alone -- over a lack of religious freedom.
In the latest bout of violence, police opened fire on a protest in Seda county on Tuesday, killing two protesters and injuring scores of others, according to the exiled Tibetan government and advocacy group Free Tibet.
The official Xinhua news agency, citing local authorities, said police had shot dead only one "rioter" and injured another, adding they had to use lethal force after a violent mob attacked them with knives, gasoline bottles and guns.
The government, police and locals in Seda contacted by AFP would not comment.
Free Tibet Director Stephanie Brigden disputed the official account of Tuesday's violence, saying "there has never been any evidence of any Tibetan protest where knives have been used".
"Of all the freedom movements across the globe the Tibetan movement is probably the most well known non-violent struggle," Brigden told AFP.
The incident came a day after security forces shot at a crowd of Tibetans protesting against religious repression in the nearby town of Luhuo, killing at least two and injuring more than 30, according to locals and rights groups.
Monks reached by phone on Monday and Tuesday at the Drakgo Monastery in Luhuo said police shot at the crowd through the windows of the police station, and wounded people had taken refuge in the monastery as thousands of armed officers stood guard outside.
China's foreign ministry, however, said the Luhuo protesters were also violent. On Tuesday, spokesman Hong Lei accused "overseas secessionist groups" of trying to discredit the government by hyping accounts of what happened.
By Wednesday, AFP was unable to telephone anyone in Luhuo -- not even police and government offices -- as calls were met with a rapid beeping tone, suggesting phone lines in the town may have been disabled.
Phone calls to hotels and restaurants in neighbouring Daofu county met with the same ring tone.
The few people AFP was able to contact described a huge security presence and restrictions on people's movements.
In Aba county, where Free Tibet says another protest erupted on Monday but was soon quelled by police with tear gas, a hotel worker said there were "lots of armed forces and armed vehicles on the street."
"No outsiders can come freely into Aba. People who want to come in must be screened and show valid ID," the man, who refused to be named, told AFP. Another hotel employee in the same place confirmed the big security presence.
Beijing insists Tibetans enjoy freedom of religious belief and says their lives have been made better by huge ongoing investment into Tibetan-inhabited areas.
It blames the Dalai Lama -- who fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule -- for fomenting much of the unrest in a bid to split Tibet from the rest of China, which the Buddhist spiritual leader denies.
On the Tibetan government-in-exile's website, prime minister Sangay said it was "high time for (the international community) to intervene to prevent further bloodshed" following the unrest this week.
"How long and how many tragic deaths are necessary before the world takes a firm moral stand?" he said.
On Tuesday, Maria Otero, special coordinator for Tibetan issues at the US State Department, said Washington had repeatedly urged China to address "counterproductive policies in Tibetan areas".
AFP: Unrest spreads in China's Tibetan areas
---------- Post added at 06:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:56 PM ----------
Two more Tibetans killed by Chinese forces after protests: group
(Reuters) - Two Tibetans in China's southwestern Sichuan province were killed when security forces fired on demonstrators, a Tibetan advocacy group said, upping the death toll in several clashes over government controls to four since Monday.
The violence is likely to add to rising tensions in the rebellious Tibetan highlands of Sichuan that border Tibet, where security forces have struggled to maintain control over heavily Buddhist communities.
At least two people were shot dead and many were wounded during protests in Seda County on Tuesday, the London-based Free Tibet group said late the same day.
"Locals describe the town as being under curfew: they have been told not to leave their homes and they are now afraid that if they do they will be shot," the group said in a statement.
Calls to the county government and public security bureau, about 680 km (423 miles) west of Sichuan's capital of Chengdu, were not answered.
But on Wednesday, the official Xinhua News Agency confirmed the clashes in Seda, saying police were forced to open fire killing one "rioter" when protesters attacked a police station with gasoline bottles, knives and stones.
"Police were forced to use force after efforts involving persuasion and non-lethal weapon defense failed to disperse the mob," Xinhua said, adding that 14 police officers were injured and 13 people were arrested.
The news agency earlier confirmed a separate clash on Monday in Luhuo township, called Drango or Draggo by Tibetans, in the western highlands of Sichuan near Tibet. It said one protester was killed and five police officers were hurt.
Free Tibet in a separate statement late on Tuesday said it had confirmed that at least two Tibetans had been killed in Monday's incident in Luhuo and that it had the names of 36 people wounded in the clash.
The group, which campaigns for Tibetan self-determination, also said that troops fired teargas in a third location in Sichuan -- Meruma township, Aba County, called Ngaba County by Tibetans -- after people protested.
Security forces have been on edge after 16 incidents of Tibetans setting themselves on fire over the past year in response to resentment of Beijing's controls on religion.
Most of the incidents occurred in Sichuan. Some of the protesters have called for the return of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Buddhist leader revered by many Tibetans.
Other advocacy groups and a resident in a village near Luhuo reached by Reuters had slightly varying accounts of the incidents, which are difficult to verify because the government restricts travel to Tibet and parts of Sichuan.
The Tibetan government in exile in India said on its website five people had been shot dead in the two incidents.
ON THE DIPLOMATIC BACKBURNER
The clashes come at an awkward time for China as Vice President Xi Jinping -- expected to replace President Hu Jintao in a leadership handover late this year -- prepares for a visit to Washington in February.
U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Maria Otero said in a statement the United States was "gravely concerned" about the reports of violence.
"The U.S. government repeatedly has urged the Chinese government to address the counterproductive policies in Tibetan areas that have created tensions and that threaten the distinct religious, cultural and linguistic identity of the Tibetan people," Otero said.
Analysts, however, say the government's policies leave little hope of easing tension, and China's economic influence has put other countries' efforts to broach human rights -- including those of the United States -- on the backburner.
"What dominates the U.S.-China relationship has more to do with trade and economics than human rights and Tibet," Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, said.
"We have to consider that even though these policies are failing to win over Tibetans to the Chinese state, they are very effective in cementing China's control," Bequelin said. "It seems the leadership has made the calculation that it can rule without the consent of Tibetans."
China has ruled what it calls the Tibet Autonomous Region since Communist troops marched in in 1950. It rejects criticism that it is eroding Tibetan culture and faith, saying its rule has ended serfdom and brought development to a backward region.
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
China's Foreign Ministry has branded the self-immolators "terrorists" and has said the Dalai Lama, whom it condemns a supporter of violent separatism, should take the blame.
Two more Tibetans killed by Chinese forces after protests: group | Reuters
The Associated Press: Clashes spread in Tibetan region in China
