Will China's new leaderschange Tibet policy?

[Backbencher]

As China's new leaders
prepared to take the reins of
power earlier this month in
Beijing, a shocking event was
unfolding 2,000 km away.
In the mountainous region of
western Sichuan, on the Tibetan
plateau, three teenage Tibetan
monks set themselves on fire on
the eve of the Communist Party
congress.
According to London-based
activist group Free Tibet, the
monks called for freedom in Tibet
and the return of the exiled
spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
The youngest monk, a 15-year-old,
died from his injuries.
Since 2011, over 70 Tibetans have
set themselves on fire.
But during the 18th Party
Congress - which approved China's
once-in-a-decade leadership
change - none of the country's top
leaders spoke about the protests.
"The Chinese authorities seem to
be playing down this issue,
especially domestically," says
Robert Barnett, the director of the
Modern Tibet Studies Programme
at Columbia University in New
York.
"This represents a crisis in China's
Tibet policy, and they must be
reluctant for that to become
apparent."
'Desperation'
China's leaders and the six million
Tibetans they govern have had a
strained relationship in recent
decades.
In the 1950s, Beijing reasserted
control in Tibet. Previously, the
Tibetans had largely governed
themselves. It was during this
period the Dalai Lama fled into
exile in India.
In 2008, there were violent
protests in the city of Lhasa which
quickly spread across the region.
They were quelled by the Chinese
authorities.
But last year, trouble flared once
again when Tibetans - mainly
monks and nuns - began setting
themselves on fire in protest
against what they see as political
and religious repression. It has
now become a disturbing trend.
Many of the self-immolations have
taken place in western Sichuan, a
mountainous area with a large
Tibetan population, which until a
few years ago had been relatively
quiet. There have also been large-
scale protests.
China has carried out an extensive
security operation in the region
and has largely prevented foreign
journalists from reaching the
affected areas. There has been
almost no coverage of the events
in the Chinese state media.
But the Tibetan blogger, Tsering
Woeser, scours the internet for
information.
She is routinely harassed by the
Chinese authorities and told the
BBC that she was told to leave
Beijing in August ahead of the
Communist Party Congress. She is
currently in Lhasa.
Ms Woeser told the BBC that there
was growing desperation among
Tibetans and that was why so
many were prepared to set
themselves on fire. She said that
the security measures put in place
by the Chinese authorities were
making the situation worse.
Earlier this month the top human
rights official at the United
Nations, Navi Pillay, said she was
disturbed by reports of detentions,
disappearances and the excessive
use of force against peaceful
demonstrators.
Beijing denounced the statement,
saying it would not tolerate
interference in its internal affairs.
During the party congress,
Qiangba Puncog, legislature
chairman of the Tibet Autonomous
Region, while expressing sympathy
for those who set themselves on
fire, denounced the Dalai Lama.
"They are political victims," he
said. "The Dalai Lama group are
using these people. They have no
concern for the advancements we
made in living standards,
improving facilities and making
more and more people content
and happy."


BBC News - Will China's new leaders change Tibet policy?