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Young man demands freedom for Tibet, tells China police to come arrest him
Neighbors rise up to protect him, and a student is shot dead
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
The Associated Press
BEIJING A young man posts his photo with a leaflet
demanding freedom for Tibet and telling Chinese police, come
and get me. Protesters rise up to defend him, and
demonstrations break out in two other Tibetan areas of western
China to support the same cause.
Each time, police respond with bullets.
The three clashes, all in the past week, killed several Tibetans and
injured dozens. They mark an escalation of a protest movement
that for months expressed itself mainly through scattered
individual self-immolations.
It's the result of growing desperation among Tibetans and a
harsh crackdown by security forces that scholars and pro-Tibet
activists contend only breeds more rage and despair.
That leaves authorities with the stark choice of either cracking
down even harder or meeting Tibetan demands for greater
freedom and a return of their Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai
Lama something Beijing has shown zero willingness to do.
"By not responding constructively when it was faced with
peaceful one-person protests, the (Communist) party has created
the conditions for violent, large-scale protests," Robbie Barnett,
head of modern Tibetan studies at New York's Columbia
University, said.
China to again close Tibet during sensitive period
This is the region's most violent period since 2008, when deadly
rioting in Tibet's capital Lhasa spread to Tibetan areas in adjoining
provinces.
Flooded with troops
China responded by flooding the area with troops and closing
Tibetan regions entirely to foreigners for about a year. Special
permission is still required for non-Chinese visitors to Tibet, and
the Himalayan region remains closed off entirely for the weeks
surrounding the March 14 anniversary of the riots that left 22
people dead.
Video smuggled out by activists shows paramilitary troops
equipped with assault rifles and armored cars making pre-dawn
arrests.
Huge convoys of heavily armored troops are seen driving along
mountain roads and monks accused of sedition being frog-
marched to waiting trucks.
For the past year, self-immolations have become a striking form
of protest in the region. At least 16 monks, nuns and former
clergy set themselves on fire after chanting for Tibetan freedom
and the return of the Dalai Lama, who fled to India amid an
abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.
Report: Body paraded afer China self-immolation
China, fiercely critical of the Dalai Lama, says Tibet has been
under its rule for centuries, but many Tibetans say the region
was functionally independent for most of that time.
In a change from the individual protests, several thousand
Tibetans marched to government offices Monday in Ganzi
prefecture in Sichuan province.
Police opened fire into the crowd, killing up to three people,
witnesses and activist groups said.
On Tuesday, security forces opened fire on a crowd of protesters
in another area of Ganzi, killing two Tibetans and wounding
several more, according to the group Free Tibet.
Slideshow: The Dalai Lama
On Thursday in southwestern Sichuan province's Aba prefecture,
a youth named Tarpa posted a leaflet saying that self-
immolations wouldn't stop until Tibet is free, the London-based
International Campaign for Tibet said.
He wrote his name on the leaflet and included a photo of himself,
saying that Chinese authorities could come and arrest him if they
wished, group spokeswoman Kate Saunders said in an email.
Too sensitive to discuss
Security forces did so about two hours later. Area residents
blocked their way, shouting slogans and warning of bigger
protests if Tarpa wasn't released, Saunders said. Police then fired
into the crowd, killing a a 20-year-old friend of Tarpa's, a student
named Urgen, and wounding several others.
The incident, as with most reported clashes in Tibetan areas,
could not be independently verified and exact numbers of
casualties were unclear because of the heavy security presence
and lack of access. The topic is so sensitive that even
government-backed scholars claim ignorance of it and refuse to
comment.
The government, however, acknowledged Tuesday's unrest,
saying that a "mob" charged a police station and injured 14
officers, forcing police to open fire on them. The official Xinhua
News Agency said police killed one rioter and injured another.
Q&A: The Dalai Lama, China and Tibet
"The Chinese government will, as always, fight all crimes and be
resolute in maintaining social order," Foreign Ministry spokesman
Hong Lei said in comments on the incident.
The harsh response points to a deep anxiety about the self-
immolations, said Youdon Aukatsang, a New Delhi-based
member of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile.
"They're worried that there is an underground movement in
Tibet that is coming to the surface," she said.
Slideshow: The dance of two giants
Tibetan desperation has been fed both by the harsh crackdown
security agents reportedly outnumber monks in some
monasteries along with a deep fear that the Dalai Lama,
probably the most potent symbol of Tibet's separate identity, will
never return.
The 76-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate handed his political
powers to an elected assembly last year.
That was intended to ensure the Tibetan cause would live on after
him, but was met with considerable anxiety among many
Tibetans who saw it as a sign he was giving up his role as leader
of their struggle.
Dibyesh Anand, a Tibet expert at London's University of
Westminster, said resistance to Chinese rule is likely to grow
more fierce.
"Protests will get more radicalized since the Tibetans in the region
see no concession, no offer of compromise, no flexibility coming
from the government," he said.
---------- Post added at 10:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:27 PM ----------
source- - Tibet protester tells China cops: Come get me - World news - Asia-Pacific - China - msnbc.com
Neighbors rise up to protect him, and a student is shot dead
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
The Associated Press
BEIJING A young man posts his photo with a leaflet
demanding freedom for Tibet and telling Chinese police, come
and get me. Protesters rise up to defend him, and
demonstrations break out in two other Tibetan areas of western
China to support the same cause.
Each time, police respond with bullets.
The three clashes, all in the past week, killed several Tibetans and
injured dozens. They mark an escalation of a protest movement
that for months expressed itself mainly through scattered
individual self-immolations.
It's the result of growing desperation among Tibetans and a
harsh crackdown by security forces that scholars and pro-Tibet
activists contend only breeds more rage and despair.
That leaves authorities with the stark choice of either cracking
down even harder or meeting Tibetan demands for greater
freedom and a return of their Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai
Lama something Beijing has shown zero willingness to do.
"By not responding constructively when it was faced with
peaceful one-person protests, the (Communist) party has created
the conditions for violent, large-scale protests," Robbie Barnett,
head of modern Tibetan studies at New York's Columbia
University, said.
China to again close Tibet during sensitive period
This is the region's most violent period since 2008, when deadly
rioting in Tibet's capital Lhasa spread to Tibetan areas in adjoining
provinces.
Flooded with troops
China responded by flooding the area with troops and closing
Tibetan regions entirely to foreigners for about a year. Special
permission is still required for non-Chinese visitors to Tibet, and
the Himalayan region remains closed off entirely for the weeks
surrounding the March 14 anniversary of the riots that left 22
people dead.
Video smuggled out by activists shows paramilitary troops
equipped with assault rifles and armored cars making pre-dawn
arrests.
Huge convoys of heavily armored troops are seen driving along
mountain roads and monks accused of sedition being frog-
marched to waiting trucks.
For the past year, self-immolations have become a striking form
of protest in the region. At least 16 monks, nuns and former
clergy set themselves on fire after chanting for Tibetan freedom
and the return of the Dalai Lama, who fled to India amid an
abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.
Report: Body paraded afer China self-immolation
China, fiercely critical of the Dalai Lama, says Tibet has been
under its rule for centuries, but many Tibetans say the region
was functionally independent for most of that time.
In a change from the individual protests, several thousand
Tibetans marched to government offices Monday in Ganzi
prefecture in Sichuan province.
Police opened fire into the crowd, killing up to three people,
witnesses and activist groups said.
On Tuesday, security forces opened fire on a crowd of protesters
in another area of Ganzi, killing two Tibetans and wounding
several more, according to the group Free Tibet.
Slideshow: The Dalai Lama
On Thursday in southwestern Sichuan province's Aba prefecture,
a youth named Tarpa posted a leaflet saying that self-
immolations wouldn't stop until Tibet is free, the London-based
International Campaign for Tibet said.
He wrote his name on the leaflet and included a photo of himself,
saying that Chinese authorities could come and arrest him if they
wished, group spokeswoman Kate Saunders said in an email.
Too sensitive to discuss
Security forces did so about two hours later. Area residents
blocked their way, shouting slogans and warning of bigger
protests if Tarpa wasn't released, Saunders said. Police then fired
into the crowd, killing a a 20-year-old friend of Tarpa's, a student
named Urgen, and wounding several others.
The incident, as with most reported clashes in Tibetan areas,
could not be independently verified and exact numbers of
casualties were unclear because of the heavy security presence
and lack of access. The topic is so sensitive that even
government-backed scholars claim ignorance of it and refuse to
comment.
The government, however, acknowledged Tuesday's unrest,
saying that a "mob" charged a police station and injured 14
officers, forcing police to open fire on them. The official Xinhua
News Agency said police killed one rioter and injured another.
Q&A: The Dalai Lama, China and Tibet
"The Chinese government will, as always, fight all crimes and be
resolute in maintaining social order," Foreign Ministry spokesman
Hong Lei said in comments on the incident.
The harsh response points to a deep anxiety about the self-
immolations, said Youdon Aukatsang, a New Delhi-based
member of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile.
"They're worried that there is an underground movement in
Tibet that is coming to the surface," she said.
Slideshow: The dance of two giants
Tibetan desperation has been fed both by the harsh crackdown
security agents reportedly outnumber monks in some
monasteries along with a deep fear that the Dalai Lama,
probably the most potent symbol of Tibet's separate identity, will
never return.
The 76-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate handed his political
powers to an elected assembly last year.
That was intended to ensure the Tibetan cause would live on after
him, but was met with considerable anxiety among many
Tibetans who saw it as a sign he was giving up his role as leader
of their struggle.
Dibyesh Anand, a Tibet expert at London's University of
Westminster, said resistance to Chinese rule is likely to grow
more fierce.
"Protests will get more radicalized since the Tibetans in the region
see no concession, no offer of compromise, no flexibility coming
from the government," he said.
---------- Post added at 10:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:27 PM ----------
source- - Tibet protester tells China cops: Come get me - World news - Asia-Pacific - China - msnbc.com
