No foreign observers amid Tibet protests
China has ruled out allowing foreign observers into Tibetan areas amid
continuing self-immolation protests, with officials on Friday blaming
"exiled separatist forces" for the recent unrest.
On Friday, hundreds of Tibetan students protested in the monastery town
of Rebkong (Tongren in Chinese) in north-western Qinghai province. This
followed self-immolation protests by an 18-year-old Tibetan, Kalsang
Jinpa and a 23-year-old mother, Tamding Tso, in the town earlier this
week.
At least six Tibetans have set themselves on fire over the past week,
with three teenage monks on Wednesday carrying out protests in the
Ngoshul Monastery in Aba, a county in south-western Sichuan that has
witnessed most of the at least 68 self-immolations seen in Tibetan
areas. Overseas groups said a Tibetan man had also carried out a protest
in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) earlier this week.
The immolations have brought a tight security clampdown across Tibetan
areas, not only in the TAR but also in the provinces of Sichuan, Qinghai
and Gansu.
The monastery town of Rebkong, where two self-immolations were reported
this week before Friday’s protests by students, has been under heavy
security since March, when a monk and a farmer set themselves on fire.
Overseas groups said 5,000 students gathered in front of the famous 14th
century Rongwo monastery on Friday morning. Photographs showed large
crowds of Tibetans around the golden statue of Dolma, which sits on a
square located at the monastery’s entrance.
Monks in Rebkong told The Hindu in interviews during a visit in April
that the tight security presence had led to tensions. Back then, a
permanent SWAT van was stationed outside the monastery near the square,
with patrols of armed police walking through the town’s narrow streets
among monks and students.
Officials from the TAR government held a meeting in Beijing on Friday
along the sidelines of the Communist Party’s 18th National Congress,
which opened on Thursday. Officials from every province or region meet
during the congress to review the past decade and announce new policy
measures.
TAR officials reiterated the government’s view that the protests were
being instigated by external separatist groups. "External Tibetan
separatist forces and the Dalai clique are sacrificing the lives of
others to achieve ulterior political motives," Lobsang Gyaltsen, the TAR
Deputy Governor, was quoted as saying by Reuters. "We believe that this
is contrary to humanity’s common conscience and morality, they will
never achieve their evil purposes and will also suffer intense
condemnation."
Qiangba Puncog, the head of the TAR government’s People’s Congress,
added that the protests were "concentrated around six to seven
monasteries out of more than 10,000 in the region". He ruled out
allowing foreign observers into Tibetan areas, as suggested recently by
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.
The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has also called for a
fact-finding mission, and has rejected Chinese allegations of a "plot"
instigated by overseas groups. "The Chinese government must carry
thorough research, what is the cause of this, and not pretend that
nothing is wrong," the Dalai Lama told The Hindu in an interview in
July.
Mr. Puncog said on Friday the government "hoped that people from all
fields within the country and outside go to Tibet often to look around,
study and travel, but as to some other aspects, we are not that
welcoming," referring to foreign observers.
"Those who think there are any problems in Tibet, human rights problems,
arrogantly wanting to pursue investigations, to use these situations to
propose entering Tibet," he added, "I am afraid we feel it's
inappropriate."
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