Tibetans are content, China's Communist Party congress is told

BEIJING -- As far the Communist Party is concerned, Tibet is the happiest place in China and dissatisfaction is stirred up by outside agitators.

So pronounced Tibet’s top delegates at the 18th Communist Party congress, which is convening this week in Beijing. They dismissed the rash of self-immolations by young Tibetans and accompanying protests by thousands of students as the work of outsiders manipulating Tibetans for political gain.

Since Wednesday, at least six Tibetans, mostly teenagers, have set themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule.

"Overseas separatists entice victims. Those people who support Tibetan independence call their deeds a heroic act and these people heroes," said Lobsang Gyaltsen, vice governor of the Tibet Autonomous Region, which is under Chinese rule. He blamed the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, for the immolations. “It is actually an act of murder to entice somebody to commit suicide .... The Dalai Lama group is sacrificing other people’s lives to achieve their evil goals."

Tibetans greet China's Communist Party Congress with fiery protests

BEIJING — Tibetans greeted the opening of the 18th Communist Party Congress with fiery protests as a record number committed public self-immolations to mark their opposition to Chinese rule.

Over the last 48 hours, at least five Tibetans, possibly six, were reported to have set themselves on fire in western China. Most of them were teenagers.

Up to 6,000 people demonstrated against China on Thursday afternoon in Tongren, a monastery town in Qinghai province, following two self-immolations -- that of a 23-year-old woman on Wednesday and a young former monk on Thursday, exile groups reported.

“The situation there is very tense as Chinese armed forces have placed severe restrictions on movement in the town and are now closing in on the protesters," a member of the Tibetan parliament in exile told the Tibetan news service, Phayul.

“We have heard that 2,000 to 6,000 people demonstrated, which are plausible numbers given that there have been protests of that size before," said Harriet Beaumont, a spokeswoman for the London-based Free Tibet.

She said that the protests were in reaction to the stifling Chinese security measures, the presence of troops, intimidating footage on television and harsh sentences doled out to anybody involved in a protest or even telling people outside about protests.

"Tibetans were also aware of the approach of the congress and that might be a factor in the serious escalation in the last few days," Beaumont said.

Wednesday was the deadliest single day since Tibetans began setting themselves on fire last year. Three were teenaged monks, ages 15 to 16, from a small monastery located on the outskirts of Aba, the Sichuan province county where the immolations began. They lighted themselves on fire simultaneously outside the gates of the town’s public security bureau, chanting “freedom for Tibet” and calling for the return of the exiled Dalai Lama.

Few details were available about another self-immolation reported to have taken place Wednesday in Driru county inside what is called the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

Until recently, self-immolation had been unheard of among Tibetan Buddhists who believe suicide destroys not only the body, but the chance of being reincarnated as a human being.

"People are really desperate. They feel there is no exit," said Tenzin Losel, a Tibetan businessman living in Dharamsala, India, where the Tibetan government in exile is based. “Whenever they try to speak up or make demands, it is met with a brutal crackdown by the Chinese government.”

The 18th Party Congress, which opened Thursday, is the showpiece political event for the Chinese Communist Party as it transitions into a new generation of leadership, and security has been heightened throughout China.

In his opening speech in Beijing Great Hall of the People, President Hu Jintao didn’t address the Tibetan situation although he referred repeatedly to the need for social harmony.

“Social harmony is an inherent attribute of socialism with Chinese characteristics," Hu said.

One of the Communist Party’s hand-picked Tibetan delegates to the congress appeared flustered when journalists asked about the immolations. "Can I not answer that question?" she begged in response.

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Photo: Tibetans hold a portrait of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama while shouting slogans during a protest in solidarity with Tibetans who have self-immolated. Credit: Ashwini Bhatia / Associated Press

Tibet-in-exile officials suspect Chinese plot against Dalai Lama

NEW DELHI -- Members of Tibet's government-in-exile urged those living and working around the Dalai Lama to remain on alert Sunday after the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader voiced concern that Chinese agents might be plotting to kill him.

Ngodup Dongchung, security minister for the Tibetan exiles based in the Indian hill station of Dharamsala, said a cabinet meeting of officials over the weekend reviewed security arrangements and vowed to redouble vigilance.

“We still like to remain very cautious,” he said. “Of course we’re working closely with the Indian government on this.”

The Dalai Lama in an interview with England’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper earlier this month said his security detail had received reports some time back from a Tibetan employed by Chinese security agencies that Tibetan women were being trained to assassinate him by applying poison to their hair and to traditional greeting scarves. Tibetans on meeting the Dalai Lama frequently give him scarves and bow their heads.

New Delhi protester grimaces in police grip

Every day on WorldNow we choose a remarkable photo from around the world. Today our eyes were drawn to this shot from India, where this Tibetan protester was detained by police during a demonstration against China.

The New Delhi protest made headlines Monday when one Tibetan demonstrator set himself on fire. The Times' Mark Magnier reports it was the second attempted self-immolation in the city, home to thousands of Tibetans who crossed the Himalayan mountains from China.

Chinese President Hu Jintao is scheduled to arrive in India on Wednesday for an economic summit. Tibetans lament that Chinese authorities have ramped up “patriotic education” in schools and monasteries, forced Tibetans to renounce the Dalai Lama and tightened control of monasteries. 

“If you care about peace, you should raise the issue of Tibet,” Tibetan Youth Congress official Tenzing Norsang told the Associated Press. “Hu Jintao is responsible for what is happening there.”

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Photo: A Tibetan protester is detained by police during a demonstration against China in New Delhi on Monday. Credit: Kevin Frayer / Associated Press

Tibetan sets himself ablaze in India before Chinese leader visits

REPORTING FROM NEW DELHI -- A Tibetan set himself on fire Monday before running several hundred feet down a busy New Delhi street, suffering critical burns in advance of a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The protester, identified by Tibetan activists as Janphel Yeshi, 27, attempted the self-immolation at Jantar Mantar,  an open area where rallies and demonstrations are often held. Media reports, citing witnesses, said Yeshi yelled as he ran along the road dressed in a sweater and dark trousers, black smoke pouring from his hair.

“Basically he was on fire for almost 10 minutes before the police arrived,” said Rinzin Choedon, a chapter coordinator with Students for a Free Tibet, an activist group. “Personally, I’m totally against this sort of immolation. Our struggle is not just for today or tomorrow. If we lose our human power and resources, how can we continue the struggle?”

Tibet has been a vassal state of China for much of its history. In 1950, the Chinese military took control, leading to the exile in 1959 of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader.

Many Tibetans in China bridle at Chinese rule, arguing that their religion, culture and traditions are being systematically smothered by Beijing under policies aimed at relocating large numbers of Han Chinese to the plateau.

This is the second attempted self-immolation in New Delhi, which is home to thousands of Tibetans who have crossed over the Himalayan mountains from China. In November, a man suffered minor burns when he tried to set himself alight outside the heavily guarded, barbed-wire ringed Chinese Embassy before police doused the flames.

“This is very unfortunate,” said Tempa Tsering, the Dalai Lama’s representative in New Delhi. “It’s because of the policies of the repressive [Chinese] government.”

China steps up control of Tibetan monasteries

Under new rules, Tibetan monasteries must now be run by Chinese government officials, a step that worries a human rights group that says it will worsen tensions in an already inflamed region.

Monks have officially run the monasteries since the early 1980s, Human Rights Watch writes. Though committees regulated by the government oversee all places of worship, including monasteries, those panels "were comprised of monks who had at least been elected by their own community."

The new system requires an unelected committee that will oversee the existing panel, the human rights group says. Only two monasteries, seen as politically reliable, are exempt.

The step is "a worrying indication that the state is becoming increasingly invasive in its management of religion in Tibet," Human Rights Watch writes.

Chinese authorities have ramped up “patriotic education” in schools and monasteries and forced Tibetans to renounce the Dalai Lama, The Times reported early this year.

The repression has fueled a wave of self-immolations in Tibet that have reenergized the long-running independence movement with cycles of martyrdom and protest. "I am giving away my body as an offering of light to chase away the darkness," one lama said in a nine-minute recording left behind when he died.

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Photo: An exiled Tibetan woman shouts slogans during a protest march marking the 53rd anniversary of the Tibetan Women's Uprising Day in New Delhi on Monday. Credit: Sajjad Hussain / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images

Politics swirl over the Tibetan New Year

In the United States, wedding-goers often throw rice; in Nepal, people are throwing wheat powder for the Tibetan New Year.

Every day WorldNow chooses a remarkable photo from around the world. Today this shot from Nepal caught our eye: Exiled Tibetans in Katmandu tossing wheat powder during the third day of Losar.

The New Year has become political for Tibetans. Exiled leaders are urging fellow Tibetans not to celebrate Losar this year, but instead to offer prayers for Tibetans under Chinese rule instead.

The Himalayan region is ruled by China, but its government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India, contends that Tibet was colonized and wants more autonomy. On Tuesday, it staged a day-long hunger strike for Tibetans who died in self-immolation to protest against China or who were shot by police.

Tibetans say that the Chinese government has stepped up its intervention in religious affairs, forcing monks to attend "patriotic education" classes to study communism and renounce the Dalai Lama, Barbara Demick reported for The Times in January.