Tibet continues to burn, Second self-immolation in the new year

Tsering Phuntsok's body burns on the ground in front of Chinese police station in Drachen village in Khyungchu region of eastern Tibet on January 18, 2013. January 18: The wave of self-immolation protests in Tibet against China’s continued occupation of Tibet shows no sign of abating with reports just in of yet another fiery death in Khyungchu region of Ngaba in eastern Tibet. Initial reports have identified the Tibetan self-immolator as Tsering Phuntsok. According to a Swiss based Tibetan, Sonam, the protest occurred at around 3:15 pm (local time). “Tsering Phuntsok set himself on fire in front of the local Chinese police station in Drachen village of Khyungchu region,” Sonam told Phayul. “He passed away at the site of his protest.” Chinese security personnel arrived at the scene and bundled away Tsering Phuntsok’s body to Barkham, the same source said. Tsering Phuntsok is survived by his wife and two children. Photos of today’s self-immolation protests show the charred body of Tsering Phuntsok, still on fire, lying on the ground. A number of people could be seen surrounding the body. Reports suggest that monks of the Amchok Monastery are currently carrying out a prayer service for the deceased. This is the second self-immolation protest in Tibet since the beginning of the new year. In 2012 alone, as many as 82 Tibetans set themselves on fire demanding freedom and the return of Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama from exile. Chinese authorities in the region have intensified their repressive policies by criminalising the self-immolation protests, arresting family members and friends of protesters and off late, confiscating thousands of satellite TV dishes aimed at creating an information black hole in the region. “Tibet is getting into the global evening news because of self-immolations and so there’s this anxiety to bring it under control,” Michael Davis, a law professor and Tibet expert at the University of Hong Kong told AP. He warned that the new leadership “will be particularly anxious not to have any of these problems blow up in their face.” “I think self-immolations and all of this suggest that they are not winning the hearts and minds of the Tibetan people and in fact the more repressive they are, the more resistance they encounter, so it’s a kind of vicious circle,” Davis said.

Fight against ‘Dalai Lama clique’ must continue: Politburo member Yu

Yu Zhengsheng,67, Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. January 9: China’s new leadership is showing no signs of softening its stance on Tibet with one of it newly selected politburo standing committee members calling for continuing the “fight against the Dalai Lama clique.” Yu Zhengsheng, one of China’s seven top leaders, who was appointed last November along with Xi Jinping, made those remarks while on an inspection tour in Kardze region of eastern Tibet. "The fight against the Dalai Lama clique should continue in order to create a favorable social and political environment for economic development and the improvement of people's well-being," China’s state news agency Xinhua quoted Yu as saying. His visit to Tibet and comments on the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama marks the first by a member of the newly appointed Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. Addressing a seminar held with “Tibetan Buddhist representatives,” Yu called on monks and nuns to “support the government's efforts to manage monasteries in accordance with the law” and also encouraged them to be “patriotic and observe the law and monastic rules.” "The government should offer public services to monasteries while enhancing their management, as well as help Tibetan Buddhism to correspond with socialist society," Yu said. During his inspection tour from January 6 to 8, Yu is said to have visited “herdsmen, poverty-stricken villagers, and a middle school” and called for the improvement of infrastructure in Tibet and increase in incomes of farmers and herdsmen. Protest against China’s rule in Tibet has escalated over the years with the region witnessing a wave of self-immolations and mass protests. Since 2009, as many as 95 known Tibetans have set themselves in fire in Tibet demanding freedom and return of the Dalai Lama from exile. China’s top leader Xi Jinping, when he visited Tibet’s capital Lhasa in July 2011, had promised to "smash" any attempts to destabilise Tibet and walked the party line of fighting against "separatist activities" linked to the Dalai Lama. Speaking in front of the Potala Palace, which is the Dalai Lama's traditional seat, Xi had called on the country to “thoroughly fight against separatist activities by the Dalai clique by firmly relying on all ethnic groups... and completely smash any plot to destroy stability in Tibet and jeopardise national unity." "The extraordinary development of Tibet over the past 60 years points to an irrefutable truth: Without the Chinese Communist Party, there would have been no new China, no new Tibet."

The Dalai Lama pushes for thorough investigation of Tibet self-immolations

January 7: Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama has renewed calls for a “thorough investigation” into the causes behind the spate of self-immolations inside Tibet. The Dalai Lama was speaking to NDTV, a major Indian news channel, on its Sunday night talk show ‘Your Call.’ “Last year, when this (self-immolation) first happened, I was in Japan and I said that the time has come the Chinese government must carry thorough investigation and find the cause of these sad events,” the Tibetan spiritual leader said. “These events are symptom of some cause.” He noted that two to three generations of Tibetans inside Tibet have “really suffered a lot” under China’s rule. Since 2009, as many as 95 Tibetans have set themselves on fire protesting China’s occupation and demanding freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from exile. Thousands of Tibetans have carried out mass protests even as Chinese authorities have increased their repressive policies and tightened the noose around self-immolations. Responding to a question on whether he would appeal for the self-immolations to stop, the Dalai Lama said the exile Tibetan administration has never encouraged the protests. “This question is politically sensitive. (Tibetan) political leaders have expressed right from the beginning, very clearly, that we never encourage such acts, but at the same time if we have something to offer them (self-immolators), then I can say, ‘You should not do this,’” the 77-year-old Tibetan leader said. “So, in order to say something I must have something to offer them, but I have nothing. I feel very sorry, I say prayers. Apart from that, I can’t do anything.” The Dalai Lama further added that the Chinese government’s tactics of blaming him for the protests will not solve the problem and urged Chinese leaders to “think more seriously” about the crisis in Tibet. When asked about his optimism on China’s new leader Xi Jinping, the Tibetan spiritual leader said it is “too early to say” and noted that the new leaders have to follow a more realistic approach for their own interest. “Using force is outdated. More violence, more suppression, more resentment, that's illogical,” the Dalai Lama said. “Therefore, I'm quite sure the new leadership will seek truth from facts and sooner or later follow a more realistic approach.” Responding to a question on the possibility of seeing an independent Tibetan nation, the Dalai Lama said that although historically Tibet was an independent nation, it is more important to think ahead and look at the future. “Yes, we were a separate nation but we should not necessarily just insist on that,” the Nobel peace laureate said. “Let us try to build a new kind of genuine union. If that fails then it's something different.” His Holiness pointed out that the exile Tibetan administration’s policy of middle-way approach, which seeks autonomy for Tibet, has so far won a lot of support from the Chinese people. “Emotionally, many young people say, "Oh we want independence" (but) they have never shown us how to achieve independence step by step,” the Dalai Lama said. “How much support from the Chinese people? How much support from the Indian government? How much support from the European Union? How much support from the United States? Thinking realistically is important.”