Chinese paramilitary police besiege Tibetan town after independence protest incidents

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(Map courtesy: Google)

(TibetanReview.net, Nov25’19) – Chinese security forces have arrived and spread out both in uniform and in all sorts of plainclothes disguises in a township in Sichuan Province’s Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) Prefecture after there were two protest incidents calling for Tibet’s independence, reported the Tibetan Service of rfa.org Nov 25. To men were held and severely beaten on Nov 21. The incident followed a similar protest a couple of weeks earlier in a neighbouring township which had led to the arrest or detention of six monks at different times.

The report said that on Nov 21, two Tibetan young men, named simply as Yonten and Choegyal, were held after they scattered leaflets calling for Tibet’s independence in the courtyards of Chinese government and police offices in Dza-Mey Township of Sershul (Shiqu) County. They were earlier stated to have posted online messages of support for the four Tibetan monks held immediately after a similar protest held in neighbouring Dza Wonpo Village back on Nov 7.

The two youths were reported to have posted on the WeChat social media platform two short videos with a picture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and a background song in praise of him, as well as pictures of themselves and their hand-made leaflets in red ink.

The two were held in the township for two days and severely beaten before being taken to the Sershul County seat detention centre.

Following the second protest incident, Chinese paramilitary police arrived in a large convoy in Dza-Mey Township and spread out, patrolling the streets in vehicles. Besides, “disguised as businessmen, beggars, and ordinary people, Chinese police have also spread out across the town to spy on local people’s activities and sentiments,” the report a quoted a monk living in exile with local contacts as saying.

In the earlier protest in neighbouring Dza Wonpo Village too, small groups scattered pro-independence leaflets in the courtyards of Chinese government and police offices, the report said.

It led to four monks—described as Kunsal, 20; Tsultrim, 18; Tamey, 18; and Soeta, 18—being seized by police from their rooms at Dza Wonpo Ganden Shedrub Monastery.

The monks’ religious instructor, Shergyam Yang, a teacher at the monastery, was also taken away later on but released after 11 days.

Besides, a monk named Nyime and identified as the brother of Choegyal, was also taken away on Nov 18 after he posted online messages of support for the fellow-monks in Chinese police custody.

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