(TibetanReview.net, Apr01’22) – A Tibetan man has reportedly set himself afire in Qinghai Province of the People’s Republic of China on Mar 30 in protest against Chinese rule. However, there is very little information on the man or the circumstance in which the incident took place.
Tsering Samdup, or simply Tsering, self-immolated on Wednesday afternoon in front of a Chinese police station near a Buddhist monastery in Kyegudo (Chinese: Jiegu) County of Yushul (Yushu) Prefecture, said the Tibetan Service of rfa.org Mar 31, citing an exile Tibetan with knowledge of the incident.
The only other information the source has provided is: “The Tibetan who self-immolated is a very well-educated person. He was immediately taken away by the Chinese police and no one is allowed to meet or inquire about the self-immolator.”
The incident was also reported by the Central Tibetan Administration on its Tibet.net website Mar 31 and other Tibetan websites.
“There are no particular restrictions in place in Kyegudo at the moment by the Chinese authorities, in order to present a very normal ambience,” the rfa.org source has said.
Lack of access to information as a result of China’s tight restrictions mean that reports about such and other incidents lack essential or correct details. For example, on Feb 25, popular Tibetan singer Tsewang Norbu, 25, shouted slogans and set himself afire in front of the Potala Palace, Lhasa. However, reports at that time said he tried but failed to set himself afire. It was later learnt that he died from his self-immolation wounds.