Chinese authorities sealed off three monasteries in Tibet, reports said on Friday, after a wave of rare street protests in the remote, Buddhist region.
Soldiers, police deployed around three Buddhist monasteries in the Tibetan capitalBEIJING: Chinese authorities sealed off three monasteries in Tibet, reports said on Friday, after a wave of rare street protests in the remote, Buddhist region whose rule has become a focus for critics ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
Witnesses said police were at Drepung and Sera monasteries on Thursday. A third monastery, Ganden, was also surrounded.
“All three monasteries are closed off to tourists,” the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet said in a statement. “There is an intensified atmosphere of fear and tension in Tibet’s capital.”
The move follows at least two days of protests by monks against Chinese rule. The demonstrations began earlier this week after marches around the world to mark the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Communist rule.
Shops set on fireShops were set on fire in violence in Tibet’s capital of Lhasa on Friday, China’s Xinhua news agency reported after days of rare street protests in the contested region. Witnesses said a number of shops were burnt, the report said.
British daily Guardian.com quoted a Lhasa resident as saying that he heard an explosion and around 10 shots every minute at one point, but thought it was teargas rather than bullets being fired because he saw people running from plumes of smoke and covering their mouths.
Monks’ suicide bidThe US-funded Radio Free Asia reported that monks from Sera were on a hunger strike, demanding the withdrawal of Chinese paramilitary force from the monastery compound and the release of monks detained earlier this week.
Two monks from Drepung were in critical condition after attempting suicide by slitting their wrists, RFA said.
The number of Tibetans detained could not be confirmed, but the watchdog groups said they expected government reprisals.
According to the Free Tibet campaign, there were also protests on Friday in Labrang monastery in Gansu province, where 200 monks led protests on the streets. The group said this showed the protests were gathering momentum.
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