« Martial Law in Lh@sa | HOME PAGE | More Labr@ng Photos »
March 16, 2008
The Streets of Labr@ng
While a heavy crackdown seems to have calmed things down a bit in Lh@sa, reports out of Xi@he, Gansu indicate that protests and clashes with Chinese troops may still be going on there. From The Observer:
Security forces, monks and lay people are in an extraordinary standoff in the tiny Buddhist town of Xi@he, nestled almost 3,000m above sea level in the mountains of Gansu province. Outside the Tibetan autonomous region but regarded by Tibetans - who make up half the population - as part of the kingdom, it has become the scene of fierce protests against the authorities.'
Of course, we are very afraid,' said a monk. 'We do not know what is going to happen. But it will carry on because we want our freedom. The young monks want the D@lai Lama to return.'
They say this is the highest level of unrest in Xi@he since the 1958-59 uprising when, say Tibetans, up to two million were killed across the country and in other Chinese provinces.
Many here are simply too frightened to talk. Eyewitnesses said as many as 30 troop carriers of paramilitary police arrived late on Friday night after up to 3,000 monks and lay people marched from the renowned Labr@ng monastery to government offices, demanding Tibet's independence.
You can read the full article below, and see a lovely gallery of photos I shot while visiting Labr@ng Monastery in more peaceful times here.
Batons and tear gas as Tibetan unrest spreads beyond borders
CHINA'S SHOW OF FORCE: In this remarkable dispatch from Xiahe, Tania Branigan gives the first account of growing tension and violence between protesters and state forces in China
16 March 2008
The Observer
© Copyright 2008. The Observer. All rights reserved.
Tibetans in Xiahe were in an uneasy truce with Chinese troops yesterday. About 2,000 paramilitaries are believed to be in the Buddhist town, where 3,000 monks and lay people have protested.Photograph by Dan Chung
TWO ROUNDS split the air. There was a second's silence. And then the gaudy prayer wheels began to turn again and pilgrims resumed their slow pace around the temple.
Another crack - then a fourth, a fifth. Tibetans and monks scattered along the street. Tear gas and the clatter of riot shields rose into the air as the paramilitaries regrouped around their armoured personnel carrier.
At street corners clusters of children, monks, and men and women in traditional Tibetan dress peered from behind rough brick-and-mud walls, anxiously watching events unfold.
And then, each time the noise died down, they began to creep back towards the line of armed police around the government buildings. All the time
the pilgrims continued their rituals, unperturbed.
Security forces, monks and lay people are in an extraordinary standoff in the tiny Buddhist town of Xiahe, nestled almost 3,000m above sea level in the mountains of Gansu province. Outside the Tibetan autonomous region but regarded by Tibetans - who make up half the population - as part of the kingdom, it has become the scene of fierce protests against the authorities.
'Of course, we are very afraid,' said a monk. 'We do not know what is going to happen. But it will carry on because we want our freedom. The young monks want the Dalai Lama to return.'
They say this is the highest level of unrest in Xiahe since the 1958-59 uprising when, say Tibetans, up to two million were killed across the country and in other Chinese provinces.
Many here are simply too frightened to talk. Eyewitnesses said as many as 30 troop carriers of paramilitary police arrived late on Friday night after up to 3,000 monks and lay people marched from the renowned Labrang monastery to government offices, demanding Tibet's independence.
Residents with mobile phones showed video clips of thousands of chanting Tibetans waving banners as they marched through the streets. 'There were a lot more people yesterday. It was a religious day, so people came to the temple. But about one o'clock it somehow became a protest,' said a monk.
'There were a lot of people, maybe 50, with Tibetan flags and big pictures of the Dalai Lama with "Free Tibet" written on them. Then some of the pro-communist lamas at one of the temples told every one they should leave, and it began to disperse, at about half-four.
'But today it started again. I saw one protester beaten with batons by the police very severely - he had blood coming from his head and all over his face: his nose, mouth, everywhere.
'He hadn't done anything,' said the monk. 'It was just because he was nearby. The crowd managed to get him away, but then they started throwing stones because they were angry. I heard they caught two monks today, too. They were very young - no older than 20. If the government doesn't release them I think there will be more trouble tomorrow.'
Another monk estimated that the total number of paramilitaries had at least doubled overnight to 2,000 or more in a town of just 150,000 inhabitants, adding: 'I myself saw more than 10 armed vehicles arrive today.'
It is a very modern battle of wills. Labrang monastery dates from the early 18th century. But purple-robed monks, with trainers on their feet and fleeces beneath their woollen shawls for warmth, chatter on mobile phones and complain that they have been banned from internet cafes for the past year as the government has stepped up restrictions on religious life. They say that their movements are more restricted and
that in recent years monks who were caught pasting 'Free Tibet' posters on the wall have been severely beaten and imprisoned.
But they appear to know little about the protests in Lhasa and elsewhere - perhaps because they are well aware that mobiles are monitored.
As night falls a strained quiet prevails in the town. Few dare venture on to the mud streets. So far the paramilitaries appear to be showing restraint, concentrating on defending official buildings from the crowd. But people here are bracing themselves for retaliation.
The population of Xiahe is roughly 45 per cent Tibetan, 45 per cent Han Chinese, and 10 per cent Hui Muslim. Unlike in Lhasa, there is no sign as yet that anger at the government is turning into ethnic conflict.
But one resident said: 'I feel like there are more Han than Tibetans. There are 700 children in the Chinese school, but only 300 children in the Tibetan one.'
posted March 16, 2008 at 12:30 PM unofficial Xinjiang time | HaoHao This!
Comments
I am Chinese,I love my country but I hate the government,it's so dirty in politics.
BTW:Friend,how do you think of the Muslims? Do American people hate muslims? Or do they think muslims are all evil?
There are about 20 million muslims in China, but I don't know why Han-Chinese hate muslims.
Do you think the USA should take responsibility of this? Because the USA media has so large influence, after 9-11, it seems hostile to the Islamic world.
Posted by: miloservic at March 16, 2008 03:10 PM
Han Chinese hate muslims because they're not Han Chinese and will always hate them for not being Han Chinese. All 9/11 did was give the Chinese government the ability to call Uighurs who stirred things up as "terrorists." It was just a new word to use that also connected to the fears of other people. China has never needed permission from the US or anyone to discriminate against the ethnic minorities. That is the nature of people and ethnic conflicts.
Posted by: Navigator at March 16, 2008 06:17 PM
"There are about 20 million muslims in China, but I don't know why Han-Chinese hate muslims."
i dont know how can u get this conclusion. but i think the situation is just the opposite. to check the history, how many conflicts were provoked by the muslims who rampant killed Han Chinese at 1st in China.
and the thing in tibet, is a total intrigue by some one.
The dalai lama was first ordained by the Chinese Emperor, and the on-going daila lama incarnation system was set by the Chinese goverment. so i wanna know how u can confirmed that tibet is not the territory of China?
this year is just the olympic year. his clique just intentionally uses this opportunity to have the moribund struggle. and the foreign media who is most intrested in the turmoil in China, instigates man around the globe to hate China.
tibet is the Chinese territory, many years ago and now and the future.
dalai is not a kind old man, though he recieved the so called nobel peace prize several years ago. this time he instigates the monks (surely there are some monks getting money from foreigners) to use violence to beat Han-Chinese living in tibet, loot Han-Chinese properties, and beat the riot police who dont use any violence to these tibet. after that, dalai pronouced that it is fair to beat the Han-Chinese. oh my gosh. what a peace prize winner! and now the so called free and justice foreign media did really bad. they publicize modified pictures to smear the Chinese govt. oh my gosh, the "justice" foreign media just do the things destroying the justice. some of my friends who just come back from lahsar immediately beleagued by the foreign jounalists just deplaning, and these "justice" foreign jounalists seduce my friends to tell them so called "truth", if they dont get the answer they want, they will keep on asking the same question. some may get the answers, then they will modified these answers to meet their requirement. it is a great humiliation for the jounalists society. if they wanna smear Chinese, thay can write anything they want, even without any interview (though they have the interview, they will change the content they get, i think it is a common trick by these guys).
at last, i should say again that TIBET IS THE CHINESE TERRITORY, AND ANYONE WHO WANNA SEPARATE IT AWAY WILL BE PUNISHED. THE SAME AS OTHER TERRITORY IN CHINA
Posted by: SOMEONE at March 16, 2008 08:41 PM
Western people don't hate Muslims. Most western countries have significant Muslim population. They have their mosques in major cities. We even have laws to accommodate them so that, whenever possible, we don't schedule them to work on Friday nights and Saturdays. We see them as different, not enemies. And when we go out to eat with them, we pick restaurants that do not use pork for soup base so that they can eat with us.
We see religion as a personal freedom. It is the way they choose to worship. Even Caucasians have many different ways to worship. Being different is not strange to us.
Terrorists are different. They broke laws. And it is the crime we hate, not the people.
I know this is quite different from what you read about the west from official channels, but that is the way it is.
I have many Muslim friends. Some from Pakistan, some Africa, some US. We get along very well. We exchange our religions views, and agree to be different.
Difference is not a crime. Hating the difference is.
Posted by: Bill at March 16, 2008 08:41 PM
Thank you very much for the on-the-ground coverage of the events in Xiahe. Nice to read about things that are little mentioned in the mainstream media right now.
Posted by: Ken at March 16, 2008 08:59 PM
Nice to see you're back from the blocked sites list. What's going on is absolutely amazing... I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole situation. I certainly never thought something like this was going to happen when I arrived in 2005.
To Miloservic: Only the stupid Americans hate Muslims (and they usually hate other people as well)--I suggest ignoring these Americans. The intelligent ones usually don't have any problems with other religions. The Muslims I've met in China (Chinese, Pakistani, and Iranian) have always been quite friendly.
Posted by: China-Matt at March 17, 2008 01:33 PM
"and the on-going daila lama incarnation system was set by the Chinese goverment."
Well the entire post is just hilarious, demonstrating a lack of the sort of education that a few non-partisan history books might help but probably not. It's actually kind of sad. I'm not going to dwell on every point.
However, the above quote is the most hilarious thing I've read in weeks! If you live in China, a basic knowledge of the history of Buddhism (how it came to Tibet, China, and then Japan and Korea) and the basic history of important figures in the religion might be useful.
Posted by: ChrisM at March 17, 2008 01:57 PM
Dear Navigator and Borg comrades
Please keep posting your views on these western websites in almost native English. We value your input.
You are making a brilliant, convincing case for Tibetan independence. You are doing a better job than Nobel Peace prize winner the Dalai Lama himself.
Until I read your brainwashed concepts of history and politics, I favoured Tibetan autonomy. But now I see you shouting "TIBET IS THE CHINESE TERRITORY, AND ANYONE WHO WANNA SEPARATE IT AWAY WILL BE PUNISHED. THE SAME AS OTHER TERRITORY IN CHINA" like a June 4th, 1989 massacre leader, I reluctantly recognise that all Tibetans deserve full independence NOW.
In my experience, those who shout loudest have lost the argument.
Jia you, comrade! Keep up the English studies! Hao hao xuexi! You clearly know the mechanics of our language, but what you will never understand is that you are a Borg.
Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Convinced at March 17, 2008 02:07 PM
Convinced,
The name of each comment's author appears below their comment. The "TIBET IS THE CHINESE TERRITORY" comment is by "SOMEONE", not "Navigator".
Posted by: Gag Halfrunt at March 17, 2008 05:25 PM
Someone wrote "TIBET IS THE CHINESE TERRITORY"
Dear "SOMEONE",
I don't know enough about Chinese/Tibetan history. Can you just explain WHY Tibet is Chinese Territory?
Thank you very much.
Best wishes,
Galadriel
PS: I live in UK. There are many Chinese people here. They're lovely. I used to live in Ireland. I met people from Tibet there. They were lovely, too. I wish China peace, as much as I wish Tibet peace. May peace prevail amongst ALL nations of the Earth.
Posted by: Galadriel at March 18, 2008 03:15 AM
Our government will not allow anyone to seperate Tibet from China.
Well, that's politics, but personally I don't think it's much necessary to keep Tibet as part of China. Why we need it? it's a closed world in the uttermost inland and it is one of the most infertile west with the lowest production. Without those historical temples and buddhism culture which bring exotic feelings for tourists, i don't see any values of it. I belive China will get better in economics and surely will gain much more peace without Tibet.
So..go on with your independence protest. When you finally get your independence (though it's with much difficulty and probably you can hardly achieve it), I hope Tibet can achieve its true independence other than become one of the military bases of US, and be sure to pay back the railroad China has built for you.
Posted by: chinamm at March 18, 2008 07:20 AM
Because the obstacle of language, you who sympathize the Tibitan splittists can NOT feel the furious angry of Han Chinese toward so-called protestors.
My English is poor, I can not express my feeling fully.
I want to kill all tibitant splittists.
Posted by: dyn at March 18, 2008 07:49 AM
Foreign tourists witnessed the insane attackes on Han Chinese and Hui Muslims:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/18/wtibet718.xml
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23401794-25837,00.html
Posted by: Huaxia at March 20, 2008 01:24 AM
to chinamm. The railway is the problem. The Tiobetans didnt want it- they knew it would bring more foreign Han colonizers. The Chinese Communists/ fascists imposed the railway onto yhe Tibetans so as to integrate their colony more into the motherland and then the flood the area with Han - same as the Kashi railway in Xinjiang- an old 19th century western imperialist trick still in use- hey- old tricks/new tricks- Tibet aint Cina and its because of the railway you get the violence we have just seen. "Leave Tibet alone China," is probabaly the lesson. But...you wont ...pay for the railway - what a joke. They are , they are...and at a great price: their culture and way of life a versi9on of cultural genocide...history will prove...
Posted by: Jmes at March 28, 2008 10:25 AM
And blog - keeper what are these Purim ads doing on this blog? Are yu a partisan Israeli sympathizer? Hmmm...
Posted by: James at March 28, 2008 10:27 AM