Police in Sichuan’s Dege county, where a Tibetan bombed a government building last week, have put out a “shoot to kill” order for those who defy authorities, according to a local source.
Amid simmering tensions among Tibetans in the region, authorities have stepped up security and given police in Dege county in Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) prefecture orders to open fire on protesters who cannot be detained, the source said.
“Now the Chinese authorities are threatening the Tibetans in this area that if anyone does anything against the Chinese authority, the local police are authorized by Chinese central and provincial authorities to shoot anyone who commits crime against the government,” the source, a man in Dege county who did not wish to be named, told RFA.
“The persons involved in protests and other activities will be detained. Those who could not be detained will be shot and killed,” he said.
Planned self-immolation
The ramped-up security measures come after a Tibetan man, Relpa Tashi, bombed a government building on Saturday. Tashi, 32, died in the explosion.
According to the source, Tashi had planned to set himself on fire after bombing the building, which would have made him the 24th Tibetan to self-immolate in protest against Chinese rule since February 2009.
“Tashi planned to destroy the government building and then-self immolate but unfortunately he lost his life in the explosion and could not carry out his second phase of his plan,” he said.
The building, a new government base for conducting surveillance on local village residents, was badly damaged in the explosion, he said.
Local villagers had protested the construction of the building.
Sichuan has been the scene of self-immolations and protests against Chinese rule that have led to a security clampdown and the detention of hundreds of Tibetans.
In January, Chinese police opened fire on Tibetan protesters in at least three counties in Sichuan and Qinghai provinces, wounding scores and killing at least six, according to right groups.
Reported by Norbu Damdul for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.