Chinese authorities in western China’s Sichuan province have detained a Tibetan monk linked to a self-immolation protest last year challenging Beijing’s rule in Tibetan-populated areas, sources in the region and in exile said.
Tsewang Choephel, a monk of the Tawu Nyitso monastery in the Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture’s Tawu (Daofu) county, was taken into custody on May 18 while traveling by motorcycle outside Tawu’s Chikshe town, a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
“A group of policemen stopped him and took him away at about 10:30 a.m.,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“There is no information about his present condition,” he added.
Though no explanation was given for Choephel’s detention, local Tibetans believe he may have come to the attention of police in connection with the Dec. 23, 2014, self-immolation protest of another Tawu Nyitso monk, Kalsang Yeshe.
“At the time, he displayed his dislike of the police and helped prevent them from taking [Yeshe’s] body away,” he said.
Warning shots fired
Kalsang Yeshe, 38, had set himself ablaze at around 11:20 a.m. outside Chinese Public Security Bureau offices near his monastery to protest Chinese policies in Tibetan areas, sources said in earlier reports.
Engulfed in flames, Yeshe collapsed to the ground, and though Tibetans nearby rushed to prevent authorities from taking his body away, police dispersed the crowd by firing warning shots into the air, sources said.
After the monks of Tawu Nyitso learned that Choephel had been taken into custody, they met to demand his release, a Tibetan living in exile said, citing local sources.
“The monks said that authorities should not interfere with innocent Tibetans by detaining them,” the source, named Lobsang Jinpa, said.
Sporadic demonstrations challenging Chinese rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008, with 139 Tibetans to date setting themselves ablaze to oppose Beijing’s rule and call for the return of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
Reported by Sonam Wangdu and Lhuboom for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.