Another Tibetan sets himself on fire, dies to protest Chinese rule
From Amir Ahmed, CNN
updated 2:42 AM EST, Sun January 13, 2013
Protesters carrying posters of Tibetans who have self-immolated walk to the United Nations in New York on December 10, 2012.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Details of the death are sketchy
- Self-immolation as protest started in 2009
- By December last year, 95 Tibetans had carried out the act
- China rejects accusations of oppression
(CNN) -- A Tibetan man protesting China's rule of
the region set himself on fire Saturday, his death believed to be the
first case of self-immolation this year -- but one that adds to a grim,
growing toll.
The death took place in Gansu province in northwestern China.
It was
reported by
Free Tibet, a London-based organization that campaigns for
self-determination for Tibetans, and by the U.S.-based Radio Free Asia.
Free Tibet said the man was 22, while Radio Free Asia
put his age at 19.
Tibetan self-immolations on the rise
Self-immolations on rise in Tibet
Dalai Lama silent on self-immolations
Details of the death --
as has been the case with other such incidents -- are sketchy and
difficult to verify. Internet content controlled by local authorities
makes reliable information almost impossible to come by.
Self-immolation is a common form of protest for Tibetans, who want genuine autonomy from China and accuse Beijing of repression.
China began a gradual
occupation of Tibet in the 1950s. Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai
Lama, fled for India in 1959 after a failed uprising, and many ethnic
Tibetans followed him.
Beijing rejects
accusations of oppression, saying that under its rule, living standards
have greatly improved for the Tibetan people. It makes centuries-old
historical claims on the region.
Self-immolation as a form
of protest by Tibetans began in February 2009, when a young monk set
himself ablaze. In March 2011, another young monk followed in his
footsteps, becoming the first to die.
By December 2012, 95
Tibetans had carried out the act, with 28 self-immolations in November
alone when China's political elite ushered in its next generation of
leaders during its Communist Party Congress. At least
81 of them died, according to the International Tibet Network, a coalition of some 150 pro-Tibet groups..
In his first speech as
Communist Party leader, Xi Jinping stressed the need for unity in a
country where the Party was becoming too distant from the people. This
followed predecessor Hu Jintao's comments to Congress delegates in
November that the Party "should consolidate and develop socialist ethnic
relations of equality, unity, mutual assistance and harmony so that all
ethnic groups in China will live and develop together in harmony."
But activists warn that
if the Chinese government continues to tighten its grip on the Tibetan
people in the name of stability, it will only create more resentment.
They point to the
growing list of young victims prepared to take such extreme action,
which they say reflects a desperate and painful state of mind for many.
San Francisco Chronicle
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