Note: Tsering Woeser is the foremost Tibetan writer in Tibet and China today. She published these entries in her blog to record the incidents occurring in Tibet and China. According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), she has been under house arrest in Beijing since March 10.
March 30
To protest against the local authority's anti-Dalai Lama campaign, which demanded that everyone vote by raising their hands and signatures, monks and the authority in Kaliang Township, Luhuo County of Kang (Ganzę Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province) erupted in a conflict. Dozens of monks were beaten and arrested. That night the authority mobilized 300 soldiers and stationed them in Kaliang Township. Three Geshe scholars (Geshe is a Tibetan Buddhist academic degree) were released. A Khenpo (Khenpo is a host of a temple) and a nun were sent to Kangding. Over hundred of people were still detained in Luhuo County jail.
It is said that 11 young Tibetans were arrested on unknown charges yesterday in the western suburbs of Lhasa. This indicates something did happen yesterday in Lhasa. It is also said that yesterday at noon, a soldier shot a young Tibetan. The young man was passing by on street on a motorcycle during the chaos in the city. A soldier on duty asked him to stop for checking. In the confusion, he did not stop and thus, the soldier opened the fire and he was shot dead on the spot. The Tibet Autonomous Regional Public Security Department issued the No. 9 arrest warrant for six people and broadcast it in both Chinese and Tibetan on the Tibetan Literary Television and Lhasa Television. To date, there are 59 Tibetans wanted.
On March 27, 20-30 herdsmen in the Nagqu area were arrested during a protest. In addition, several temples in Anduo and Kang were under siege. Massive arrests occurred and many monks were arrested. On March 29, more than 500 monks were arrested from the Ge-Er-Deng Temple in Anduo, Aba County (Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province).
On March 27, 75 renowned international Tibetologists cosigned a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao. In the letter, they severely criticized China's Tibetan Policy and appealed to properly resolve the Tibet issue. As of March 30, 275 Tibetologists and scholars of various countries signed the letter. (http://www.tibetopenletter.org/)
Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV broadcasted Wen Jiabao's latest speech, "As long as the Dalai Lama will give up his independence advocacy, in particular exerting his influence to stop the violent activities in Tibet, and acknowledge that Tibet and Taiwan are an integral part of Chinese territory, we and he can resume a dialogue," and stressed that the CCP "will continue to persist in the Tibet regional ethnic autonomy system, adhere to supporting Tibet's economic development to improve people's livelihood, adhere to religious freedom within the scope of the Constitution and laws, uphold to guarantee Tibetan culture, and adhere to protect the ecological environment in Tibet."
It is noteworthy that this is the first time the Chinese government leader publicly acknowledged the Dalai Lama's influence in Tibet.
March 31
There is an increase in the number of police and soldiers in Lhasa City. The Tibetan areas in the old city are like barracks and filled with an insecure atmosphere.
April 1
The Tibet Autonomous Regional Public Security Department issued the No. 10 arrest warrant for five young people and broadcasted it in both Chinese and Tibetan through the Tibetan Literary Television and Lhasa Television. Three of them are women with clear photos (probably taken by cellular phone) showing they were fighting on the street. To date, there are 64 Tibetans wanted.
April 2
The No. 11 arrest warrant was issued by the Public Security Bureau of the Tibet Autonomous Region. It was broadcast in both Tibetan and Chinese on the Tibetan Literary Television and Lhasa Television. The arrest warrant was issued for five people, who were photographed throwing rocks at people and vandalizing stores on March 14. To date, arrest warrants have been issued for 69 Tibetans.
CCTV, which is the Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece, repeatedly aired a speech by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security at a press conference on April 1. The spokesperson said, "Recently police received tips from the public and some monks, and based on these tips, officials confiscated a large number of attack weapons in certain temples in Tibet. Evidence suggests that the violent crimes on March 14 were a part of the 'Tibetan People's Uprising Movement' masterminded by the Dalai Lama clique."
CCTV also aired several videos, including the documentary "Tibet's Past: Looking back at Hundreds of Years of Bloody and Tearful History of Slave Farmers in Tibet," as well as videos titled "Weapons Hidden in Some Tibetan Temples," "Britain's Two Invasions into Tibet," "Dalai Lama's Mentioning of a 'Greater Tibet' Is a Form of Independence," "Did the Dalai Lama Really Give up Independence?" "Inside Story on the 'Tibetan People's Uprising Movement' Masterminded by the Dalai Lama Clique," "Police Arrest Key Members in the March 14 Incident," and others. At the same time, the CCTV quoted the most recent speech by Premier Wen Jiabao, which called on the Dalai Lama to "use his influence to stop the violence currently going on in Tibet."
This clearly contradicts earlier statements. As some analysts pointed out, any political leader could exert his or her influence. Wen's request showed precisely that the Dalai Lama did not organize the violence.
April 3
Xinhua News Agency published one article titled "Inside Story on the 'Tibetan People's Uprising Movement' Masterminded by the Dalai Lama Clique" on April 1. The article was reprinted in many Chinese newspapers, including the People's Daily, and Beijing Evening News, as well as many websites. It was also aired repeatedly on CCTV, and influenced many Chinese people. Washington-based Voice of America has refuted the statement that "Voice of America's Tibetan language channel is used for communication between the Dalai Lama and independence activists in Tibet." Chief Editor Zhang Jing of the East Asia/Pacific Division of VOA said, "The Tibetan language broadcast of the Voice of America is produced in strict accordance to professional journalism standards, just like other languages. Xinhua News Agency's allegation that VOA is being used for secret communication between international political forces is completely groundless and absurd. Xinhua also neglected to provide any evidence or source. They had also not sought to verify with the VOA before they made such an allegation against us." The article by Xinhua, ironically, would not meet professional journalism standards.
The No. 12 arrest warrant was issued by the Public Security Bureau of the Tibet Autonomous Region. It was broadcast in both Tibetan and Chinese on the Tibetan Literary Television and Lhasa Television. The arrest warrant was issued for five people, including four women and one man. To date, arrest warrants have been issued for 74 Tibetans.
Sources said that another incident happened on March 29, killing three Tibetans. However, the news could not be verified. This time the Chinese paramilitary police reacted very quickly; completely different from what happened on March 14. In half an hour, along East Beijing Street and Middle Beijing Street, all street-front stores were closed; there were no other telltale signs. Along major streets, more police were dispatched, but there were no military vehicles or increased paramilitary police, at least on the surface. It's not clear how many plainclothes police were there. On April 1 and 2, martial law in Lhasa was tightened.
On April 2, a meeting was held among all government officials of the county level and higher in the Autonomous Region. The CCP Secretary of the Autonomous Region Zhang Qingli gave a chilling speech on the need to capture "Tibetan Independence" members. He stressed the need to quickly arrest, prosecute and kill these people, and reiterated, "A bunch must be killed." The speech was received with enthusiastic applause, but many felt a shiver. Zhang also said that Tibet would be open for domestic and international tourism for China's Labor Day on May 1. The speech was distributed to all agencies in Lhasa on April 3.
Sources also said that about 40 younger monks were recently arrested in two temples in Wanmo in Zhuoni County, Gannan Region, Gansu Province.
Hong Kong based Phoenix Television broadcast a meeting in the State Department this afternoon introducing the background of the suppression. The program said a violent incident occurred in Aba County, an autonomous region for the Tibet and Qiang ethnic minority in Sichuan Province. The deputy governor of the region Xaio Youcai claimed 'the officers on duty used weapons following legal procedures' but denied the military shot and killed any Tibetans. He stated that the pictures with Tibetans killed by gunshots were forged. Xiao also said that those who were wounded had 'fled.'
April 4
Latest news: Yesterday the military and a special task team searched the historic Donggu Temple located in the Garzę Tibetan Autonomous Region in Sichuan Province. They searched every monk's room, confiscated all their cell phones, and threw the pictures of the Dalai Lama and Master Shatrul Rinpoche on the ground.
A 74-year-old monk Cicheng Danzeng and a 26-year-old monk were arrested for trying to stop them. The special task team that came with the military demanded that all the monks slander the Dalai Lama. A monk Yixi Nima first stood up to protest against it, and the rest of the monks followed him. Last night at 6:30 p.m., all monks protested near a river outside of the temple demanding the authority release the monks they had arrested. The local residents joined the protest. Hundreds of people shouted 'long live the Dalai Lama,' 'Allow the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet,' and 'we want freedom.' Between 8-9 p.m., the authority mobilized over a thousand soldiers to suppress the protest.
Eight deaths were verified: 27-year-old monk Sangdan, 30-year-old local resident Pupu Dele, son of a local resident Ciren Pingcuo, daughter of a local resident Cuoge, local resident Zhu Longcuo (female), local resident Danluo (female), and two people with names unknown. Many were injured, one of the Tibetans, Tudeng Gele was seriously injured. There were two monks injured by gunshots, one of them had his outer ear severed from a gunshot, the other's shoulder was hit by a bullet. About ten monks were missing. This morning, the corpses at the scene of incident were gone leaving a large amount of blood. Currently the military have surrounded the temple.
A Tibetan named Ashen witnessed the event. Ashen's article "Incident in Tibet- the trigger of the March 16 incident in Aba County, Sichuan Province," disclosed what happened on March 16 when the soldiers killed Tibetan protestors in Aba County, Sichuan. It was because the local officials pressured the hanging of the Chinese Communist Party's flag in the major hall in the temple. The monks resisted for temples were government institutes. When the authority sent in more and more military and the soldiers started to provoke a conflict, the Tibetans eventually stood up and protested. The soldiers fired their weapons and kill many Tibetans.
On March 27, monk Luosang Jinba, 32 years old, of Gerdeng Temple in Aba County hung himself leaving a letter behind him. In his letter, he said that he alone was responsible for all the crimes the authority accused the temple of, including 'instigating and organizing protests, preserving bodies of those killed by the military, and disclosing news to outside the region.
He also stated that he lead the peaceful protest and would take full responsibility. At the end of the letter, he said, "I do not wish to live under Beijing's totalitarian regime, not even for a minute. I prefer to die, even for one day.' He signed his letter. A 75-year-old monk from Guomang Temple in Aba County was arrested on his way to perform a religious ceremony. After a few days of detention, he was released. He soon killed himself in the temple.
Wang Xiangming, deputy Party Chief of Lhasa, once told the media over 1000 people who participated in the unrest in March were arrested or gave themselves up. Their trials will be held before May 1. Media generally considered Wang's talk provided the most comprehensive clues about Beijing's suppression in Tibet.
The scale of the anti-government protest in Tibet and the length of the protest is the largest and longest in the past 20 years. The highest ranking party cadre in Tibet, Zhang Qingli spoke on TV on April 2 about the government's suppression in Tibet. Zhang said the "soldiers were brave and skillful in fighting" and admired them for "listening to the Party, serving the people, and being brave."
The Tibet Autonomous Region Public Safety Department sent out a text message to users of China Mobile in Lhasa, "We encourage people to spontaneously provide information on the criminals involved in the March 14 incident. Once your information is proven to be true, you will receive 20,000 yuan (approximately US$ 2,857) as a reward and your information will be kept secret. The hotline is 0891-6311189, 6324422, or 110 to directly reach the Public Safety Department."
The Tibet Public Safety Department issued No. 13 warrant in both Tibetan and Chinese and broadcast on Tibetan Literary Television and Lhasa Television. Five people were wanted, all male. To date, 79 Tibetans are wanted.
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