Reports from Tibet which have reached TibetInfoNet allow for a more vivid and detailed picture of the incidents which occurred in Luchu (Chin: Luqu), Kanlho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP), Gansu province, between 16 and 18 March 2008. According to these reports, protests focussed here, as in many other places, against symbols of the Chinese state and remained peaceful. Meanwhile, an unprecedented security force with troops from mainland China has been building up in particular in the north-eastern Tibetan regions, referred by Tibetans as Amdo and which have emerged as the main centres of protests, at least since massive security measures succeeded in halting new protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.
Details of the Luchu protests
According to TibetInfoNet sources, monks from Shetsang Garsar monastery, approximately eight kilometres from Luchu county town organised a 'peace march' on 16 March 2008. Over 300 monks walked in procession carrying the banned Tibetan national flag, as well as portraits of the Dalai Lama and Gendun Choekyi Nyima(1). There was a large Tibetan national flag that had to be carried by four monks as a long horizontal banner and several smaller ones. Townspeople and nomads soon joined the protest, many holding up handwritten posters demanding "Independence for Tibet". Some monks sported headbands with the same slogan.
The marchers reached town about 3pm and went straight to the Minority (Tibetan) Middle School, the destination of their march. Students had been informed of the march on the previous day, in order that they might join it. However, when the crowd stood outside the school chanting slogans, students were barred from leaving. The protesters then tore off one of the boards above the school gate that had the school name written in large Chinese characters. They left its Tibetan equivalent intact.
The demonstrators proceeded to the government headquarters where they removed the Chinese flag and broke the flag pole itself. At this time, there were about 3,000 people assembled, due to effective communication and mobility facilitated by mobile phones and motorbikes. Protesters continued to repeat slogans: "Let the Dalai Lama return! Long Live the Dalai Lama! Release Panchen Gedun Chokyi Nyima! Tibet belongs to Tibetans! Tibetans should be granted freedom and independence through peaceful dialogue! May the exiles and Tibetans inside Tibet be reunited!"
A female eyewitness TibetInfoNet spoke to reported that two monks slashed their fingers to write: "Tibet demands complete independence" in their own blood. Obviously deeply affected, she described the atmosphere as fervent and fraternal, and said that many protesters were crying openly as they called for the return of the Dalai Lama. The demonstrators marched along the main street in Luchu, removing name boards and symbols of the local Chinese government, including those of the local People's Court and Public Security Bureau (PSB), as they went. There were some children throwing stones at the local government offices but monks prevented them and exhorted the crowd not to engage in similar acts of violence, as this went against the peaceful spirit and intention of the march. The same source claimed that so far there had been no incidents of smashing or burning, apart from symbols of Chinese rule such as the five starred flag and insignias.
As darkness fell the protesters assembled in the town square where they continued chanting slogans before ending the march with the recitation of prayers by the monks. Special prayers were said for the welfare of Tibet, the long life of the Dalai Lama and the endurance of religion. The crowd then dispersed and monks headed back to their monastery but with a vow to continue protesting in the following days.
On the night of 16 March, students from the Minority (Tibetan) Middle School took to the streets in solidarity with the marchers led by the monks. Considering the volatility of the situation, the school authorities closed the school and forced students to go home. There are over one thousand students at this middle school for Tibetans.
On 18 March around 2pm, monks proceeded to march again from the monastery but their progress was halted by local Tibetan cadres and senior Lamas who pleaded with the marchers to stop, and reminding them of the brutal repercussions that were sure to follow. Town people and nomads from the surrounding tribes (Pagur, Gyagur, Ma-ngi and Hongkor) continued to protest for about an hour, carrying a banner declaring "Independence for Tibet" and portraits of the Dalai Lama. Similar protests are said to have taken place in most townships within Luchu county, such as Samsa, Alle and Laring.
Unprecedented security force build-up
The local police didn't have the resources to deal with a mass demonstration on this scale, but footage of large convoys of Chinese armed forces heading towards Tibetan regions captured by mainstream TV stations like ITV, BBC and CNN, despite the prohibition of foreign journalists travelling into Tibetan regions, appear to confirm that an unprecedented military build-up is taking place. Sources speaking to TibetInfoNet mentioned being aware of massive military and security personnel movements to quell the ongoing unrest in this region, referred to by Tibetans as Amdo. 10,000 Chinese soldiers were reportedly being deployed in this area. The force belongs to the Lanzhou Military Region, one of China's seven military regions. Although these figures can hardly be confirmed, eyewitness accounts point to a mobilisation unlike any seen since the 1950s.
On 16 march, in Ngaba, Chinese security forces opened fire at protesters killing at least eight Tibetans. Photographs of some of these victims were circulated by the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) in Dharamsala, India(2), adding evidence to several other reports of lethal violence being used by security forces against protesters. On 20 March, Chinese authorities reluctantly conceded, that security force actions in eastern Tibet have claimed Tibetan casualties. There are, however, indications that many casualties occurred when local or regional security forces attempted to quell protest and met with resistance.
Following a pattern which has been emerging during the week in Lhasa, the general strategy of the authorities seems rather to impose total curfews over disturbed areas, intimidate the population through threats and display of heavy weapons, detain potential protesters in masses and single out alleged 'ringleaders' while avoiding too obvious open clashes. On the basis of experience of the past, it is to be assumed that those singled out in the process are in extreme danger of acute human rights violations, but at the contrary of the open demonstration which Tibetans were able to skilfully disseminate to global media outlet, these will occur far away from international attention. The massive build-up of troops observed in eastern Tibet is likely to occur for backing this strategy.
TibetInfoNet sources report that in Labrang (Chin: Xiahe) at least 11Tibetans were rounded up over a single night on 17 March following a protest. The also reported that 1,000 soldiers assisted by armed police and PSB officers put Machu town under strict military control and that there have been at least 70 known arrests(3). On 20 March at around 11am, some 300 soldiers equipped with automatic weapons completely surrounded the Jigtril Tathang monastery (Chin: Jiuzhi; Qinghai) and imposed a total curfew over the town. They gave 24 hours to turn in all organizers of the protest and threatened to make use of violence after the ultimatum has passed at noon on 21 March. Six Tibetans are said to be already in custody. Mobile phone transmitters appear to have been switched off.
It is becoming clear that the current deployments of large numbers of troops will allow the Chinese authorities to crackdown on the pan-Tibetan protests on an unprecedented scale. Should they decide to use violence to quell the protests, they will be able to do so more systematically than ever before. But if the events since 10 March 2008 tell us anything, then it is that despite nearly six decades of repression of any political dissent, the Chinese authorities have failed to force the Tibetans into docility. As it is, it appears evident that widespread brutality would only aggravate the situation in Tibet and fail to bring an enduring solution.
These protests in favour of the Dalai Lama demonstrate the undiminished allegiance of the Tibetans to their exiled leader. Whereas this is nothing new, the increasing drive of Tibetans to demonstrate this allegiance, ever more boldly, has become particularly strong and apparent since early 2006. A singular lack of cultural and religious, and in fact political, sensitivity have made China's Tibet policy makers fail to acknowledge the extent to which the Dalai Lama commands Tibetan allegiance and consequently to realise that if they can't think of a solution with him, any solution without at least his tacit support appears unviable. Waiting for the Dalai Lama's demise instead of addressing his conciliatory approach to existing problems might just backfire.
While the Dalai Lama has threatened to resign if the violence gets out of hand, Chinese officials continued their vilification of him by portraying him as a "wolf in monk's robes (...) with the heart of a beast". Meanwhile, after several weeks of hesitation, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared on 19 March his intention to meet the Dalai Lama during the Tibetan leader's forthcoming UK visit in May 2008. Speaking in Parliament, Brown reported a discussion with China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao: "The premier told me that, subject to two things that the Dalai Lama has already said - that he does not support the total independence of Tibet and that he renounces violence that he would be prepared to enter into dialogue". Wen's words, in fact, do not appear to reflect any change in the position of the Chinese leadership towards the Dalai lama, but the coming days will probably show what weight can be attached to them.
Notes:
1:
Gendun Choekyi Nyima, was recognised when he was aged five as the 11th Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama in 1995, but he was then removed from his community by the Chinese authorities. His whereabouts are still unknown.
2:
These pictures are displayed on TCHRD's website under http://www.tchrd.org/press/2008/pr20080318c.html
3:
For a detailed account of the protest in Machu preceding these arrests, see TibetInfoNet's Update of 18 March 2008 (https://www.tibetinfonet.net/content/update/100)