A Tibetan Buddhist monk burned himself to death in southwest China today in a protest calling for the return of the Dalai Lama.
The monk's self-immolation could spark fresh tensions in heavily ethnic Tibetan parts of Sichuan, which neighbours the official Tibet region, following protests in March when a Tibetan monk there also burned himself to death.
The London-based Free Tibet organisation said the latest immolation-protest was carried out by Tsewang Norbu (29) who was from a monastery in Tawu, about 150 km from where the last immolation happened.
"Tsewang Norbu drank petrol, sprayed petrol on himself and then set himself on fire," Free Tibet said in an emailed statement.
"He was heard calling out: 'We Tibetan people want freedom', 'Long live the Dalai Lama' and 'Let the Dalai Lama Return to Tibet'. He is believed to have died at the scene," the group said.
China's official Xinhua news agency also reported the monk's self-immolation, but said "it was unclear why he had burnt himself".
Tawu, called Daofu in Chinese, is in a largely ethnic Tibetan part of western Sichuan that many advocates of self-rule say should form part of a larger homeland under Tibetan control.
Tensions over the fate of the exiled Dalai Lama and his calls for Tibetan self-determination have continued to dog the region, sometimes flaring into protests.
In March 2008, Tibetan protests led by monks in Lhasa, the regional capital of Tibet proper, were suppressed by police and turned violent. Rioters torched shops and turned on residents, especially Han Chinese, whom many Tibetans see as intruders threatening their culture.
That unrest spilled over into other ethnic Tibetan parts of China, including mountainous western Sichuan.
Beijing has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama of being a separatist who has abetted violence. China also rejects accusations of oppression of Tibetans, saying its rule has brought huge benefits to what was a dirt poor society.
Reuters