A man, believed to be a monk, has set himself alight in South-Western China, protesting against the Chinese government, becoming the 20th such person to do so in the past year alone.
The condition of the person is unknown, but marks an increasingly violent time in the region, the likes of which have not been seen since deadly riots in 2008. Protests against Chinese authorities have been growing over the past year, along with the self immolations, through which at least 13 people have died.
Reports have also indicated that China has fired three officials in the region for failing to crack down on the unrest, which they allege has been instigated by the “Dalai clique”.
Lobsang Sangay, the leader of Tibetans' self-declared exile government, commented,
"Any human being given a choice would like to live rather than die, but Tibetans inside Tibet are giving up their lives ... for Tibet and Tibetan people because the occupation of Tibet is unacceptable."
The Tibetan New Year is set to take place on February 22nd, for which Sangay alleged “hundreds of convoys” of armed Chinese military personnel were mobilising into the Tibetan regions.
Sangay, who is currently in India, went on to state,
"If the Chinese government think that the Tibet issue can be solved through violence, intimidation, then it's not going to happen, because the Tibetan spirit is strong,"
See our earlier posts:
Clashes in Tibet after self-immolation (14 Jan 2012)
2 more Tibetans self immolate in China (09 Jan 2012)
Cultural genocide fans self-immolations – Dalai Lama (07 Nov 2011)
