Chinese authorities have detained hundreds of people in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, as a young woman died setting herself alight protesting Chinese rule.
The crackdown follows two men self immolating in the capital earlier this week, marking the first time such an act of protest has occurred in the city.
Radio Free Asia reported that almost 600 people had been arrested so far, with those from outside the Tibetan Autonomous Region having been expelled.
The arrests come as a woman, identified as a 33-year old mother of three, died after she set herself alight in front of a monastery in Sichuan, western China. At least 35 Tibetans have now self-immolated since March 2011.
Free Tibet spokeswoman Harriet Beaumont spoke out against the arrests stating,
“We have reports of arbitrary detentions in the vast majority of places where there have been protests and self-immolations, and in many places there have been disappearances.”
Stephanie Brigden, director of Free Tibet, commented on the latest immolation, saying,
"Barma Township is like many other places in Tibet: people from all walks of life are rejecting Chinese rule and going to extraordinary lengths to make their calls for freedom heard."
John Powers, a professor of Asian studies at Australian National University, also added,
"The Chinese state has upped the level of oppression so much that now it's really only possible to stage individual protests, and that's one of the reasons why these very public, very dramatic self-immolations are taking place - because the Tibetans really have no other options."
