International | 16/03/2014
Beijing, 16 mar (EFE).- A Tibetan monk tried to immolate himself today in western China's Qinghai province, neighboring the autonomous region of Tibet and the scene of dozens of protests of this type in recent years, Chinese state media reported.
The monk, whose condition after the attempted immolation is unknown, belongs to Zekog monastery, from Huangnan Prefecture, local authorities reported, as police investigate protest site.
More than a hundred people, mostly monks, have carried out this type of suicidal actions in areas with a Tibetan population in western China and at least eighty of them died.
Pro-Tibet groups outside China blame the communist regime for generating a climate of tension and repression of Tibetan culture and religion that encourages these immolations., while Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama, The Tibetan spiritual leader, to applaud and encourage these actions.
March is the month in which the Tibetan rebellion of 1959 which failed and resulted in the exile of the Dalai Lama, so it is usually a time of tension in Tibet and neighboring provinces, as shown by the revolts that in 2008 caused the death of at least 20 people in Lhasa, the regional capital.
China assures that Tibet has been an inseparable part of its territory for centuries, while Tibetans in exile argue that the region was long virtually independent until it was occupied by communist troops in 1951.
