First time a recent wave of self-immolations to protest at Chinese rule has reached the Tibetan capital

This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

Two men engulfed themselves in flames outside a temple that is a popular tourist site in Lhasa, marking the first time a recent wave of self-immolations to protest at Chinese rule has reached the tightly guarded Tibetan capital.

One of the men died and the other was hospitalised after they set themselves on fire on Sunday outside the Jokhang temple, the official Xinhua news agency said. The report quoted a local Communist party official as blaming the incident on separatist forces.

Xinhua said the men were taken away by authorities within two minutes of setting themselves on fire.

Protests have become rare in remote Tibet and Lhasa in particular because of tight police security that has blanketed the area since anti-government riots erupted in Lhasa in 2008.

There have been at least 34 immolations since March of last year to draw attention to China's restrictions on Buddhism and to call for the return from exile of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Most have taken place in Tibetan areas of China, but only one had occurred in Tibet itself and none in the capital.

Chinese authorities have confirmed some of the self-immolations over the past year but not all.

The twin immolations in the heart of Tibetan capital are certain to embarrass the region's communist leadership, who have pledged to make social stability and ethnic unity top priorities. That mandate is especially pressing this year as China prepares for a once-a-decade leadership transition in the autumn and doesn't want the occasion undermined.

The immolations are also likely to prompt tough, new restrictions on Tibetan social gatherings and religious activities in Lhasa, as they have elsewhere.

Radio Free Asia reported on Monday that the capital was under heavy police and paramilitary guard following the immolations and that the situation was very tense.

The incident occurred in the open-air Barkhor market near the temple in the centre of Lhasa, an area popular with Tibetans and tourists alike.

Xinhua said the immolations were handled quickly and order was restored. It also quoted a senior official with the regional communist government as saying it was a separatist incident.

"They were a continuation of the self-immolations in other Tibetan areas and these acts were all aimed at separating Tibet from China," Xinhua quoted Hao Peng, secretary of the commission for political and legal affairs of the CPC Tibet Committee, as saying in a statement on Sunday.

Xinhua identified the Tibetan who died as Tobgye Tseten from Xiahe county in Gansu province and the other man as Dargye, a Tibetan from Aba county in Sichuan province.

Most of the recent immolations have taken place in Aba, home to Kirti monastery, where numerous protests against the Chinese government have taken place over the past few years. Xiahe is home to the large and influential Labrang monastery and the Tibetan community there has had sporadic clashes with local authorities.

Xinhua said Dargye was in stable condition and able to speak.

US-funded radio broadcaster Voice of America said the two men worked at a Lhasa restaurant called Nyima Ling.

"This was the first time it has happened in Lhasa – and right in the middle of Lhasa," said Tenzin Tsundue, a Tibetan poet and one of the most prominent activists living in India.

He said it reflected the fact that anger against Chinese rule was not restricted to the areas where most of the self-immolations have occurred – mostly ethnically Tibetan areas outside the legal boundaries of Tibet.

"All over Tibet it's the same emotion, it's the same response" to Beijing's policies, he said.

"We are always in fear of the next self-immolation, and whenever it happens we say prayers. And every time it happens we hope the world is listening."

China says Tibet has always been part of its territory, but many Tibetans say the Himalayan region was virtually independent for centuries until Chinese troops invaded in the 1950s.

Beijing blames the Dalai Lama for fanning anti-government sentiment and routinely purges monasteries and nunneries, where support for the Dalai Lama and Tibetan independence runs high.