China reacts furiously as Tibetan self-immolations sharply escalate
AFP: Six Tibetans Set Selves Alight in China: Exile Govt
Six Tibetans have set themselves on fire in China in the last two days in an escalating wave of protests as the country’s leaders gather for a once-a-decade power transition, exile leaders said Thursday.
An 18-year-old man self-immolated on Thursday outside a monastery in Huangnan prefecture in Qinghai province where a 23-year-old woman also died after setting herself alight on Wednesday, the India-based exile government announced.
A trio of monks aged 16 or under also set themselves alight on Wednesday in Aba County in Sichuan province, with one dying of his injuries, while another burning was confirmed in the Tibetan Autonomous Region on the same day.
Self-immolations to protest Chinese rule in Tibet have occurred regularly since March 2011, but Wednesday marked the first time such a large number have happened on the same day. Three are dead in the latest cases.
“We firmly believe that an end to repression will effectively end the cycle of self-immolations,” the exile government’s premier Lobsang Sangay said in a message to China’s incoming leadership.