Another Tibetan self-immolates in China rule protest

Another young Tibetan was reported on Monday to have burned herself to death in central China to protest Chinese rule over Tibet, the latest in a rash of self-immolations that underscores growing tensions in the region. Tsering Kyi, a 20-year-old student, doused herself with petrol and set herself on fire in Maqu, Gansu province, on Saturday, a statement by the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamshala, India, said. She was the 24th ethnic Tibetan to die this way in the past year. Tsering Kyi’s death at a vegetable market in Maqu, or Machu as it is known in Tibetan, came a day before a Tibetan mother of four died the same way in neighboring Aba country, according to the release. Rinchen, 32, set herself ablaze in front of the police station at Kirti Monastery, shouting demands for freedom and for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet, the statement said. Aba, in Sichuan province and known as Ngaba in Tibetan, has become a flashpoint for Tibetan monks, nuns and citizens burning themselves to death to protest China’s Tibet policies. Activists say China violently stamps out religious freedom and culture in Tibet, the mountainous region of western China that has been under Chinese control since 1950. China rejects criticism that it is eroding Tibetan culture and faith, saying its rule has ended serfdom and brought development to a backward region. China’s top official in Tibet has urged authorities to tighten their grip on the Internet and mobile phones, state media reported last week, reflecting the government’s fears about unrest during its annual parliamentary session which began this weekend.