By Brian Lanciault
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
BEIJING, China– Chinese police opened fire on a crowd of Tibetan residents gathered in protest of the detention of a fellow villager who refused to comply with orders to display the national flag. Reports indicate that at least 60 people were injured.
Although the use of force by police to disperse unwanted crowds of protesters is common in China, shooting into crowds and causing mass injury has garnered global attention. According to the London-based Free Tibet organization, police aggressively fired at the crowd with tear gas and bullets. Local government officials have yet to comment on the incident.
Security forces had been deployed in mass beginning October 1 in response to reports that local authorities were struggling contain unrest surrounding a government order that all houses must display the national flag in commemoration of National Day. Government teams reported to the Biru region of Tibet in order to compel villagers to follow the order.
China has claimed Tibet as its own territory for centuries, but Tibetans claim that the region was an independent nation until Chinese communist soldiers began to occupy the territory in the 1950s.
The protests began after government officials detained local resident Dorje Draktsel, who was arrested last week for protesting the flag order.
The self-proclaimed Tibetan government-in-exile, based in India, said it has received reports of the firing in Biru, but had little information surrounding the incident. Spokesman Tashi Phuntsok said that the exiled Tibetans had heard protesters were injured, but did not know how many.
Many Tibetans, who resent the Chinese government’s crackdown on Tibetan and Buddhist culture, believe that Beijing’s economic policies in the Himalayan region have largely benefited Chinese migrants, at the expense of Tibetan natives. China, in return, says it has made vast investments to boost the region’s economy and improve Tibetans’ quality of life.
Tensions in the region have increased since protests were organized in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, in March of 2008. Then, approximately 20 people were killed, followed by another 100 people, mostly Buddhist monks, who committed suicide in protest against Chinese colonization.
For more information, please see:
Global Post– 60 Wounded by police during Tibet protest — 8 October 2013
Radio Free Asia– Chinese Police Fire on Unarmed Tibetan Protesters in Driru — 8 October 2013
Al Jazeera– Chinese police fire at Tibetan protesters — 8 October 2013
ABC News– Reports: Chinese Police Fire at Tibetan Protesters — 8 October 2013
Voice of America– Activists: Chinese Police Fire on Protesters in Tibet, Wounding Dozens — 8 October 2013
