#20.2

15 monks in Labrang (Xiahe) disrupt another Chinese-organized media tour:

Monks carry a Tibetan flag and shout slogans as a group of journalists, invited to an official visit by the local government, arrived at the Labrang Monestry in Xiahe, Gansu provinve April 9, 2008. The monks demanded the return of the Dalai Lama to China and yelling that they had no human rights. (REUTERS)

More at NY Times:

“The Dalai Lama has to come back to Tibet,” one monk said, according to Reuters, which was invited on the tour. “We are not asking for Tibetan independence, we are just asking for human rights. We have no human rights now.”

#7.1

RFA reports on the most recent protests:

2,000 Tibetans Defy Chinese Crackdown as China Admits Shooting

“In the Tsekhog [Zeku] area in Huangnan prefecture, the monks are continuing their peaceful protests as of March 20,” a protester told an Amdo dialect reporter from RFA’s Tibetan service.

“Roughly 2,000 Tibetans, both monks and laypersons, are involved in the protests. The protesters are calling for the Chinese leadership to open a peaceful dialogue with the Dalai Lama and resolve the Tibetan issue peacefully,” the protester said, over the sound of slogans being chanted.

The protesters, who live in a traditionally Tibetan area of Qinghai which is home to large numbers of nomadic herders, were demanding a meaningful autonomous status inclusive of all Tibetan areas, but within the People’s Republic of China, he added.

They were also demanding that the Chinese leadership allow the Dalai Lama to visit the Amdo region, a cry raised during protests in another Sichuan town, Lithang, last summer.

“Right now there are no security forces in the area but we heard that they are coming. We have no freedom inside China,” the protester said. “We are right now protesting in front of the county government offices. We are about 2,000 protesters and we are protesting peacefully.”

Residents of Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) autonomous prefecture in Sichuan said two monks were shot dead by Chinese armed police after they defied a police cordon set up around the Kirti monastery. Local residents also said a “massacre” had occurred during the clashes around Kirti.

#6.7

Photos from Labrang (Ch. Xiahe) dated 19th March 2008

#3.4

#3.3

Must watch video from Xiahe:

Use this link if YouTube is blocked.