Former Tibetan Monk Self-Immolates Near Restive Kirti Monastery FEB. 14 , 2014 — A former Tibetan monk has burned himself in protest against Chinese rule near the restive Kirti monastery in Sichuan province in the second Tibetan self-immolation protest this year, an exiled monk with contacts in the region said Friday. Chinese security forces bundled Lobsang Dorje, 25, away in a small car after he self-immolated near the monastery in the Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on Thursday evening, said Kanyag Tsering, a Tibetan monk at the Kirti exile monastery in India's Dharamsala hill town, where the Dalai Lama lives. "Engulfed in flames, Dorje shouted slogans against Chinese policy in Tibet," Tsering told RFA's Tibetan Service. "Many Chinese security forces rushed to the scene and put out the flames and forced Dorje into a small car, covering him with a black blanket," Tsering said. "At the time, he was seen forcing up his head and clasping his hand but the police pressed him down and drove him away," he said. Condition unclear Dorje's condition and whereabouts were not immediately clear amid heightened security in Ngaba county. "He was alive at the time when he was forced into the car but I cannot say what condition he might be in now," Tsering said. He also said that the self-immolation of Dorje, who was a monk at a young age in Kirti monastery but had been disrobed since, coincided with the holding of the Kirti monastery "Cham dance," a sacred ritual. Ngaba has been among the key venues of Tibetan self-immolation protests. The main road in Ngaba county was renamed in 2012 by Tibetans as "Heroes Street" after it became a regular venue for the burnings. Dorje's burning was the 127th since the self-immolation protests began in 2009 challenging Chinese rule in Tibetan areas and calling for the return from exile of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. First self-immolation death in 2014 Meanwhile, sources confirmed Thursday that the first Tibetan self-immolation protester this year has died. Phagmo Samdrub, 29, who self-immolated on Feb. 5 in Dokarmo township in Tsekhog (in Chinese, Zeku) county in Qinghai province's Malho (Huangnan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture died probably on the same day and his remains were cremated by the Chinese authorities, the sources told RFA. “Chinese security forces took his body on Feb. 6 to Ziling [in Chinese, Xining] prefecture, and the next day his remains were cremated and his ashes thrown in the Machu River [Yellow River]," a source said. “The Chinese officials forced the family to throw the ashes into the Machu River," the source said. "Besides, the deceased had a ring, which the authorities didn’t allow the family to take, and forced them to throw it in the river too.” Reported by RFA's Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/burn-02142014104238.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org . To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at mahajanr(a)rfa.org .

Uyghurs in China Train Station Attack May Have Acted 'in Desperation' MARCH 3, 2014 — A group of knife-wielding attackers who went on a weekend slashing spree at a train station in China's southern Yunnan province may have been disgruntled ethnic minority Uyghur asylum seekers who felt "trapped" between violence in their Xinjiang homeland and the inability to flee across the border into Laos, sources say. Chinese authorities have labeled the eight assailants accused of killing 29 people and injuring 143 others in the "terror attack" at the railway station in Yunnan's capital Kunming as separatists from the troubled Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region — more than 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) from the province. But Uyghur sources in the Yunnan capital said the eight — four of whom were shot dead and the others captured by police — might have acted in desperation as they, according to Chinese state media, slashed indiscriminately at people queuing to buy tickets at the busy railway terminal on Saturday. "I believe the attackers may have been a desperate group of Uyghurs who fled Xinjiang to Yunnan and were trapped there after the Chinese authorities discovered their plans to get across to Laos," a Uyghur in Kunming told RFA's Uyghur Service, speaking on condition of anonymity. The source said he suspects the eight had fled to Yunnan following a police crackdown in Xinjiang's violence-hit Hanerik township in Hotan prefecture last year. The crackdown came after police opened fire at a large crowd of unarmed Uyghurs protesting the arrest of a young religious leader and the closure of a mosque in June, leaving at least 15 killed and 50 others injured. In October, sources had told RFA that Chinese authorities had rounded up some 100 Uyghurs in Yunnan amid a hunt for seven suspects fleeing to the Lao border following the Hanerik clashes. At least 30 Uyghurs were apprehended at the town of Mohan on the border with Laos in Yunnan’s Mengla county in late September, and scores of others were detained around the province, a Uyghur merchant who witnessed the arrest had told RFA. Some of them were held because they were trying to flee across the border into Laos without passports. Laos is among countries bordering China which Uyghurs fleeing violence in their homeland hope to use as a launching pad for sanctuary in third countries. Wanted list The eight linked to the deadly Kunming attack — including two women — had likely been placed on the police wanted list after the 30 Uyghurs were apprehended in Mohan, sources in Kunming said. “They may have tried to cross the border in their bid for political asylum but they gave up after the 30 Uyghurs were captured on the Mohan border,” another Uyghur in Kunming said, also speaking on condition of anonymity. “They cannot go back to Hotan, but they cannot do any business in Kunming either because they don’t have any ID cards with them and have arrest warrants issued against them by the regional police department,” the source said. With no immediate hope in sight, they may have decided to go on a killing spree to avenge the death of their compatriots back home in Xinjiang, according to the source. “They were likely reacting to the extra-judicial killings that have occurred about a dozen times last year in Xinjiang," the Uyghur said. "Their message to the government was, ‘We can do something also.'" China has intensified a sweeping security crackdown against the mostly Muslim, Turkic-speaking Uyghurs in recent months in Xinjiang, where according to official figures about 100 people are believed to have been killed over the last year — many of them Uyghurs accused by the authorities of terrorism and separatism. 'East Turkestan flags' Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing Monday that "some East Turkestan flags were found on the scene" of the Kunming attack, led by one Abdurehim Kurban. Hong Kong broadcaster Phoenix TV showed images of a blue flag embroidered with the Islamic declaration of faith, said to have been found by police. Many Uyghurs refer to Xinjiang as East Turkestan, as the region had come under Chinese control following two short-lived East Turkestan republics in the 1930s and 1940s. They say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination and oppressive religious controls under Beijing’s policies, blaming the problems partly on the influx of Han Chinese into the region. Rights groups and experts say Beijing exaggerates the terrorism threat to take the heat off domestic policies that cause unrest or to justify the authorities' use of force against Uyghurs. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA's Uyghur Service. Translated by Shohret Hoshur. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. View this story online at: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/desperate-03032014224353.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org . To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at mahajanr(a)rfa.org .