2008 Sichuan riots

In Sichuan province, in an area incorporating the traditional Tibetan areas Kham and Amdo, Tibetan monks and police clashed in riots on March 16 in Ngawa county after the monks staged a protest. It formed part of the 2008 Tibetan unrest and was one of two major events to happena in Sichuan during 2008, the other being the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake in May 2008.

Events

On March 16, Tibetan Monks staged a protest against its allegedly harsh treatment by China. The word got out and the police became involved. The monks and police clashed, killing at least one policeman, and setting fire to three or four police vans. The India-based Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy claimed at least seven people were shot dead; however the claim could not be independently confirmed. [cite news| title = Tibet protests spread to other provinces | url = http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080316/ap_on_re_as/china_tibet | publisher = Yahoo! News | date = 16 March 2008| accessdate = 2008-03-19]

Unverified claims

There are claims that police shot between 13 and 30 protesters after a police station was set on fire, however reports of deaths are impossible to verify because of the restrictions on journalists. [cite news | title = Tension rises as armed police mass in capital | url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/18/tibet.china | publisher = "The Guardian" | date = 18 March 2008 | accessdate = 2008-03-19]

Crackdown on violence

Authorities and security forces in the city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, have locked down a Tibetan neighborhood. cite news |first=|last=|title=Situation Tense in Tibet Neighborhood of Southern Chinese City |url=http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-03-22-voa1.cfm|work= Voice of America |publisher=|date=2008-03-22 |accessdate=2008-03-22] The neighborhood is located near the Southwest University for Nationalities and the Wu Hou Temple. The crackdown comes amid unconfirmed reports of Tibetan protests in that section of Chengduand a stabbing attack on a Han Chinese man by a Tibetan earlier in the week. Cars and other vehicles are not allowed to drive through the neighborhood, which has a large police presence. The Foreign Correspondents Club of China has reported that Chinese authorities have hindered efforts to report from the bases in Chengdu about Tibetan areas of the province.

Arrests

On March 21, 27 nuns of the Kirti Monastery in Ngawa county were arrested by Chinese police forces. The information was confirmed by the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung after phonecalls into the region with locals. Troops also blocked roads in nearby Sertar. The London-based Free Tibet Campaign reported that troops had been sent to the county after residents blew up a bridge near the village of Gudu. [cite news |first=|last=|title=China blankets Tibetan areas with troops|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080320/ap_on_re_as/china_tibet_131|publisher=Yahoo News|date=2008-03-20 |accessdate=2008-03-25] Arrests have also been reported from Sertar after security forces cracked down on protests. [cite news |first=|last=|title=Beijing deploys army against nuns|url=http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/international/peking_setzt_armee_gegen_nonnen_ein_1.693952.html|work= Neue Zürcher Zeitung |date=2008-03-23 |accessdate=2008-03-23]

Further clashes

On March 25, Chinese state media citing local authorities reported that one police officer was killed as fresh protests erupted in the Tibetan part of Sichuan. The Xinhua news agency said police were "forced to fire warning shots" and had "dispersed the lawless mobsters." [cite news |first=|last=|title=Clash in China's Sichuan province leaves 1 policeman dead, 'several' others injured|url=http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/ap/20080325/tap-as-gen-china-tibet-7th-ld-writethru-bb10fb8.html|publisher="Associated Press"|date=2008-03-25 |accessdate=2008-03-25] The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reported that one Tibetan protester had been shot dead by Chinese Police and another was critically injured. [cite news |first=|last=|title=At least two dead in Sichuan protest|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20080325-tibet-china-protest-death-sichuan-police&navi=MONDE|publisher=Reuters|date=2008-03-25 |accessdate=2008-03-25]

The suicide by two monks in Amdo on March 27 and 30 has been reported by the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy as an act of freeing from oppression. Independent verification is however outstanding. [cite news |first=|last=|title=Two monks commit suicide in Amdo Ngaba|url=http://www.tchrd.org/press/2008/pr20080404a.html|publisher=TCHRD|date=2008-04-04 |accessdate=2008-04-05]

On April 3 new violence broke out in Sichuan as various sources report. According to Xinhua News Agency at least one government official has been seriously injured. An overseas Tibet activist group said eight people had been killed in the incident. It said police opened fire on hundreds of Buddhist monks and lay people who marched on local government offices to demand the release of two monks detained for possessing photographs of the Dalai Lama. [cite news |first=|last=|title=Clashes reported in Tibetan region|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/04/04/china.tibet.ap/index.html|publisher=CNN|date=2008-04-01 |accessdate=2008-04-05] Unidentified eyewitnesses told Radio Free Asia's Tibetan agency that 15 people had been killed in the incident. [cite news |first=|last=|title=Chinese Police Fire on Tibetan Protesters, Death Toll Unknown region|url=http://www.rfa.org/english/news/breaking_news/2008/04/04/tibet_shooting/|publisher=Radio Free Aisa|date=2008-04-04 |accessdate=2008-04-05]

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