• China detains 70 in bid to crack down on Tibet self-immolation protests

    Ashwini Bhatia / AP

    Exiled Tibetan Buddhist monks walk past a banner of photos of Tibetan protesters as they participate in a candlelit vigil organized by the Tibetan parliament in exile in Dharmsala, India, on Thursday.

    By John Newland and Ed Flanagan, NBC News

    Chinese authorities detained 70 people in ethnically Tibetan areas Thursday in a bid to crack down on the gruesome spectacle of people setting themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule, state media said.

    The operation, the largest of its kind yet reported by Beijing, is part of an intensifying effort to quell the fiery protests. It comes on the heels of a documentary released in China that blames Westerners, particularly Voice of America, for encouraging people to set themselves on fire and then treating those who do as heroes.

    Nearly 100 people have set themselves alight since 2009 to protest Chinese rule, and most of them have died from their injuries.

    Twelve of the 70 people detained Thursday were officially arrested in connection with self-immolation cases in what China calls the Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province deputy police chief Lyu Bengqian said, according to state media.

    Lyu is head of a special police team investigating self-immolation cases. He said efforts would be stepped up to investigate the protests and to "seriously punish" anyone seen as inciting them.

    China blames the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader in exile, as well as the West for the increase in self-immolations.

    The U.S. State Department has been critical of the recent arrests.

    In her Feb. 1 news briefing, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland criticized China's Tibet policies, in particular the heavy sentencing in January of a Tibetan monk and his nephew, who were charged with inciting eight people to set themselves on fire.

    "We continue both publicly and privately to urge the Chinese government at all levels to address policies in Tibet -- in Tibetan areas -- that have created tensions and that threaten the distinct religious, cultural and linguistic identity of the Tibetan people."

    On Wednesday, Voice of America shot back at China's assertion that it had encouraged Tibetans to set themselves on fire.

    "That is totally false," Voice of America Director David Ensor said in a news release. "We do report these tragic stories; we do not encourage these self-immolations, that is wrong."

    CCTV, the Chinese state broadcaster, produced and aired a documentary that pointed fingers at Voice of America, which is the U.S. government's official broadcaster overseas.

    The program showed a Tibetan man in a hospital bed who allegedly attempted to self-immolate.

    Apparently prompted to explain why he had attempted to light himself on fire, the man said, "I did it after watching VOA, I saw the photographs of self-immolators being commemorated. They were treated like heroes."

    The documentary also sensationally accuses VOA of employing secret codes to send messages to people inside Tibet.

    "That is one of the more amazing parts of the CCTV report," Ensor said. "That suggestion is totally absurd."

    VOA is asking that both CCTV and the China Daily retract their reports.

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  • Chinese documentary alleges US broadcaster incites Tibetan self-immolations

    By Ed Flanagan, Producer, NBC News

    Published at 12:40 a.m. ET: BEIJING – A controversial new documentary released by Chinese state broadcaster, CCTV, is alleging that the American government’s official broadcaster, Voice of America, is encouraging Tibetans to set themselves on fire.

    The story comes as China braces itself for the 100th Tibetan self-immolation since 2009.

    The 25-minute documentary, roughly translated as, “Outside Tibetan Separatist Cliques and the Southern Gansu self-immolations,” ran on the CCTV show, “Focus Today” and showed a Tibetan man in a hospital bed who allegedly attempted to self-immolate.

    Seemingly prompted to explain why he had attempted to light himself on fire, the man says, “I did it after watching VOA, I saw the photographs of self-immolators being commemorated. They were treated like heroes.”

    The documentary coincides with a story printed earlier this week in the English language government newspaper, China Daily, which also suggested that the American government broadcaster was influencing Tibetans’ decision to set themselves alight.

    Citing the example of one 18-year old Tibetan named Sangdegye, who attempted to self-immolate last December, the China Daily noted that he “adored the self-immolators VOA reported on,” citing them as “heroes.” 

    In addition to accusing VOA of inciting Tibetans to self-immolate, the CCTV piece also sensationally accuses the company of employing secret codes to send messages to people inside Tibet.

    VOA Director David Ensor categorically denies the accusations.

    In a press release issued by Voice of America on Wednesday after the Chinese stories came out, Ensor called the documentary’s accusations “totally false” and called the self-immolations a sign of distress in Tibet. 

    “We do report these tragic stories,” Ensor said from VOA’s headquarters in Washington D.C., “We do not encourage these self-immolations. That is wrong.”

    Regarding allegations that the American broadcaster was transmitting secret coded messages to Tibetans, Ensor said, “That is one of the more amazing parts of the CCTV report.  That suggestion is totally absurd.”

    Calls by NBC News to the VOA office in Beijing were referred back to their U.S. headquarters. VOA is asking that CCTV and the China Daily both retract their reports. 

    Voice of America has been broadcasting internationally since 1942 and serves as the American government’s official means of communicating with foreign populations.  Generating approximately 1,500 hours of content each week in 43 languages, the network has sometimes run afoul of foreign governments.

    Simmering tensions in Tibet
    Over the years, Tibet has become an increasingly sensitive topic for China’s ruling Communist Party. Dramatic protests by hundreds of Tibetan monks in 2008 in the provincial capital, Lhasa, and ethnic Tibetan areas around China forced Beijing to crackdown on what they call “separatist activities” incited by a “Dalai Lama clique.”

    Since then, a heavy military presence has installed itself in Tibetan towns and temples and foreign travel to the restive region has been curtailed. Foreign journalists have been unable to travel to Tibet except by invitation by the Foreign Ministry.

    A mass migration of ethnic Han Chinese to Tibetan areas for economic opportunities has many Tibet-watchers accusing China of eroding Tibetan culture and placing their economic benefits over those of poorer ethnic Tibetans.

    Visits to Tibetan regions outside of Tibet – forbidden now without permission from the government – by foreign media have shown similar rising tensions among ethnic Tibetans.

    The phenomenon of Tibetans self-immolating has been extensively covered by foreign press here in China, but is largely ignored by domestic media. A high-profile court case last week though made big news in local press as a Tibetan monk and his nephew were found guilty of “intentional suicide” and sentenced to a suspended death sentence with two year reprieve and 10-years in prison respectively.

    The pair was accused of inciting eight Tibetans to self-immolate, three of whom later died.

  • Despite deadly week, Communist Party says Tibetans 'feel very happy'

    David Gray / Reuters

    Qiangba Puncog, chairman of China's Tibet Autonomous Region, poses for a photograph with members of the Tibetan provincial delegation as they arrive at the Great Hall of the People, for the start of the National People's Congress in Beijing on Thursday.

    By Ed Flanagan, NBC News

    BEIJING -- China’s ruling Communist Party on Friday declared Tibetans were “very happy” even as six Tibetans reportedly self-immolated over two days this week to protest Chinese rule.

    The reported incidents made this week the deadliest since human rights groups began tracking self-immolations in March 2011. More than 60 Tibetans have now taken their own lives in protest of Chinese rule since then, according to Tibetan activists.

    The reports came the day after China opened the 18th Communist Party Congress, during which a once-a-decade leadership change was slated to occur.

    "Ordinary people and monks in Tibet are not willing to set themselves on fire, and they also oppose self-immolation, they are very satisfied with the society,” Qiangba Puncog, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region, told foreign and Chinese journalists.


    “Happiness is comparative. They feel very happy,” Puncog said as members of the delegation from the Tibet Autonomous Region met with foreign and Chinese journalists.

    At the same event, the deputy governor of Tibet blamed outside Tibetan exile groups and Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Dalai Lama, for any bad press and trouble in Tibet.

    "The overseas Tibetan separatist forces and the Dalai clique do not spare sacrificing people's lives in order to achieve their shady political goals, we believe this goes against human nature and morals,” Lobsang Gyaltsen said. “They will not succeed in achieving their evil goals, and they will certainly be severely condemned."

    'The happiest place in China'
    Beijing has long tried to paint the restive region as one of the more content, peaceful areas of China. A survey this year by China’s state media, Xinhua, called the capital of Tibet, Lhasa, “The happiest place in China."

    Twenty-four hours after President Barack Obama was re-elected to the White House, the world's other major power, China, began the very different process of choosing its new leader. It happens once every ten years, and lasts just a week. And in case there was any doubt, the ruling Communist Party began by pledging never to have Western democracy. NBC's Angus Walker reports.

    That point was apparently hammered home again Friday, as Barbara Demick of the Los Angeles Times tweeted a conversation she had with one delegate who again claimed Lhasa was the happiest place in China.

    Despite the lofty title and plans to pour $47 billion into the region by 2015, resistance to what many ethnic Tibetans view as the “Sinicization” of their culture has been strong, prompting much speculation that opponents within China would use the closer media attention on China during the Party Congress to protest.

    That speculation has proven true.

    CNBC's Michelle Caruso-Cabrera reports on China's selection of new leaders to meet public calls for better government and give the economy a boost.

    Besides the self-immolations earlier this week, unconfirmed reports on Tibetan exile group websites began to surface about mass demonstrations that had broken out against the government Thursday and Friday in Tongren, a town in China’s southwestern province of Qinghai.

    Complete China coverage on NBCNews.com's Behind the Wall

    According to the Tibetan news service, Phayul, as many as 10,000 Tibetans participated in protests in this quiet monastery town to protest the strict security measures in place since ethnic unrest began in the region.

    AP

    Hundreds of Tibetans protest in the Rongwo township in Rebkhong county, in western China's Qinghai province, on Friday.

    The protesters were said to be reciting ancient Tibetan prayers and calling for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet.

    A significant test
    NBC News could not independently confirm the protests. If true, they would represent a significant test to Chinese rule on the eve of the critical leadership change.

    Any challenge would surely not go unpunished by local officials.

    An officer reached by phone at the Tongren County Police station told NBC News he was new to the force, but had “never heard of self-immolations or protests in the area.” He also did not know if police had been sent elsewhere in the county to quell protests.

    NBC News’ Yanzhou Liu contributed to this report.

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  • Oregon mural on Taiwan angers China but mayor defends freedom of speech

    By NBC News staff and wire reports

    PORTLAND, Ore. -- A vivid mural in an Oregon town that depicts a Tibetan monk's immolation and promotes independence for Taiwan has created a dust-up with China, whose consular officials have asked the city to take "effective measures" to stop such advocacy.

    The mayor of the town of Corvallis, where a Taiwanese-American businessman installed the downtown mural to express his political views, responded by telling consular officials free speech laws barred the town from taking any action.

    The status of Taiwan and the human rights situation in Tibet is a contentious political issue for China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province to be eventually unified with the mainland.

    See a picture of the mural in this article from the Corvallis Gazette-Times

    Tensions over Tibet are at their highest in years after a spate of protests over Chinese rule and self-immolations by Tibetan activists, which have prompted a Chinese security crackdown.

    "There is only one China in the world, and both Tibet and Taiwan are parts of China. It is a fact recognized by the U.S. and most other countries in the world," read an August 8 letter to Corvallis city leaders from China's Consulate in San Francisco.

    "To avoid our precious friendship from being tainted by so-called 'Tibet Independence' and 'Taiwan Independence,' we sincerely hope you can understand our concerns and adopt effective measures to stop the activities advocating 'Tibet Independence' and 'Taiwan Independence' in Corvallis," it added.

    Group: Teens set selves on fire, taking Tibet burnings over 50

    'Freedom of artistic expression'
    The brightly colored mural, painted last month, runs 100 feet long and about 10 feet high along the top of a building at a busy intersection owned by businessman David Lin, who came to America from Taiwan in the 1970s.


    The mural shows the immolation of a Tibetan monk against a bright yellow background and depicts a Tibetan monk being beaten by Chinese police, in addition to what the Corvallis Gazette-Times described as "images of Taiwan as a bulwark of freedom."

    Lin, 65, told Reuters he had long been concerned about China's role in Taiwan and Tibet, and commissioned the mural because: "I feel that somebody has to stand up and do something."

    Lin told the Corvallis Gazette-Times that he was "under a lot of pressure to take down the mural," saying his family and friends were concerned about possibly being arrested if they go to China.

    Still, he did not plan to remove it. "I'll just keep it the same. ... I've got to live my life, that's all."

    PhotoBlog: Tibetan man sets himself on fire in protest

    Municipal leaders said they had informed the consular officials that there was no room for the city government to get involved in such a matter.


    "I responded to them that I was sorry to learn the art work caused concern," Corvallis Mayor Julie Manning said, adding that she told Chinese officials in a written response that the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, "and this includes freedom of artistic expression."

    The Chinese consulate then sent representatives to Corvallis to express concern in person on September 4. Vice Consul Zhang Hao and Deputy Consul General Song Ruan met with Manning and City Manager Jim Patterson. That meeting did not include any demands.

    Corvallis, about 80 miles south of Portland, has a population of about 54,500 people. It is home to Oregon State University, which Patterson said has an estimated 1,600 Chinese students.

    The Chinese consulate in San Francisco did not respond to an email request for comment and could not be reached by phone.

    Reuters contributed to this report. 

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  • China struggles to contain wave of defiance in Tibet

    Since January, demonstrations have erupted across the Tibetan areas of China. For more than a year now, Tibetans have been setting themselves on fire as a form of protest against Chinese rule, the latest being a father of three. A warning, this report from our International editor Lindsey Hilsum does contain very distressing images.

     

    By msnbc.com news services

    It's illegal for Tibetans to protest, and yet demonstrations against Chinese rule have taken place almost daily for the past two months.

    Several monks have set themselves alight, illustrating the desperation of Tibetans resisting Chinese rule.

    The spate of self-immolations in the Tibetan-dominated areas of China that have occurred over the past year is "extreme" and hurts social harmony, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said recently.

    Wen's comments, at a news conference at the end of the annual meeting of parliament, come after around 26 Tibetans have set themselves on fire, mostly in southwestern China, to protest against Chinese rule in Tibet. At least 19 have died, according to Tibetan rights groups.

    Activists say China violently stamps out religious freedom and culture in Tibet, which 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.

    The brother of a monk who self-immolated spoke from exile, saying he was "shocked" when he heard the news, but understands the monk's sacrifice. "I feel really, really proud of him and I respect his sacrifice a lot," he said.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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