Adrienne Mong/File

Prayer flags en route to Aba in Sichuan Province.

For weeks, reports have been circulating of a growing crackdown on Tibetan areas in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

In counties of Aba Prefecture, a remote region on the Tibetan Plateau--at best, a full day’s drive from the provincial capital of Chendgu--police and other security officials are said to be detaining monks (and killing two residents in the process) from and around Kirti Monastery after a young monk set himself on fire last month to protest Beijing’s Tibet policies.  Earlier this week, activists released footage of the self-immolated monk and widespread security.

It’s the same region that saw major unrest just over three years ago, when Tibetan monks tried to protest peacefully against China’s religious restrictions.  The protests escalated into violent demonstrations that targeted ethnic Chinese and inflamed tensions throughout ethnic Tibetan communities in Chinese provinces outside Tibet—including Aba.

The Tibetan government-in-exile in India has expressed concern about the extent of the current crackdown, saying it could become “genocide.”  The U.S. government, which said it’s monitoring the situation closely, has urged the Chinese to respect religious freedoms.

In response, official Chinese media have quoted local officials accusing Tibetan monks of “lewd” behavior and, as Beijing often does, have blamed the current unrest on the Dalai Lama.  An editorial earlier this month in the state-run Global Times also challenges Washington over religious sensitivity:

“Each country handles religious friction very carefully, trying to avoid expanded social influence, especially when this can spill over into political events. U.S. activists and U.S. military troops overseas have desecrated the Koran many times, the impact of which has been suppressed by the U.S.”

As in March 2008, the foreign media have not been able to confirm independently the crackdown reports. 

And as it was back then, authorities are now banning foreigners from traveling into parts of Aba as well as all of Ganzi Prefecture--which unlike Tibet itself are normally open to non-Chinese.

Click here for our report from March 2008, when NBC News first tried to enter the area to verify reports of clashes between Tibetan monks and Chinese security.  Beijing’s strategy seems virtually unchanged.

Adrienne Mong/File

The Tibetan Plateau in Sichuan Province.

China Smack

Female white collar job seekers walk the runway of the

BEIJING – A popular unattributed quote once noted that, “the average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see better than he can think.”

Whoever said that now infamous line could easily have been talking about the men of Chengdu.

In the past week, China followers have been treated to two unbelievable stories that originated from Chengdu, China’s capital of southwestern Sichuan province, that give a glimpse into the outrages women still must navigate to find work.

According to the always controversial, China Smack, late last month, 40 young ladies walked a catwalk at a hotel in Chengdu in professional attire. However, none of these women were entered in a beauty pageant. Rather, they were applying for everyday office and administrative jobs.

In the audience were 80 CEOs of local Chinese companies who were scanning the girls – most of whom had undergraduate and even master’s degrees – for potential employees. Most of the managers were quick to excuse the questionable runway format of this “job fair” by suggesting that many of their businesses required “talent” not just in ability, but appearance.

Organizers of the event also noted that 2 of the women had already found employment while 15 others had gone for interviews.

Over the years, the heavy importance employers in China often place on looks has been the focus of stories ranging from desperate plastic surgery undertaken by job seekers to the strict guidelines set by the Beijing Organizing Committee for their Olympic medal ceremony hostesses ambassadors.      

Perhaps remembering the tremendous soft power affect of those hostesses abroad, local governments are now employing similar techniques to reach people back home.

A New York Times piece this week reported on the special new recruits many local “chengguan” – China’s urban inspectors charged with municipal law enforcement – offices in China are bringing in to clean up their often less than stellar reputations with local citizens.

Whereas before the chengguan have recruited intimidating officers to force submission through hardball tactics like staring down street vendors, local district departments like Xindu in Chengdu are now recruiting female applicants between the age of 18 and 22 whose, “five facial features [are] in proper order.”

The 13 women already recruited by Xindu district now walk a beat around the local neighborhoods, trying to put a gentler, more feminine face to the often draconian chengguan.

Though they have seen some success, the women’s serious work is often undermined by sneering officials. One unnamed district official described these new female chengguan recruits as like being, “flower vases,” before adding, “Besides being vases, they will have other responsibilities.”