Police shot dead an alleged Tibetan independence “insurgent” in northwestern China, state press said yesterday, the first official admission that authorities killed anyone during recent unrest.
A policeman was also killed in the gun battle on Monday in a Tibetan area of Qinghai Province, Xinhua news agency reported.
Tibet’s government-in-exile has said more than 200 people had been killed in a huge Chinese military and police crackdown on protests against Beijing’s rule of the Himalayan region that began on March 10.
Until yesterday’s report, Chinese authorities had insisted they had killed no-one in the crackdown and blamed Tibetan “rioters” for the deaths of 20 people.
China has, however, sealed off Tibet and other hotbed areas in the west of the country that have Tibetan populations to stop foreign reporters and other independent observers from witnessing the crackdown.
Monday’s incident occurred after police went in pursuit of the leader of a handful of “insurgents seeking Tibetan independence,” Xinhua reported, citing the Qinghai public security department.
The group had tried to incite Tibetan herders in Dari county to rally on March 21, a week after major protests erupted in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, Xinhua said.
“After a month-long investigation, the police moved on Monday to arrest the suspected leader. The suspect resisted arrest and gunfire broke out,” Xinhua reported, citing the department. “The officer was killed in the gun battle, and other officers returned fire, killing the suspect.”
Xinhua identified the police officer as Lama Cedain, but did not release the name of the alleged “insurgent” who was killed. Local and provincial police refused to comment when contacted by reporters yesterday.
In a later report, Xinhua said 1,000 people attended the policeman’s funeral, where his body was covered with the Chinese Communist Party flag.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS