A fire broke out on Saturday at one of the most sacred sites for Tibetan Buddhism, Lhasa’s revered Jokhang monastery, state media said, but no casualties were reported and the extent of the damage remained unclear.
Xinhua news agency said the fire began at 6:40pm, but was soon put out at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has more than 1,300 years of history and lies at the heart of old Lhasa.
Video and images posted on social media of the blaze showed the roof of a section of the building lit with roaring yellow flames and emitting a haze of smoke.
Photo: Screengrab from Twitter
“The fire was quickly extinguished; there were no casualties and order is normal in the area,” the state-run Tibet Daily said, adding that Tibet’s Chinese Communist Party Secretary Wu Yingjie (吳英杰) had rushed to the scene.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
Early reports of the blaze in Chinese state-run media did not give details and many social media posts discussing the fire appeared to be quickly censored.
Robert Barnett, a London-based expert on contemporary Tibet, told the Guardian newspaper that Beijing’s “almost total suppression of information” about the incident meant many Tibetans feared “the heart of Tibetan Buddhism” had suffered significant damage.
He also tweeted that sources in Lhasa “claim police have threatened anyone distributing pictures or unofficial news about the fire.”
For almost four hours after the fire began, it was not even acknowledged by China’s heavily controlled media, “even though you could see it from miles away across the whole city,” he said.
“This has increased the fear of people that something really serious has happened,” Barnett said. “People are hugely concerned, rightly or wrongly, that the damage might be much more severe than the media is letting on.”
The blaze comes as Tibetans across the country are celebrating Losar, the traditional Tibetan New Year that began on Friday.
The temple, an important pilgrimage site, had been closed to the public on Saturday, Xinhua reported, citing a schedule from local authorities from before the holiday began.
Jokhang houses one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most venerated icons — the Jowo Shakyamuni, a statue believed to be one of just three crafted during Buddha’s actual lifetime, depicting him at age 12.
It is also home to numerous other priceless cultural artifacts, including more than 3,000 images of Buddhas, deities and historical figures as well as treasures and manuscripts, according to UNESCO.
China’s efforts to control the narrative surrounding the fire underscores the Jokhang’s huge political as well as religious significance.
In recent decades the 2.5 hectare complex has been the site of repeated protests against Chinese rule.
As images of the conflagration spread on Saturday. Barnett said he received calls from distraught Tibetans mourning the apparent destruction of one of their most sacred sites.
Barnett said China’s bid to suppress news of the blaze would further hurt relations with Tibetans.
“It has restimulated the dominant tone in Tibet … which is intimidation really,” he said.
Foreign journalists are banned from visiting Tibet except on state-sponsored tours.
Additional reporting by the Guardian and AP
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2