Chinese tourism officials said yesterday that foreigners have been barred from a county in northwestern China, with activists saying security in the area has been stepped up ahead of an expected visit by a government-appointed Tibetan religious leader.
The Panchen Lama is the second-ranked religious leader to Tibetans, after the Dalai Lama. However, Tibetans generally do not accept this Panchen Lama because he was appointed by Beijing, while the original boy was selected by the Dalai Lama in 1995, but has not been heard from since.
The activist group International Campaign for Tibet said security has been increased near the Labrang Monastery ahead of the Panchen Lama’s visit in the coming days.
Hotels in Xiahe County in Gansu Province near the monastery said they were instructed this week not to accept foreign visitors. Parts of Gansu are heavily populated with Tibetans and were part of a traditional Tibetan region before modern China was formed.
“We received notices from the county public security bureau and tourism bureau saying that we should not receive foreign guests in our hotel,” said a receptionist at the Labrang Minhang Hotel, who would not give her name.
Foreigners who were staying in Xiahe before the ban were asked to leave, according to an official from the Xiahe County Tourism Bureau, who would give only her surname, Li.
The Panchem Lama’s visit to the Labrang Monastery could signal a move by Beijing to boost his credibility among Tibetans, but the Washington-based activist group International Campaign for Tibet said the monks fear more repression and patriotic education.
Questions about his support among average Tibetans have been raised because he was not the original pick to be Panchen Lama and because of concerns about what happened to the child he replaced.
Tibet’s governor, Padma Choling, said last year that Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the original Panchen Lama chosen by the Dalai Lama, was in good condition and living with his family in the Himalayan region and that he did not want to be disturbed.
The dispute over the Panchen Lama has also raised questions about what will happen when the Dalai Lama, 76, dies.
China has left little doubt that it intends to be deeply involved in choosing the Dalai Lama’s successor, ridiculing his scenarios and insisting that religious law requires the reincarnation be born in a Tibetan area under Chinese control.
The Dalai Lama says it is possible his successor could come from outside China.
The Labrang Monastery is one of the most important monasteries outside of Tibet and has been home to numerous protests by monks following deadly ethnic riots in Tibet in 2008.
China responded to the unrest with a massive military crackdown in which Tibetan rights groups say nearly 140 Tibetans were killed. Tourists from outside the country were banned from the entire region for more than a year.
China says Tibet has always been part of its territory, but many Tibetans say the region was virtually independent for centuries and that Beijing’s control is draining Tibetan culture.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese