Tibetan Uprising

On March 18, 2008 at about 10:30am, 1,000 Tibetans including monks, lay people and children began protesting in Bora, Amdo (Ch: Gansu Province) near Hezuo. Seventy to 100 Tibetans mounted on horseback rode over a hill and into the town apparently giving the battle cry. The crowd chanted slogans for freedom and for China to “Stop the Oppression.” At one point, some tried to rush a local government building with 100 soldiers inside. Soldiers wielding rifles and firing tear gas pushed the crowd back. Two separate groups then raised the Tibetan flag – one at another government building where they removed 2 Chinese flags flying on flag poles and replaced them with Tibetan flags. The second group replaced a Chinese flag in a school yard. Seventy paramilitary trucks full of armed soldiers were seen heading towards the town. Some monks were seen bleeding.

Also in Eastern Tibet, thousands of Tibetans took to the streets in Serthar County, Kardze Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Roughly 500 monks from Choephel Shing Monastery, located in Dogo Township, Chone County (Ch: Zhouni Xian), Kanlho “TAP” joined the protest carrying the banned Tibetan national flag and shouting slogans calling for “Independence for Tibet” and “Long Live the Dalai Lama.” Sources reported that People’s Armed Police (PAP) and Public Security Bureau (PSB) forces were brought into the area to quell the demonstrators. Chinese paramilitary troops began firing live ammunition indiscriminately into the demonstrators from a rooftop, killing 3 people. Two were identified as Gonpo Nadul and Nyiga; the third victim remains unidentified. 15 people were also injured and were admitted to Kardze People’s Hospital.

Around 12:00 noon (Beijing Standard Time) monks from Kakhamey Monastery along with hundreds of Tibetans went on a protest march to the local government office in Tsoe City, Kakha Township. Protesters shouted slogans demanding an immediate end to the crackdown by the Chinese security forces and calling for “Tibetan Independence” and “Long Live the Dalai Lama.”

In Marthang County (Ch: Hongyuan Xian), Ngaba “TAP,” Sichuan Province, over one hundred Tibetans staged a peaceful protest in the afternoon. Tibetan monks from Achok Tsenyi Monastery in Achok Township initiated the protest and were later joined by lay people from Achok Township. Protesters at the government headquarters took down the Chinese flag and raised the Tibetan national flag in its place. Slogans calling for the return of the Dalai Lama and freedom in Tibet were also shouted. It is reported that truckloads of armed police were brought in to quell the protesters.

For further information on the above reports, please visit www.tchrd.org