Accessibility links

Breaking News

Two Tibetan Monks Self-immolate


FILE - A monk holds a picture of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama inside of his room at Labrang Monastery in Xiahe county, Gansu Province Feb. 21, 2012.
FILE - A monk holds a picture of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama inside of his room at Labrang Monastery in Xiahe county, Gansu Province Feb. 21, 2012.
Two Tibetan monks set themselves on fire Sunday to protest Chinese rule.

Sources tell VOA's Tibetan Service, Losang Palden, a monk from the Kirtit Monastery in China's Sichuan province set himself on fire near the monastery. Chinese security forces took Palden away but it was not clear if he was alive or had died.

A second monk set himself on fire in an ethnic Tibetan area of northwest China.

The official Chinese news agency Xinhua said the monk was from the Shaderi Monastery in Huangnan Tibetan autonomous area in Qinghai province. The condition of that monk is also unknown.

Since 2009, more than 120 Tibetans demanding the return of Tibetan leader Dalai Lama and Tibetan freedom have self-immolated.

The Tibetan Administration in-exile in Dharamsala, India, has urged Tibetans not to take such drastic action, and the U.S. government has called on China to resolve the Tibetan issue with a resumption of dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama.

This report was produced in collaboration with VOA's Tibetan Service.
  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG