Mick Hartley

It says something for the almost total control over the media that the Chinese have managed to maintain in their Western Empire – Tibet and Xinjiang – that pictures like this have to be smuggled out:

From the Tibetan pro-independence website Phayul:

A Chinese website based in US – boxun.com, on Friday released eight photographs of Tibetans with their hands tied at their backs, being paraded publicly in military vehicles, escorted by security officials, and kneeling on the ground. Placards with their names and their “crimes” such as “separatist” are seen hung from their necks.

Other photos also show large contingents of People's Armed Police and Special Branch of People's Armed Police carrying automatic rifles, manning the streets. While the website didn’t provide exact locations and date of the pictures, individuals and organisations in exile have identified few of the photographs.

Speaking to Phayul, a monk at the exile base of the Kirti Monastery in Dharamshala, Kanyag Tsering identified that four of the photos were from Ngaba in eastern Tibet. 

“The ground where hundreds of Chinese armed security personnel are sitting is a public basketball ground in Ngaba Kriti town” Tsering told Phayul.

“The photo taken from inside a car is also in Kriti as you can visibly see the Kriti monastery stupa at the back with Chinese security officials manning the intersection with automatic rifles right at the front,” added Tsering….

The Kirti monastery in Ngaba and its surrounding regions have been facing growing restrictions since March this year after Phuntsog, a young Kirti monk self immolated protesting China’s occupation of Tibet and calling for the Dalai Lama’s return from exile.

Since then, eleven more Tibetans, including monks, nuns, and lay people have set their bodies on fire, the latest being Tenzin Phuntsok who set himself ablaze in Chamdo on December 1. 

The photos are also shown here.