China Cracks Down in Wake of Tibetan Protest - Voice of America

Witnesses say Chinese forces have clamped tight controls on community life in the Tibetan capital after two young men set themselves on fire in an apparent protest of Chinese rule.  China says one of the protesters, a 19-year-old male, died at the scene Sunday, while the other remains hospitalized.

Sources tell VOA's Tibetan service there have been an undetermined number of arrests since the incident near Lhasa's Jokhang temple, as Chinese authorities seek to control the spread of anti-government self-immolation protests.  Those protests have rocked Southwestern China and the neighboring Tibetan Autonomous Region for the past 14 months, as Buddhist monks, nuns and their supporters push their demands for freedom and the return of their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Witnesses say firefighting equipment arrived at the scene of Sunday's self-immolations within minutes, underscoring tensions in the capital described by Lhasa residents and reported by the New York Times as "a boiling situation" in the central city.

Tibetan sources also tell VOA that eyewitnesses have photographed the latest protest.  But they said the photos could not be forwarded because Chinese authorities immediately cut information links to the outside world.

Sunday's protest is the most dramatic act of defiance in the capital since the 2008 uprising, when Chinese security forces placed the entire central city in a permanent state of lockdown.  

It follows a new Chinese move to ban Tibetan Buddhists, including current and former government officials, students and party members, from engaging in religious activities during the sacred month of Saka Dawa, which began May 21.  Saka Dawa commemorates Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death.

At least 37 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since March 2011.