China detains 8 more Tibetans in Dza Wonpo

Sep 09, 2021

Sershul [Tibet], September 9 : Chinese officials have arrested eight Tibetans, including six monks from Dza Wonpo township of Sershul County in Kardze Autonomous Prefecture, according to Tibetan media.
The detainees include two women from the village, Phayul reported citing Tibet.com.
These arrests took place on September 3. The cause of these recent arrests is not certain but an anonymous source told the Tibet Post, "For many years, Tibetans and monks in Wonpo have volunteered to teach the Tibetan language to local Tibetans, and there is a group in Wonpo called the 'Mother Language Protection Group'. The Tibetans detained are members of this group."
On August 22, 59 Tibetans were detained at Dza Wonpo town in Sershul county police as part of an intensified campaign against any possession of banned images of respected spiritual leaders.
The second mass arrests of 53 Tibetans suggested a combined campaign in search of pictures of spiritual leaders and interrogation to flush out exile contacts.
Chinese troops occupied Tibet in 1950 and later annexed it. The 1959 Tibetan uprising saw violent clashes between Tibetan residents and Chinese forces.
The 14th Dalai Lama fled to neighbouring India after the failed uprising against Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama, the supreme Tibetan Buddhist leader, established a government-in-exile in India.
There are, at present, more than 10,000 Tibetans living in Dharamsala alone and an estimated 160,000 Tibetan exiles around the world. Since becoming President in 2013, Xi has pursued a firm policy of stepping up security control of Tibet. Beijing has been cracking down on Buddhist monks and followers of the Dalai Lama.
The United States has been raising the issue of human rights violations in Tibet on various platforms.
Recently, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman visited China to meet Chinese officials. She raised concerns about human rights violations in Tibet, Hong Kong and Eastern Turkestan.