There appears to be no end in sight to the increasing tensions between the Tibetans and the government of China. News that Chinese forces have recently used tear gas to bust apart protest by Tibetans now has Buddhists in Syracuse spending more time than usual praying for an end to the tensions. The Tibet Sun has published a story by Chris Buckley of Reuters "Chinese forces break up Tibetan protest with tear gas."
Free Tibet, which is a London-based organisation that campaigns for Tibetan self-determination, has said Chinese security forces fired tear gas to break up a protest by Tibetans in the southwest province of Sichuan. Earlier reports on a separate clash said that during this week's Chinese New Year celebrations, troops fired on thousands of Tibetans protesting in the same province, with at least one Tibetan killed and many more wounded. Free Tibet has said in a statement “Tibetans had gathered to protest Chinese oppression on the occasion of Chinese New Year, having decided that they would not celebrate the lunar New Year because of the current repression in Tibet.”
But a Chinese official has commented “You should not believe in rumours. People say all kinds of things to get attention, but they’re not all true. Wait for the government to explain the situation.” Meanwhile, another advocacy group, the International Campaign for Tibet, has said that three people were killed and about nine injured when police fired into the crowd in Luhuo. The Chinese New Year has turned out not to be a very happy time for many Tibetans.
