BEIJING Thu Aug 14, 2014 2:28am EDT
(Reuters) – Chinese police have opened fire on Tibetan demonstrators in southwestern China, wounding 10 people, after the Tibetans protested against the detention of a respected village leader, a Tibetan rights group said.
The crackdown in the Ganzi prefecture of Sichuan province, a flashpoint for Tibetan protests against Chinese rule, underscores simmering tensions between Tibetans and the Chinese authorities.
The UK-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) group, citing several Tibetan sources in exile, said late on Wednesday the area “is now under tight control, with local Tibetans including the elderly and children subject to interrogation”.
Photographs that circulated on social media showed Tibetans with “serious wounds on the head and torso” after the incident, the ICT said.
Human rights activists say China tramples on religious freedom and culture in Tibet, which it has ruled with an iron fist since People’s Liberation Army troops “peacefully liberated” the region in 1950.
China rejects such criticism, saying its rule ended serfdom and brought development to a backward, poverty-stricken region. Tibet remains tightly controlled and foreign journalists are largely banned from visiting, making it very difficult to verify independently such reports of unrest.
The ICT said Tibetans had gathered to protest after the village leader, identified as Wangdak, was taken from his home in the middle of the night on Monday or Tuesday and detained.
According to the report, Wangdak had expressed his support for a traditional gathering at the start of a horse festival, in which Tibetans burn incense and make prayer offerings, after it appeared that official restrictions were likely.
