43rd Tibetan Sets Himself on Fire

EDWARD WONG, NY Times: A Tibetan man in his 20s set himself on fire in a village near Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, according to reports by Radio Free Asia and Free Tibet, an advocacy group. The self-immolation took place on Saturday and was the 43rd self-immolation since 2009 in protest of Chinese rule in a Tibetan area, the Radio Free Asia report said. The condition of the man was unclear. Free Tibet said he was Tsewang Dorjee, 22, a nomad. Radio Free Asia, citing a person from Lhasa, said the self-immolation took place in an area that Tibetans call Damshung, and the Chinese call Dangxiong. The Chinese government has denounced the self-immolations as the work of separatists. In May, two men self-immolated in Lhasa in front of the Jokhang, the holiest temple of Tibetan Buddhism. The Chinese government generally does not allow foreigners, including foreign journalists, to travel independently to Lhasa or other parts of central Tibet. Many areas in eastern Tibet, the region where most of the self-immolations have taken place, are now also closed to foreigners.