China jails 1, detains 70 to quell Tibet protests

In this photo taken Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 and released by London-based rights group Freetibet.org, Dorje Rinchen, a farmer in his late 50s, runs after setting himself on fire on the main street in Xiahe in northwestern China's Gansu province. This was the second self-immolation death in two days near the Labrang monastery in Xiahe. The monastery is one of the most important outside of Tibet and was the site of numerous protests by monks following deadly ethnic riots in Tibet in 2008 that were the most sustained Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in decades. (AP Photo/Freetibet.org) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES
In this photo taken Tuesday Oct 23, 2012 and released by Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet, Dorje Rinchen, a farmer in his late 50s, is seen on the ground burning after setting himself on fire on the main street in Xiahe in northwestern China's Gansu province. This was the second self-immolation death in two days near the Labrang monastery in Xiahe. The monastery is one of the most important outside of Tibet and was the site of numerous protests by monks following deadly ethnic riots in Tibet in 2008 that were the most sustained Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in decades.(AP Photo/International Campaign for Tibet) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES
In this photo taken Tuesday Oct 23, 2012 and released by Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet, Dorje Rinchen, a farmer in his late 50s, is seen after setting himself on fire on the main street in Xiahe in northwestern China's Gansu province. This was the second self-immolation death in two days near the Labrang monastery in Xiahe. The monastery is one of the most important outside Tibet and was the site of numerous protests by monks following deadly ethnic riots in Tibet in 2008 that were the most sustained Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in decades.(AP Photo/International Campaign for Tibet) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES
In this photo taken Tuesday Oct 23, 2012 and released by Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet, Chinese paramilitary police officers and residents converge on the body of Dorje Rinchen, unseen, a farmer in his late 50s, who self immolated on the main street in Xiahe in northwestern China's Gansu province. This was the second self-immolation death in two days near the Labrang monastery in Xiahe. The monastery is one of the most important outside of Tibet and was the site of numerous protests by monks following deadly ethnic riots in Tibet in 2008 that were the most sustained Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in decades.(AP Photo/International Campaign for Tibet) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES
In this photo taken Tuesday Oct 23, 2012 and released by Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet, Chinese paramilitary police officers and residents converge on the body of Dorje Rinchen, a farmer in his late 50s, unseen who self immolated on the main street in Xiahe in northwestern China's Gansu province. This was the second self-immolation death in two days near the Labrang monastery in Xiahe. The monastery is one of the most important outside of Tibet and was the site of numerous protests by monks following deadly ethnic riots in Tibet in 2008 that were the most sustained Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in decades. (AP Photo/International Campaign for Tibet) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES
FILE - In this Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012 file, a Chinese man stands near a screen displaying the Chinese national flag and Chinese paramilitary police men performing a flag ceremony near the Great Hall of the People where the Chinese Communist Party's 18th National Congress is scheduled to begin on Nov. 8 in Beijing, China. Chinese have long been fascinated with U.S. presidential elections, but interest is particularly high this year because Americans are voting at the same time Beijing is going through its own political transition. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
An elderly Chinese man is pushed in an wheelchair near the Great Hall of the People where the Chinese Communist Party's 18th National Congress is scheduled to begin on Nov. 8 in Beijing, China, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. The once-a-decade event installs a new leadership to run the world's second largest economy and newly assertive global power. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), addresses the Seventh Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee in Beijing, China Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. The session was held from Nov. 1 to Nov. 4 in Beijing and presided over by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Li Xueren) NO SALES
In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese senior leaders Hu Jintao, center, Wu Bangguo, third right, Wen Jiabao, third left, Jia Qinglin, second right, Li Changchun, second left, Xi Jinping, right, Li Keqiang, left, attend the Seventh Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing, China, on Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. The session was held from Nov. 1 to Nov. 4 in Beijing and presided over by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Li Xueren) NO SALES
Chinese police officers monitor residents gathered outside the city government office in Ningbo city in eastern China's Zhejiang province Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. After three days of protests by thousands of citizens over pollution fears, a local Chinese government relented and agreed that the petrochemical factory would not be expanded, only to see the protests persist. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

In this photo taken Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 and released by London-based rights group Freetibet.org, Dorje Rinchen, a farmer in his late 50s, runs after setting himself on fire on the main street in Xiahe in northwestern China's Gansu province. This was the second self-immolation death in two days near the Labrang monastery in Xiahe. The monastery is one of the most important outside of Tibet and was the site of numerous protests by monks following deadly ethnic riots in Tibet in 2008 that were the most sustained Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in decades. (AP Photo/Freetibet.org) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES

In this photo taken Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012 and released by London-based rights group Freetibet.org, Dorje Rinchen, a farmer in his late 50s, runs after setting himself on fire on the main street in Xiahe in northwestern China's Gansu province. This was the second self-immolation death in two days near the Labrang monastery in Xiahe. The monastery is one of the most important outside of Tibet and was the site of numerous protests by monks following deadly ethnic riots in Tibet in 2008 that were the most sustained Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in decades. (AP Photo/Freetibet.org) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES
In this photo taken Tuesday Oct 23, 2012 and released by Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet, Dorje Rinchen, a farmer in his late 50s, is seen on the ground burning after setting himself on fire on the main street in Xiahe in northwestern China's Gansu province. This was the second self-immolation death in two days near the Labrang monastery in Xiahe. The monastery is one of the most important outside of Tibet and was the site of numerous protests by monks following deadly ethnic riots in Tibet in 2008 that were the most sustained Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in decades.(AP Photo/International Campaign for Tibet) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES
In this photo taken Tuesday Oct 23, 2012 and released by Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet, Dorje Rinchen, a farmer in his late 50s, is seen after setting himself on fire on the main street in Xiahe in northwestern China's Gansu province. This was the second self-immolation death in two days near the Labrang monastery in Xiahe. The monastery is one of the most important outside Tibet and was the site of numerous protests by monks following deadly ethnic riots in Tibet in 2008 that were the most sustained Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in decades.(AP Photo/International Campaign for Tibet) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES
In this photo taken Tuesday Oct 23, 2012 and released by Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet, Chinese paramilitary police officers and residents converge on the body of Dorje Rinchen, unseen, a farmer in his late 50s, who self immolated on the main street in Xiahe in northwestern China's Gansu province. This was the second self-immolation death in two days near the Labrang monastery in Xiahe. The monastery is one of the most important outside of Tibet and was the site of numerous protests by monks following deadly ethnic riots in Tibet in 2008 that were the most sustained Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in decades.(AP Photo/International Campaign for Tibet) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES
In this photo taken Tuesday Oct 23, 2012 and released by Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet, Chinese paramilitary police officers and residents converge on the body of Dorje Rinchen, a farmer in his late 50s, unseen who self immolated on the main street in Xiahe in northwestern China's Gansu province. This was the second self-immolation death in two days near the Labrang monastery in Xiahe. The monastery is one of the most important outside of Tibet and was the site of numerous protests by monks following deadly ethnic riots in Tibet in 2008 that were the most sustained Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in decades. (AP Photo/International Campaign for Tibet) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES
FILE - In this Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012 file, a Chinese man stands near a screen displaying the Chinese national flag and Chinese paramilitary police men performing a flag ceremony near the Great Hall of the People where the Chinese Communist Party's 18th National Congress is scheduled to begin on Nov. 8 in Beijing, China. Chinese have long been fascinated with U.S. presidential elections, but interest is particularly high this year because Americans are voting at the same time Beijing is going through its own political transition. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
An elderly Chinese man is pushed in an wheelchair near the Great Hall of the People where the Chinese Communist Party's 18th National Congress is scheduled to begin on Nov. 8 in Beijing, China, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. The once-a-decade event installs a new leadership to run the world's second largest economy and newly assertive global power. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), addresses the Seventh Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee in Beijing, China Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. The session was held from Nov. 1 to Nov. 4 in Beijing and presided over by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Li Xueren) NO SALES
In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese senior leaders Hu Jintao, center, Wu Bangguo, third right, Wen Jiabao, third left, Jia Qinglin, second right, Li Changchun, second left, Xi Jinping, right, Li Keqiang, left, attend the Seventh Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing, China, on Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. The session was held from Nov. 1 to Nov. 4 in Beijing and presided over by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Li Xueren) NO SALES
Chinese police officers monitor residents gathered outside the city government office in Ningbo city in eastern China's Zhejiang province Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. After three days of protests by thousands of citizens over pollution fears, a local Chinese government relented and agreed that the petrochemical factory would not be expanded, only to see the protests persist. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

China jails 1, detains 70 to quell Tibet protests

Print Page Updated: 10:04:31 AM, Fri 08 February 2013

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese court sentenced a Tibetan man to 13 years in prison Friday for goading a monk to self-immolate, as Beijing steps up a crackdown on self-immolations aimed at protesting communist rule.

The sentence by a court in the northwestern province of Qinghai follows a news report that the Chinese government has detained 70 people in the province's ethnic Tibetan areas.

The sentence and detentions come as Beijing steps up efforts to blame the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, for protests in which nearly 100 Tibetan monks, nuns and lay people have set themselves on fire since 2009. The measures are a sign new Chinese leaders installed in November are not easing up on the Tibet issue despite the protests and international condemnation.

The protesters are calling for Beijing to allow greater religious freedom and the return from exile of the Dalai Lama, who lives in India.

Communist troops occupied the Himalayan region in 1951. Beijing says it has been part of China for centuries, but Tibetans say it was independent for much of that time. The Dalai Lama fled the region in 1959 as Chinese troops crushed protests against communist rule.

The latest detentions occurred in an ethnic Tibetan area of Qinghai province, which abuts Tibet, the government's Xinhua News Agency reported late Thursday. It said 12 of those detained were formally arrested but gave no details of the charges.

In a separate report, Xinhua said Phagpa, 27, was sentenced Friday after being convicted of murder and inciting split of the state after he encouraged a monk in Tongren county to burn himself. The monk did not carry out the act after a family member discovered the plan and dissuade him from self-immolating, Xinhua said.

A woman form the duty office of the Huangnan People Court confirmed that a man was sentenced to 13 years in prison Friday, but she refused to give any details. Like many government officials in China, she refused to give her name.

Beijing now considers self-immolation a crime, and it has vowed to prosecute anyone who organizes, plans, incites, abets, hoaxes or helps others to self-immolate on murder charges.

Beijing has responded to the protests by sending in security forces to seal off areas and prevent information from getting out, arresting protesters' friends and seizing satellite TV dishes. Despite that, the pace of self-immolations accelerated in November as the ruling Communist Party held a pivotal leadership transition.

The government has blamed the burnings on hostile foreign forces that want to separate Tibet from the mainland.

"The Dalai Lama clique masterminded and incited the self-immolations," Xinhua said, citing a police official. "Personal information, such as photos of the victims, were sent overseas to promote the self-immolations."

The burnings have galvanized many Tibetans, who see them as selfless acts of sacrifice, making it hard for authorities to denounce the immolators.

On Thursday, the Voice of America, a U.S. government-financed broadcaster, denied accusations by Chinese state television and a government newspaper that it encouraged the burnings.

The U.S. State Department expressed concern about the "deteriorating human rights situation in Tibetan areas" and the use of criminal laws against people associated with protesters.

"Our concern is that there are deep grievances within the Tibetan population which are not being addressed openly and through dialogue by the Chinese government," said a department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland.

Nuland said Washington urged Beijing to "engage in a substantive dialogue" with the Dalai Lama.

"We continue to call on Chinese government officials to permit Tibetans to express their grievances freely, publicly and peacefully, without fear of retribution," she said.

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