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TIBET AT A TURNING POINT: THE SPRING UPRISING AND CHINA’S NEW CRACKDOWN
by a Canadian TV crew and broadcast around the world. 2
Also on March 18, all the educational institutes in Tsoe town were closed down
indefinitely. Further demonstrations in Bora and Sangchu county were reported on
March 23. At least by the March 21, when 20 Meshul people were arrested, county
police backed by armed troops had started making arrests of those suspected of
involvement in protests. In Amchok and Bora the police reportedly collected fines of
5–10,000 yuan (US $732–US $1464) per household, apparently for ‘collective responsibility’,
or seized property if no payment was forthcoming. The Meshul detainees
were released on April 13 on payment of a fine, but the Tangsar monks who had led
the protest remained under strict blockade.
On April 10, a group of foreign journalists visited Labrang monastery as part of a
tightly controlled official visit from Beijing, when 15 monks interrupted the visit to
put their case and appeal to the outside world (see below for an account of their
protest). They are believed to have been arrested and severely beaten; their current
whereabouts is not known. Then on April 14 police and soldiers conducted raids at
Labrang and several other monasteries in the county, making arrests and confiscating
property. 200 monks are said to have been arrested from Labrang, however all but 13
were released the following day after their fellow monks made appeals and protests
at the county public security office.
According to interviews and scattered reports, search and arrest operations continued
sporadically in Sangchu county through April and May, usually at night.
Detained individuals could not be traced by their relatives. A further raid on Labrang
monastery reportedly took place on May 7 when at least 100 were arrested, but most
were released the following day after their fellow monks protested again.
The Tibetan government in exile reported on July 16 that two Labrang monks,
Tsultrim Gyatso (37) and Chone Khedup (around 40), were taken to a prison in
Lanzhou. The Chinese authorities had searched for them after they left Labrang following
the protests and they “were arrested under gunfire,” according to the Tibetan
government in exile report. 3
New tests for monks at Labrang
A new set of questions for monks has been issued by the authorities in Labrang since
the protests. The questionnaire, which has created unease within the monastic com-
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