TIBETAN UNREST AFTERMATH: SECURITY POSTURE STILL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BEIJING 003966 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 2033-10-17 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL CH SUBJECT: TIBETAN UNREST AFTERMATH: SECURITY POSTURE STILL HIGH IN GANSU PROVINCE, MORE RELAXED IN QINGHAI REF: A. BEIJING 2682 ¶B. BEIJING 2679 ¶C. BEIJING 1513 Classified By: Political Internal Unit Chief Dan Kritenbrink. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) During an unofficial visit to Tibetan areas in Qinghai and Gansu Provinces in September, EmbOffs witnessed wide variation in conditions at Tibetan monasteries six months after the outbreak of major unrest in March 2008. At one end of the spectrum was Lucang (Lutsang) Monastery in Guinan (Mangra), Qinghai, where since July local authorities have been giving monks more freedom to display Dalai Lama photos and have ceased intrusive patriotic education campaigns. This relative freedom, however, was predicated on a pledge by monks not to engage in further protests. At the other extreme was Labrang Monastery in Xiahe (Sangchu),Gansu, where EmbOffs witnessed overt tensions between monks and police and evidence of official interference in religious practices, most notably the display of large photos of the Government-approved Panchen Lama, whom few Tibetans recognize. According to monks in Qinghai, troops who had been camped outside of many Tibetan monasteries following the March unrest had largely departed by July. In most Tibetan towns visited in Qinghai, EmbOffs did not witness unusually large numbers of security forces or roadblocks. In Gansu's Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP), however, security was much tighter. Throughout the Gannan TAP, EmbOffs encountered People's Armed Police checkpoints, and public security officers ordered EmbOffs to leave the towns of Maqu (Machu) and Xiahe. Despite the variation in conditions, monks and lay Tibetans in both provinces described a lingering atmosphere of tension, fear and bitterness. One source claimed authorities in Qinghai's Huangnan TAP had preemptively detained some monks during the Olympic Games. End Summary. Monks Given More Space -- If They Don't Protest -------------- -- ¶2. (C) EmbOffs traveled to communities in the Amdo Tibetan regions of China comprised of eastern Qinghai Province and southwestern Gansu Province September 21-26. Starting in Qinghai Province, EmbOffs visited the Tibetan communities of Guinan (Mangra) and Henan (Sokdzong) before crossing into Gansu Province, staying in Maqu (Machu),Hezuo (Tso) and (for a few hours) in Xiahe (Sangchu). EmbOffs then looped back into Qinghai to visit Tongren (Rebgong). EmbOffs made this unofficial trip as "tourists," as official permission was neither requested nor granted by the Qinghai or Gansu Foreign Affairs Offices (FAOs). In June, the Qinghai and Gansu FAOs had denied separate requests by POLOFF to make official visits to Tibetan regions of these two provinces. ¶3. (C) EmbOffs visited Lucang (Lutsang) Monastery in Qinghai near the Tibetan town of Guinan September 22. Lucang, which has 140 registered and 210 unregistered monks (including many novices under the age of 18),was the site of protests during the March unrest (ref A). Monks at Lucang told EmbOffs troops had been stationed in the front and back of the monastery in the weeks following March 14, but there had not been major violence either at the monastery or in the town of Guinan. Though the monks expressed resentment over the Communist Party's interference in Tibetan Buddhism in general, they described local officials as being largely hands off so long as the monks refrain from protesting. EmbOffs observed large photos of the Dalai Lama displayed prominently throughout the monastery. One monk had a portrait of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, whom most Tibetans recognize as the 11th Panchen Lama, in his private chambers. ¶4. (C) The monks said sympathetic ethnic Tibetan cadres in Guinan, many of whom are Buddhists, tip them off to impending inspections by provincial Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) officials, thus giving them enough time to temporarily remove the Dalai Lama photos. The monks said they have been BEIJING 00003966 002 OF 004 subject to travel restrictions since March 14 and were also initially forced to attend political education sessions. Since July, however, the political education campaign at the monastery had been largely perfunctory, the monks reported, with local officials in Guinan simply sending the materials to the monastery with instructions that the monks review it on their own. ¶5. (C) At the Laka Monastery (population 130 monks, 80 of whom are officially registered) near Henan, Qinghai, monks reported that while conditions had improved in August and September, they still face tight controls. One monk said that soon after the March 14 riots in Lhasa, a large number of troops arrived at Laka and camped in the fields outside the monastery and did not leave until late June or early July. Many of these troops, the monks said, wore Tibetan clothing in an attempt to appear less conspicuous. The monks lamented that they are still unable to display photos of the Dalai Lama in the main prayer halls at Laka, though they can do so in private rooms. The monks said that starting in March they were forced to attend political education sessions several times a week, though the frequency of these classes had gone down since the summer. One monk explained that they had reached a tacit accord with the local RAB whereby the Laka monks agreed not to protest in exchange for not having to sign statements denouncing the Dalai Lama. The local RAB, the monk speculated, merely reported to higher-level authorities that the Laka monks had all signed such statements. ¶6. (C) The same monk told EmbOffs that 20 monks from Henan were making a pilgrimage to Lhasa in March when authorities forced them to turn back. Forty other monks from Henan, he added, are still in detention in the Qinghai city of Golmund. The monk reported that when the March unrest broke out he was visiting Labrang Monastery in Xiahe, Gansu Province and was detained for several days there by police. The monks at Laka said they receive most of their news from Voice of America and Radio Free Asia's Tibetan services. ¶7. (C) In Henan town, Tibetans reported continued tensions with authorities. A Tibetan hotel owner named Gong Po (strictly protect) told EmbOffs September 23 that he had been questioned briefly by local Public Security and State Security officers soon after the outbreak of riots in Lhasa March 14. Gong Po speculated that he had come to the attention of authorities because he had called friends in Lhasa during the riots and relayed reports he had heard on Voice of America. Many monks in Henan had been arrested and beaten in the wake of March 14. Tibetans in Henan are not free to display photos of the Dalai Lama, Gong Po told EmbOffs. Gong Po and two of his Tibetan employees, however, reverently showed EmbOffs images of the Dalai Lama they had stored on their cell phones. Still "Great Anger" Toward Police -------------- ¶8. (C) EmbOffs later visited Tongren, the seat of the Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP) Government in Qinghai, September 25-26. Tongren experienced significant unrest in March. Unlike the other towns in Qinghai visited on this trip, in Tongren EmbOffs observed a large number of PAP troops. For example, a PAP unit was camped behind the Huangnan Hotel (Huangnan Binguan) in downtown Tongren. ¶9. (C) EmbOffs visited the Longwu (Rongwo) and Lower Wudun (Senge Shung Mago Gon) monasteries in Tongren. Dalai Lama photos were prominently displayed in prayer halls at both these sites. A monk at Longwu, who gave his name as Chisa (strictly protect),said there was still great "tension" between monks and authorities. Chisa showed EmbOffs bumps and scars on his shins and forearms that he said were the result of police beatings. Chisa also explained that the monks had been subjected to a heavy political education campaign from March to July. Chisa told us he had "great anger in his heart" toward the police, whom he added remained present inside the monastery. (Note: EmbOffs witnessed a PSB vehicle parked inside Longwu.) BEIJING 00003966 003 OF 004 Some Monks Reportedly Detained DuringOlympics -------------- ¶10. (C) During a bus ride from ongren to Qinghai's capital, Xining, EmbOff had an extended conversation with Ma Jinhua (strictly protect),a Qinghai Provincial Government hydrological engineer stationed in Ma Dun, a Tibetan village just north of Tongren. Ma described large numbers of "military" forces entering the Huangnan TAP immediately after the March 14 Lhasa riots, saying the troop movements looked like an "invasion." Ma said in March she had witnessed monks detained en masse and the use of wire by police to restrain the monks' hands due to a lack of proper handcuffs. Ma said a high-ranking lama at Longwu monastery had been beaten so badly by police that he had to be rushed to a hospital in Xining, four hours from Tongren by car. Ma also claimed that, in an effort to avoid any problems during the Beijing Olympics, authorities throughout the Huangnan TAP preemptively detained large numbers of monks inside school buildings, which were then vacant due to the summer holiday. Police provided the monks with food, water and other essentials, Ma asserted, but did not allow them to leave the school compounds for the duration of the Games. (Note: We were unable to independently confirm Ma's account of these Olympic detentions. Ma, a member of the Hui minority who described herself as a devout Muslim, was obviously sympathetic to the Tibetans, stating that Muslims also experience "religious oppression" by the Chinese Government.) Armed PAP Checkpoints In Gansu's Gannan TAP -------------- ¶11. (C) EmbOffs experienced drastically tighter security in Tibetan regions of Gansu Province. On September 24, EmbOffs saw PAP checkpoints on roads leading into and out of the towns of Maqu and Luqu. These checkpoints included alternating barricades that forced vehicles to slowly weave past armed PAP troops. At a main intersection in Maqu, the site of serious rioting in March, PAP troops manned a pillbox-like guard post made from sandbags. Armed PAP troops also guarded Maqu's gas station. In Xiahe, EmbOffs saw similar checkpoints with PAP troops, armed with assault rifles, standing guard inside sandbag enclosures. In Hezuo, the seat of the Gannan TAP Government, EmbOffs also saw PAP checkpoints on roads leading into town and armed PAP guards at government buildings. Permits Required for Travel in Gannan TAP -------------- ¶12. (C) Since the March unrest, according to local taxi drivers, motorists in the Gannan TAP require permits to travel between Tibetan towns. These permits are issued at PSB roadside checkpoints. Drivers are required to show their IDs, explain the purpose of their travel and pay a RMB 10 (USD 1.40) deposit and a RMB 3 (USD 0.44) fee in exchange for a permit. The permit must be returned to the issuing PSB checkpoint upon return, whereupon the PSB refunds the deposit. While visiting monasteries near Hezuo, EmbOffs passed through two such checkpoints where PSB officers recorded EmbOffs' passport details in addition to the national ID card number of EmbOff's taxi driver. Though all travelers are subject to these procedures, foreigners draw extra scrutiny. PSB officers at a checkpoint south of Hezuo originally resisted allowing EmbOffs to proceed to a nearby monastery. They only relented after searching EmbOffs' bags and receiving assurance from their driver that EmbOffs would return to Hezuo within two hours. Much of Tibetan Gansu Still Closed to Foreigners -------------- --- ¶13. (C) In contrast to Qinghai Province, where EmbOffs were never stopped by police, in Gansu PSB officers interviewed EmbOffs at every stop. One hour after EmbOffs arrived in Maqu September 23, three PSB officers (all Han Chinese) arrived at EmbOffs' hotel and requested that EmbOffs leave town first thing the next morning for the "safe" city of Hezuo. The PSB told EmbOffs that they could not visit local monasteries and religious sites near BEIJING 00003966 004 OF 004 Maqu. A PSB officer explained to EmbOff that the security situation in Maqu remained poor ("zhi an bu hao") and it was "unsafe" for foreigners. Maqu was "particularly dangerous," a second PSB officer added, because it stood at the crossroads of major Tibetan populations in Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu. The PSB then photographed EmbOffs passports. (Note: EmbOffs traveled to Maqu on a minor road from Qinghai Province, thus bypassing checkpoints in Gansu that would have normally prevented foreigners from traveling south of Hezuo. Even after inspecting our passports, the Maqu PSB did not seem to realize EmbOffs were diplomats.) In Hezuo September 24, PSB officers likewise arrived at EmbOffs' hotel rooms, asked about the nature of EmbOffs' visit and made photocopies of EmbOffs' passports. The Hezuo police, however, said EmbOffs were free to remain in Hezuo. (Note: Unlike in Maqu, the Hezuo PSB EmbOffs were aware of EmbOffs' diplomatic status.) On September 25, EmbOffs visited the Kajiaman (Kaja Mema) monastery just north of Hezuo and saw Dalai Lama photos prominently displayed. This was the only monastery in Gansu where EmbOffs saw images of the Dalai Lama. Tibetans' Access to Labrang Restricted -------------- ¶14. (C) After visiting Kajiaman, EmbOffs proceeded by taxi to Xiahe, location of the Labrang Monastery, the site of major protests and mass arrests of monks in March. A local Tibetan restaurant owner (protect) told PolOffs low-scale protests had continued in Xiahe for months following the March unrest and the situation in the town remained "extremely tense." She said Tibetans were angry over local authorities' attempts to limit the number of times per week Tibetans can enter Labrang to pray. Authorities, she said, had also kept Tibetans from gathering at the monastery during festivals. A Tibetan hotel worker (protect) collaborated this story of restricted access to the monastery, saying police enforce ID checks on all local Tibetans who enter Labrang. Tourists Not Welcome in Xiahe -------------- ¶15. (C) Forty minutes after arriving in Xiahe, EmbOffs were approached in a restaurant by an ethnic Tibetan PSB officer who told EmbOffs they had to leave Xiahe immediately. (Note: The officer, who spoke English fluently, recognized EmbOffs diplomatic passports, though it was clear that the ban applied to all foreigners. EmbOffs later witnessed the same officer giving orders to an Italian tourist to leave Xiahe.) After photocopying EmbOffs' passports and conferring with his superiors, the policeman agreed to EmbOffs' request to quickly tour the Labrang Monastery before leaving town. The officer originally insisted on escorting EmbOffs on the monastery tour but relented when Labrang monks refused to let him enter. ¶16. (C) In Labrang, a monk/tour guide alluded to a high-level of tension between monks and local authorities, singling out our would-be escort for special criticism. At several locations in the monastery, EmbOffs saw large photos of Gyaincain Norbu, the boy designated by the Chinese Government as the 11th Panchen Lama. (Comment: This was the only location in Qinghai or Gansu where we saw photos of Gyaincain Norbu. The overwhelming majority of Tibetans reject the "official" Panchen, and such photos would only be displayed under pressure from authorities. No Dalai Lama pictures were on display at Labrang.) Immediately after the tour, the Tibetan police officer arranged for a taxi to take EmbOffs to Tongren, Qinghai, about three hours away by car. PICCUTA