LHASA SECURITY: INTIMIDATING TIBETANS, REASSURING HANS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000183

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM, DRL, G

E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/5/2033
TAGS: PGOV PHUM CH
SUBJECT: LHASA SECURITY: INTIMIDATING TIBETANS, REASSURING HANS

REF: BEIJING 1210

CHENGDU 00000183 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: James A. Boughner, Consul General, U.S. Consulate
General, Chengdu.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary: Omnipresent People's Armed Police (PAP) patrols
in Lhasa brandishing automatic weapons appear to serve the dual
purpose of intimidating ethnic Tibetans while reassuring ethnic
Han Chinese residents. Some Tibetans note the current heavy
security presence in Lhasa was hidden during officially-arranged
visits by journalists and diplomats in late March. Although
many people were picked up on police sweeps and beaten in the
months following the outbreak of unrest in March, these sweeps
are less frequent now. Han tourists are returning to Lhasa, but
there remain few foreigners; of foreign tourists, reportedly 60
percent since March have been from the United States. Very few
monks are to be seen walking Lhasa's streets. Some monks remain
detained, while others are confined to the monasteries. The
traditional "Shoton (Yoghurt) Festival" is being ignored as an
expression of protest by many Tibetans. End Summary.

PAP All Over the Barkhor
--------------


2. (C) During an August 25-30 visit to Lhasa, the first such
trip since February to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) by
ConGen personnel (Chinese authorities require that all trips be
approved ahead of time),ConGenOff took the opportunity while
not on the official schedule to walk extensively throughout the
city. As expected, the contrast in the overall street
environment with what ConGenOff experienced prior to the March
outbreak of unrest and ensuing security crackdown was striking.
Many of ConGenOff's conversations with local residents were
conducted in Tibetan. This is the first in a series of cables
on the visit.


3. (C) ConGenOff observed few monks on the Barkhor, site of the
Jokhang (Tibetan Buddhism's holiest temple),there were many
heavily armed PAP and public security officers there and in
surrounding Tibetan residential areas. During numerous
ten-minute walks on the Barkhor pilgrimage route, ConGenOff
every two to three minutes would see groups of five to ten PAP
with automatic weapons. Along the route, atop four-story
buildings were dozens of sniper positions manned by one or two
PAP with walkie-talkies, binoculars and automatic weapons. PAP
patrols also appeared to cover the Tibetan residential areas
extending four blocks or more to the east and north of the
Barkhor. At least two to three PAP, with automatic weapons and
riot shields, guarded major intersections in the Tibetan
residential areas. In a walk around the Barkhor an hour before
dawn, ConGenOff saw public security officers with clubs
accompanied by a PAP officer and several vehicles (not usually
seen on the pilgrimage route),but no groups of PAP with
automatic weapons or in sniper positions above the street. In
Tibetan residential areas outside the immediate surroundings of
the Barkhor, some PAP carried clubs or electric prods as well as
or instead of machine guns.


4. (C) A Tibetan told ConGenOff that the heavily armed PAP "make
us feel like we are in jail." Another Tibetan said that in
March when journalists visited Lhasa, the police hid or changed
into plainclothes. The expressions on the faces of other
Tibetans suggested that they are fearful, although most people
appeared to pretend to ignore the PAP and their automatic
weapons. ConGenOff did not see the PAP interact with local
residents except for reasons related to enforcement of security
procedures. A TAR Foreign Affairs Office staffer recently
assigned from Beijing commented to ConGenOff, "What's the
problem? The good guys have the machine guns."

Phony Pilgrims, Han Tourists, Few Foreigners or Monks
-------------- --------------


5. (C) A monk and ethnic Tibetan taxi driver warned ConGenOff
that there are many "phony pilgrims" on the Barkhor, and
remarked that many monks remain either detained or confined to
their monasteries. The taxi driver said Tibetans try to stay
away from the Barkhor these days. ConGenOff noticed the number
of people walking the Barkhor pilgrimage route was in fact far
fewer than in February, although this could partly have been
because farmers and herders have more idle time during winter
months to conduct pilgrimages. Some of the Tibetans doing the
circumambulation were noticeably looking around rather than
keeping their heads down and praying. They were also outfitted
with brand new prayer beads and sacks to hold butter and barley
that are offered at the giant furnace in front of the Jhokang
Temple. ConGenOff was told that more regular pilgrims would
have had well-worn prayer beads and carried older sacks used for

CHENGDU 00000183 002.2 OF 002


years.


6. (C) Each morning, Han guides led tour groups of Chinese
through the Barkhor. On one occasion, while Han tourists were
allowed to snap pictures of the heavily armed PAP, ConGenOff saw
a group of monks immediately confronted by public security when
they took a picture of uniformed police officers. The monks
told the police that the person who took pictures had already
departed, and they were not detained (as far as ConGenOff is
aware). Few foreign tourists were in evidence. The TAR Tourist
Bureau told ConGenOff that 60 percent of foreign tourists to the
TAR since March have come from the United States.


7. (C) The security presence in Han areas of Lhasa appeared to
be light, although PAP with automatic weapons guarded important
government or party buildings there as well. On Taiyang Island
in the Gichu (Lhasa River) just south of downtown, there were no
Tibetans to be seen and few PAP or public security apparent.

Kundeling and Sera Monasteries
--------------


8. (C) Monks at the Kundeling Monastery (60 monks) in a Tibetan
residential neighborhood near the Potala Palace told ConGenOff
they had been confined to their monastery since March, with one
person at a time allowed to go out to buy food. At the famed
Sera Monastery, monks were apparently allowed to leave, but very
few monks were to be seen at a monastery that supposedly has 500
monks. According to both a Tibetan taxi driver and an
impassioned Tibetan layman ConGenOff met at Sera Monastery, many
monks were arrested during police raids conducted at night and
remain in detention.

Fasting and Ignoring the Yoghurt Festival
--------------


9. (SBU) The Shoton Yoghurt Festival, an important traditional
religious observance and holiday that has been gradually
transmuted to meet the needs of the tourist trade, began
officially on August 30. In 2006, 30,000 Tibetans gathered at
the Drepung Monastery, which lies at the base of a hill about a
10-minute ride from downtown Lhasa, to observe 200 monks
carrying a mammoth religious portrait up a mountainside and say
prayers at mid-morning. According to some estimates, as many as
190,000 people (both pilgrims and tourists) may have attended
Shoton in 2007. This year, Drepung Monastery, closed since the
March 14 unrest, was to have reopened the morning of August 30.


10. (C) According to scuttlebutt ConGenOff picked up on the
evening of the 29th, the monks at Drepung Monastery were
refusing to carry the portrait up the mountainside. Speculation
on the street was that the PAP and some members of the Drepung
Monastery Religious Management Committee would carry the
portrait up the mountainside in the early morning hours. It was
also rumored that Tibetan exile leaders had called for a day of
fasting on the day of the Yoghurt Festival. Tibetans queried
early on the morning of August 30 stressed they would not be
going to Drepung Monastery. When ConGenOff rode past the
Drepung Monastery on the way to Lhasa Airport later that
morning, traffic was very light and there was no congestion near
the turn-off for the monastery. A large flag indicating the
start of the festival could be seen on the mountainside,
apparently having been carried up in the early hours.

Intimidation and Security; Fear and Hate
--------------


11. (C) The absence of frequent police patrols in Han areas of
Lhasa and their intense presence in Tibetan areas suggest
security is aimed at intimidating Tibetans rather than
preventing "terrorist attacks" against Han. ConGenOff noted to
FAO handlers that omnipresent machine guns would appear to have
the effect of frightening without serving any real security
purpose and, as fear exacerbates resentments, likely make
Han-Tibetan ethnic relations even worse. The Foreign Affairs
officials appeared to find this point incomprehensible,
protesting that "there is nothing to fear from the police." Our
FAO handlers, all from Han areas such as Beijing and Jiangsu
Province, seemed out of touch with the feelings and thoughts of
Tibetans. None of the ethnic Tibetan FAO personnel the
Consulate has met with on previous visits were among the eight
FAO officials encountered during this trip. ConGenOff overheard
a conversation between an FAO Tibetan driver and a Han FAO
officer in which the Han insisted that the principal river
running through Lhasa is called the Lasa He (Lhasa River),
rather than the Gichu (Happy River) as it is commonly known in
Tibetan.
BOUGHNER