LHASA: FEAR CURTAILS VISITS TO TIBETAN HOMES

C O N F I D E N T I A L CHENGDU 000189 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/CM, DRL, G E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/10/2018 TAGS: PHUM PGOV CH SUBJECT: LHASA: FEAR CURTAILS VISITS TO TIBETAN HOMES REF: A. CHENGDU 188 ¶B. CHENGDU 184 ¶C. CHENGDU 183 CLASSIFIED BY: James A. Boughner, Consul General, U.S. Consulate General, Chengdu. REASON: 1.4 (d) The Family -------------- ¶1. (C) During ConGenOff's August 25-30 visit to Lhasa (see refs),an ethnic Tibetan man invited ConGenOff to visit his home several blocks from the Johkang Temple. The man told ConGenOff in his apartment that constant patrols by People's Armed Police armed with machine guns make people feel they are in jail. In the months following March 14, many people were arrested and homes searched. Such security sweeps, however, are no longer so frequent. The man explained that the police hid themselves or changed into plainclothes when foreign diplomats visited in late March. The man said that he had been to India twice and had met the Dalai Lama. ¶2. (C) Pointing to the two shortwave receivers at the end of the room, the man said he heard that a new U.S. law called for establishing a consulate in Lhasa. The man, his son and his daughter started to get worried that they might get into trouble with the police for "talking recklessly" (luan shuo hua) with a foreigner. ConGenOff left shortly thereafter and returned to his hotel by a circuitous route. The Students -------------- ¶3. (C) At a bookstore, ConGenOff met two cousins from a rural county two days by bus from Lhasa. The elder cousin, in his early twenties, is a college student, while his 17-year-old young cousin is in Lhasa for a year to study Mandarin Chinese. They invited ConGenOff to the one-room apartment they rent for 500 RMB per month on the edge of town. After sharing their hometown delicacy of dried yak cheese, they said, "We Tibetans love the Dalai Lama very much." After a short discussion about the Dalai Lama, the students became worried that someone would overhear the conversation. ConGenOff returned to his hotel shortly thereafter. BOUGHNER