Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09CHENGDU41
2009-03-05 09:38:00
SECRET
Consulate Chengdu
Cable title:  

SICHUAN SECURITY PREPARES FOR TIBETAN ANNIVERSARIES

Tags:  PGOV PHUM CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0330
RR RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHCN #0041/01 0640938
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 050938Z MAR 09
FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3097
INFO RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 3769
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENGDU 000041 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM, DRL, G

E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/5/2034
TAGS: PGOV PHUM CH
SUBJECT: SICHUAN SECURITY PREPARES FOR TIBETAN ANNIVERSARIES

REF: CHENGDU 34

CHENGDU 00000041 001.2 OF 003


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

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENGDU 000041

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM, DRL, G

E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/5/2034
TAGS: PGOV PHUM CH
SUBJECT: SICHUAN SECURITY PREPARES FOR TIBETAN ANNIVERSARIES

REF: CHENGDU 34

CHENGDU 00000041 001.2 OF 003


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


1. (S) Summary: Although still well below last year's levels,
the security presence in Chengdu's Tibet-town and some other
areas of the city is steadily growing in lead-up to the March 10
fiftieth anniversary of the Lhasa uprising against Communist
authorities. Groups of six People's Armed Police (PAP) armored
vehicles were seen several times in downtown Chengdu March 3,
including one convoy that was photographed by a local blogger
and placed on the Internet. During recent conversations in
"Tibet-town," Buddhist monks and other interlocutors noted a
significant increase in Public Security Bureau (PSB) and PAP
officers, as well as numerous new roadblocks, throughout Tibetan
areas of western Sichuan Province. Internet and cell phone
messaging services between Chengdu and western Sichuan have
reportedly been cut off. The Sichuan Foreign Affairs Office
(FAO) confirmed March 5 that Tibetan areas in the province are
closed to foreign nationals through at least the month of March.
Monks from Aba and Ganzi Prefectures continue to flee to
Chengdu rather than sign the Party loyalty pledge sought in an
ongoing "patriotic education campaign." End Summary.

Security Ramp-Up
--------------


2. (S) Since just prior to the start of Tibetan New Year on
February 25, Consulate staff have noted an increased security
presence in Tibetan areas of Chengdu, specifically Tibet-town,
home to approximately 30,0000 ethnic Tibetans, as well as more
recently near government office buildings in the downtown city
center and at some local universities. PAP personnel carriers
and other armored vehicles have appeared a number of times on
the streets of Chengdu. On February 26, a large armored truck
(camouflaged green, no plates) with several large antennae
attached to its roof was seen about a block away from the
Consulate. On March 3 at about 1830 hours, Consulate employees
saw six PAP white APCs on Kehua Road near Sichuan University,
while a local blogger photographed earlier in the day another
convoy near government office buildings approximately three

blocks from Tianfu Square in the city center. Photos are
available at a URL abbreviated as www.tinyurl.com/Chengdu-APC
. To our knowledge, armored
vehicles were not in evidence in Chengdu on either March 4 or 5.



3. (S) On March 4-5, although Tibetans did not appear to be
taking any obvious notice, ConGenOff saw that the security
presence in Tibet-town was notably higher than several days
previously. On March 5, two fully-filled PAP buses and a PAP
van labeled "Comprehensive Law Enforcement," (Zonghe Zhifa) were
positioned on the main street (Wuhouci Dong Jie) across from the
Wuhouci Temple, one of Chengdu's top tourist destinations. Tape
covered the license plates of the vehicles. On March 4, there
had been only one PAP bus stationed in this location. On March
5, a large PSB van with the number "4" taped on the back
supplemented the large bus (taped number "1") filled with police
that had also been there the day before.


4. (S) Some PAP and PSB in helmets and bullet-resistant vests
were out of the vehicles, including one PSB officer who cradled
an automatic weapon and another who had a weapon that resembled
a revolver connected to a long, thick tube, perhaps an anti-riot
gas gun. Several more PSB cars were parked along the main
street, as well as a PSB K-9 van with two police dogs inside was
at the intersection. PSB cars passed through the main
intersection at a rate of about two per minute.


5. (S) Five PSB cars were parked midway along or towards the end
of Tibet-town's four main streets and two or three more at the
intersection, all with their flashers on. Several PSB cars were
parked on side streets just east of the Southwest Nationalities
University adjacent to Tibet-town. Groups of five militia
(Minbing) with clubs also patrolled the streets. They wore
yellow stripes on their shoulders, in the middle of which "MB"
appeared in red letters. Their shoulder patches indicated they
were Wuhou District Militia (Wuhouqu Minbing). ConGenOff did
not seen Minbing patrols in Tibet-town during the government's
security response in the area in 2008.

Ganzi Crackdown
--------------





6. (C) On February 28, a Japanese photographer and his Tibetan
tour guide told ConGenOff at a restaurant in Tibet-town that

CHENGDU 00000041 002.2 OF 003


they had encountered many roadblocks during a visit to Ganzi
Prefecture in western Sichuan. The photographer said he and his
guide had decided to travel at night hoping that searches would
be less thorough, and indeed his cameras were never checked.
His Tibetan tour guide said that cell phone messaging has been
cut off in Ganzi Prefecture. On March 4, the Consulate heard
from multiple contacts that Internet and cell phone messaging
between Chengdu and Ganzi and Aba Prefectures has been cut off.
According to a Consulate contact, in late February, people in
Tongxiao Township in Xinlong (Nyarong) County in Ganzi had
staged a protest and burned down a township government building.



7. (SBU) On March 5, the Sichuan Foreign Affaires Office, in
response to a query from the Consulate about possible travel
restrictions in Tibetan areas, told us that Ganzi and Aba
Prefectures, as well as the county of Muli, are "completely
closed" to foreigners through at least the month of March.
Consulate is still waiting for clarification from the FAO if
this includes the popular tourist resort of Jiuzhaigou in Aba.


Aba Abbot
--------------


8. (C) During a February 25 visit by ConGenOff to Tibet-town,
the Abbot of the Dzamthang Monastery (Nyingma School) in
Rangtang County, Aba Prefecture told him that travel to and from
Aba had become very difficult. The Abbot recently had wanted to
return to his monastery but there were too many police checks
along the way. When asked if traveling in plainclothes would
make it any easier (the Abbot was wearing Buddhist robes),he
replied, "The police can usually tell who is a monk. If you are
in plainclothes, they are tougher on you, demanding why are you
dressed in plainclothes and beat you up."


9. (C) According to the Abbot, following the unrest of March
2008, ten of the 270 monks at his monastery had been arrested.
Most had since been released, except for three monks who had
each been given three-year sentences. The Abbot did not know if
these were court sentences or Public Security Bureau-imposed
detentions. (Note: Just prior to a subsequent meeting ConGenOff
had set with the Abbot two days later, a call from him was
suddenly cut off. ConGenOff tried to call back, but the cell
phone connection was not allowed. After a few minutes Congenoff
called again, got through, but then was cut off again. The
Abbot did not show up for the planned meeting.

Mounting Pressure on Larung Gar Monks
-------------- --------------


10. (C) On another trip to Tibet-town, ConGenOff spoke with a
monk who said he was from Seda County in Ganzi. The monk
indicated there were 170 monks in his monastery, one of the many
colleges that form the large Larung Gar Monastery in northern
Ganzi. According to the monk, he and other monks had been under
great pressure to sign a pledge agreeing to Chinese government
demands, including denouncing the Dalai Lama and accepting the
Beijing-designated Panchen Lama. Monks are told they must sign
the pledge or leave the monastery and return home. Thus far, 30
monks "who were weak" had given in to the pressure and signed.


11. (C) The monk told ConGenOff he had left his monastery ten
days earlier to come to Chengdu. He claimed that other monks
were leaving the monastery one by one at different times rather
than all together to escape detection. (Note: The Ganzi monk
was in his mid-thirties and appeared well educated. He spoke
excellent Chinese with very standard pronunciation, unusual for
a monk. Many Tibetan monks do not speak Chinese well).
According to the monk, many monks from Larung Gar are currently
in Chengdu. They are supported in many different ways, some by
local Buddhist associations, some work to earn money by making
things for temples, some serve in local temples, and some ask
for money in the streets. He observed that Tibetan monks often
travel to inland China and teach Buddhism to Han Chinese, noting
that he himself had once gone to Hainan Province to teach the
fundamentals of Tibetan Buddhism.

Comments:
--------------


12. (S) February 28 was the first time since mid-2008 that we
observed PSB in Tibet-town outfitted with automatic weapons.
The increased security presence we have seen so far in Chengdu
appears still well below levels we witnessed immediately
following the March 2008 outbreak of unrest when large PAP
convoys were on the outskirts of the city, PAP with automatic
weapons patrolled some downtown areas, helicopters could be
heard over the city, and up to 100 PAP deployed briefly around
the Consulate. None of our local staff can recall, however,

CHENGDU 00000041 003.2 OF 003


ever having seen APCs on the streets of Chengdu before.
According to RSO FSN-I (protect),PAP forces stationed in
Chengdu have never before been issued APCs. Somewhat
ironically, the security crackdown underway in Ganzi and Aba
Prefectures (between six-to-ten hours away by road) may result
in an increase in Chengdu's ethnic Tibetan population as some
monks and others seek refuge here.
BOUGHNER