Tibetan Monk Burns Himself to Death

Yet another Tibetan monk has burned himself to death in protest against the Chinese occupation and suppression of his country. 29-year-old Tsewang Norbu from a monastery in Tawu, south-west China, drank petrol, sprayed petrol on himself and then set himself on fire, shouting, 'we Tibetan people want freedom', 'long live the Dalai Lama' and 'let the Dalai Lama return to Tibet'

It was the second such act in the area in the past five months and appeared to reflect resistance to increased Chinese repression of loyalty to Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Security forces detained about 300 Tibetan monks in western China for a month amid a crackdown sparked by the previous self-immolation, according to exiled Tibetans.

"Today's news exposes how desperate some Tibetans feel," said Stephanie Brigden, the director of Free Tibet. After the self-immolation in March, she said Chinese authorities "deployed troops on to the streets, imposed curfews, undertook house searches and set up military road blocks."