Hundreds of Chinese paramilitary forces laid siege to a Tibetan township in Sichuan province this week after detaining nine Tibetans and pre-empting a protest by locals against the theft of precious stones by ruling Chinese Communist Party officials, according to sources.

The Tibetans of Terlung township in Palyul (in Chinese, Baiyu) county in Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture were angry over the theft of the sacred stones from the Khanmar monastery grounds and had wanted to march to the Palyul county center to lodge a protest, the sources said.

The Chinese authorities got wind of the planned protests and early this week detained four monks and five others, including local Tibetan community leaders, believed to be linked to the planned demonstrations, they said.

“[Nine] Tibetans were detained and now several hundred paramilitary forces were deployed and have surrounded the monastery and town of Terlung,” a source in Tibet told RFA’s Tibetan Service.

The source explained that the security clampdown was triggered by “plans by several hundred residents of Terlung town to march to the Palyul county center to stage a protest and vow to protect their sacred stones even at the expense of their lives.”

The residents had discovered that “the Communist Party officials in Terlung township in collaboration with their counterparts in Palyul county were linked to the theft of truck loads of rare and sacred stones from Khanmar monastery in Terlung,” the source said….(…)

RadioFreeAsia,30/11/2013

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