Ngaba’s new party chief vows to strike severely at ‘hostile forces’/ENG

2012. február 16./Phayul.com/TibetPress

DHARAMSHALA, February 16: The Beijing appointed new Communist Party chief of Ngaba, eastern Tibet has vowed to maintain stability in the region and strike severely at the activities of hostile forces.

"We must strictly prevent and severely strike at the activities of domestic and foreign hostile forces seeking to split, infiltrate and sabotage," Liu Zuoming was quoted as saying by AFP in a speech he gave to local officials Saturday.

"We must thoroughly smash any plot seeking to sabotage the stability of Aba and endanger the unity of the motherland," Liu was further quoted as saying.

A government prosecutor, Liu, who is 54 and a member of China's Han Chinese majority, was appointed as party chief on February 11. Until his new appointment, Liu headed the province's justice bureau. His predecessor in Ngaba, Shi Jun, has been promoted to police chief for Sichuan.


Ngaba has been the epicenter of a fiery wave of self-immolation that has been raging since March last year when Phuntsog, a monk from the Kirti monastery in Ngaba torched his body demanding freedom in Tibet.

Since then, in Ngaba alone, 14 Tibetans including monks, nuns and teenaged laymen have set themselves ablaze calling for the return of the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama and protesting China’s continued occupation of Tibet.

The two latest instances of self-immolation, involving a teenaged nun and monk, occurred after Liu took charge in Ngaba.

The entire Ngaba region is under virtual lockdown with reporters, who have been able to sneak into the cut-off region, describing Ngaba as a “conflict zone.”

Reporting for the Guardian newspaper, a British journalist who was recently in Ngaba said groups of armed Chinese forces were stationed every 30 or 40 metres in the town in full riot police uniform with automatic weapons, shields, and something which he described as ‘never seen before’ and ‘medieval’ – spiked batons.

The exile Tibetan leadership has strongly condemned China’s repressive policies and faulty security measures in Tibetan areas.

Tibet’s de facto Prime Minister Dr Lobsang Sangay, during the recent global vigil for Tibet, sent a clear message to the Chinese leadership that force can never solve the issue of Tibet.

“If the Chinese government thinks the Tibet issue can be solved through violence, force, and intimidation, then it’s not going to happen because the Tibetan spirit is strong,” Dr Sangay said.

“The Tibetan spirit will remain strong until freedom is restored in Tibet and His Holiness the Dalai Lama returns to Tibet.”