VZCZCXRO8524
RR RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHCN #0086 0880856
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 290856Z MAR 07
FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2426
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 2942

C O N F I D E N T I A L CHENGDU 000086 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM, DRL AND G/STC 
BANGKOK FOR USAID/MSTIEVATER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  3/29/2027 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV CH
SUBJECT: TAR FAO RESPONSES ON SEPTEMBER 2006 SHOOTING AT NATULA PASS 
 
REF: A) 06 BEIJING 21638  B) 06 BEIJING 21794  C) 06 BEIJING 22237  D) CHENGDU 
 
77 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: James Boughner, Consul General, United States 
Consulate, Chengdu. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  During a recent Consulate visit to Lhasa, the 
Director of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) Foreign Affairs 
Office (FAO) promised to provide us with a written copy of an 
"official statement" on the September 2006 shooting of a Tibetan 
nun at the Natula Pass.  After our return to Chengdu, the FAO 
phoned on March 26 to give a verbal statement that officially 
classified actions of the border guards as "self defense" in 
compliance with Chinese law.  On March 28, the FAO phone a 
second time to provide additional new information including the 
name of the nun who was killed, the condition of the second 
injured individual and the release of the detained children. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) During a March 12-17 reporting trip to the Tibetan 
Autonomous Region (TAR), CG and Beijing Polmincouns raised with 
TAR Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) Director Ju Jianhua the 
September 30, 2006 shooting death of a Tibetan nun by Chinese 
border guards at the Natula Pass (Ref. D).  CG asked Ju if he 
could provide any information about the government's 
investigation (Ref. C) into the incident. 
 
¶3.  (C) Ju said he was not in the country during the time of the 
incident and that he was not particularly familiar with the 
investigation.  He said he believed that the case was one of 
illegal border crossers who had been dealt with according to 
Chinese law.  Ju offered to give CG prior to his departure from 
Lhasa a copy of an "official written statement" on the case.  He 
failed to comply with this offer. 
 
¶4.  (C) On March 26, Ms. Baizhen of the Consular Office of the 
TAR FAO contacted Congen to read an official statement on the 
"9.30 Incident."  She was not willing to fax the document to the 
Consulate.  A translation of the statement is as follows: 
 
"Before dawn on September 30, during patrolling time, our border 
police discovered nearly 70 people illegally crossing the border 
at the Sino-Indian border.  Our police officers tried to stop 
them according to law and advised them to return to the place 
they originally came from.  However, instead of listening to the 
advice, they attacked our police officers, and forced our police 
officers to defend themselves.  As a result, two illegal border 
crossers were injured, and one of them died due to the cold 
weather and shortage of oxygen, after receiving emergency 
treatment.  This was an organized and planned serious illegal 
border crossing case.  We are going to handle this case 
according to the 'Citizen Exit-Entry Management Law of the 
People's Republic of China' and other relevant laws.  At the 
moment, this case is still being handled." 
 
¶5.  (C) On March 28, Ms. Choeyki Drolma of the Consular Office 
of the TAR FAO called to provide additional information to the 
consulate related to our original request.  She read a prepared 
statement as follows: 
 
"Among the illegal border-crossers, Chudzom (Chines:  Qu Zong), 
24, died after emergency treatment.  Kesang Namgyal (Chinese: 
Ge Rong Lang Jia) was injured, but he has now fully recovered 
after receiving medical care.  Others, including the children, 
have left for home and now live with their families.  Some 
foreign media have still been broadcasting "untruths" about this 
issue, and some international organizations have made 
inappropriate responses to these untruths.  We think this is 
irresponsible behavior.  All sovereign states have the right to 
take necessary measures to prevent incidents such as this from 
happening." 
 
¶6.  (C) Comment:  The first statement read to us by the FAO was 
"old news" and was similar to statements made to the press soon 
after the incident was widely publicized on the internet with 
accompanying photographs.  When the video footage of the 
shooting was posted, press statements from the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs dropped the "self-defense" explanation and began 
to refer to the incident as "normal border management activity." 
  It is unclear why the FAO called a second time to provide new 
information.  This is the first time the government has released 
any information about the fate of the children detained at the 
border or about the other injured individual.  Post notes that 
the majority of international press reports, including recent 
testimony before the United National Human Rights Council 
meeting in Geneva on March 23, identify the nun who died as 
17-year-old Kelsang Namtso, which is likely her religious name. 
 
BOUGHNER