R 201030Z JUN 08
FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 2865
INFO AMEMBASSY BEIJING 
AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 
AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 
AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 
AMCONSUL SHENYANG 
AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 
AMCONSUL HONG KONG 
AIT TAIPEI 0649
NSC WASHINGTON DC
DIA WASHINGTON DC
AMCONSUL CHENGDU

S E C R E T CHENGDU 000135 
 
NOFORN 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM, G, INR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  25X1 - HUMAN 
TAGS: PGOV PINR CH
SUBJECT: ETHNIC TENSION REMAINS HIGH IN TIBETAN AREAS 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: James A. Boughner, Consul General, U.S. Consulate 
General, Chengdu. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
¶1. (S/NF) Summary:  Ethnic Tibetan cadres may be coming under 
increased scrutiny and suspicion by their Han colleagues and 
additional pressure not to participate in public religious 
observances.  New Congen contacts relayed stories of alleged 
killings in Lhasa during March, as well as an incident in which 
a Tibetan police officer reportedly killed three Han officers. 
As authorities seek to control "rumors," some Tibetan 
businesspeople are resisting government pressure to open shops 
in Lhasa.  One Government contact described attempts by local 
authorities to persuade influential Tibetans under house arrest 
to "cooperate" with the Government.  Chengdu has apparently 
become an important center for interrogating ethnic Tibetan 
detainees from throughout the region.  A patriotic education 
campaign is targeting young lay Tibetans, while many monasteries 
continue resistance to such attempted political indoctrination. 
Reports of protests and arrests in Sichuan's Ganzi Prefecture 
continue.  End summary. 
 
SPREADING DISCONTENT AMONG TIBETAN OFFICIALS? 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2. (S/NF) According to contacts at the Lhasa Religious Affairs 
Bureau, the Lhasa Tourist Bureau and Tibet University, as the 
important Buddhist religious festival of Saka Dawa reached its 
high point on June 18, authorities instructed ethnic Tibetan 
Government employees to avoid going to monasteries or 
participating in public religious rituals such as 
circumambulations.  The ban on such activities extended to 
family members and household servants of Government employees as 
well.  One contact told us he was warned that there was a "risk 
of being shot by the police" if a disturbance occurs during 
these festivities.  The contact alleged he had been made to sign 
a statement in which he assumed "responsibility" for the 
consequences if a family member participated in any protest. 
 
¶3. (S/NF) The above mentioned contacts also reported an incident 
occurring in Lhasa on or about March 19, when a group of ethnic 
Tibetan sons and daughters of "high-ranking" TAR officials were 
arrested by the People's Armed Police (PAP) after drinking in a 
bar.  The young people, not recognized by police as being 
related to important officials, were allegedly detained and 
beaten severely before being released five days later without 
any apology or explanation other than a statement that the PAP 
had determined they "did not participate actively" in the March 
14 disturbances.  The incident reportedly angered many ethnic 
Tibetan officials. 
 
¶4. (S/NF) According to the Lhasa Religious Affairs Bureau 
contact, TAR officials are "extremely suspicious" of ethnic 
Tibetans working for the Justice Department, courts and 
Procuratorate, since they are believed to be sources of 
information about sentences and prison conditions leaked to the 
Tibetan "government-in-exile" and other groups outside China. 
(Note: A Chinese official media report on May 29 noted the 
dismissal of seven people, mostly ethnic Tibetan, from the TAR 
court system.) 
 
¶5. (S/NF) The Religious Affair Bureau contact also told us of 
increased efforts by authorities to limit discussion of alleged 
police killings in Lhasa in the aftermath of the March 14 
disturbances.  Families who lost a relative have been instructed 
by police to say the death occurred as the result of an 
"accident." 
 
MORE ALLEGATIONS OF DEATHS AND ARRESTS IN LHASA 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (S/NF) A Congen LES employee told us of meeting a young 
Tibetan woman from the TAR working in a Chengdu restaurant.  She 
told the LES employee her brother was killed by police in Lhasa 
on March 14, but the family had been instructed by authorities 
not to tell others about how the young man had died. 
 
¶7. (S/NF) Two new Congen contacts in Lhasa (one working as an 
office secretary in the Lhasa Religious Affairs Bureau, the 
other a woman whose fianci is a Tibetan officer in the Special 
Police, or "tejing") told us that on March 15 a monk from Tsurpu 
Monastery was shot to death by police in the Barkhor while 
praying over the bodies of other Tibetans previously shot by 
police.  His body was allegedly taken by other monks before the 
police could recover it and has been hidden in Tsurpu Monastery 
ever since. 
 
¶8. (S/NF) According to the police officer's fiancie, ethnic 
Tibetan Special Police Officers are no longer allowed to carry 
firearms as the result of an incident in late March during which 
a Tibetan officer opened fire on his Han colleagues in Drepung 
Monastery, killing three before turning the gun on himself.  The 
alleged shooting spree was triggered by the officer's anger over 
the beating of monks by Han officers. 
 
¶9. (S/NF) The same contact claimed that authorities made 
extensive use of ambulances to transport arrestees in mid-March. 
 
¶10. (S/NF) A contact working for the Nyingtri Prefecture 
Government (in the eastern TAR) said that one of the persons 
listed as "most wanted" by police as a participant in the March 
14 disturbances was arrested in Nyingtri Prefecture in April. 
The man, purportedly from Taktse city near Lhasa, had fled on 
foot from Lhasa and fainted from exhaustion on a public street 
after having reached Nyingtri several weeks later.  He was 
identified by police after having been taken to a hospital 
there.  The contact told us that police continued to treat 
"anyone with especially long or short hair" as suspects. 
Long-haired men are suspected of being Khampa activists (Note: 
the Khampa are ethnic Tibetans from western Sichuan Province 
with a strong warrior tradition), while short-haired individuals 
are suspected of being monks or of attempting to change their 
appearance. 
 
PRESSURE TO OPEN SHOPS, PRESSURE TO KEEP THEM CLOSED 
------------------------------ 
 
¶11. (C) Contacts in Lhasa told us that despite the persistent 
efforts of local authorities to encourage shopkeepers to keep 
their business operating, many Tibetans in the old part of town 
are choosing to keep their shops closed.  Some Tibetan 
shopkeepers have found bowls of tsampa, or barley gruel, outside 
their shop doors in the morning.  This is said to be a sign from 
other Tibetans that they should not open their shops:  "If you 
are hungry, eat this," as described by one contact.  The contact 
claimed that police had arrested five people in late March for 
placing tsampa bowls outside Tibetan stores, but the practice 
continued nevertheless. 
 
RUMOR CONTROL 
--------- 
 
¶12. (C) Authorities continue to concentrate on trying to control 
the spread of "rumors" in the TAR.  A Tibetan businessman in 
Lhasa told us that many teahouses and restaurants in the old 
part of the city have either been closed or are monitored 
closely by plainclothes police.  He further alleged that since 
the May 12 Wenchuan earthquake, 20 people were arrested in Lhasa 
for spreading "rumors" that the quake was an act of "karma" or 
divine retribution against the Han. 
 
ATTEMPTS TO SWAY TIBETANS OF INFLUENCE 
-------------------------- 
 
¶13. (S/NF) A contact working for the TAR United Front Work 
Department told us he was recently sent on a trip to Chengdu, 
Kunming, and an unspecified third city to meet with individuals 
identified as "Tibetan intellectuals," mostly from Kham (the 
eastern TAR and western Sichuan) and Amdo (southern Qinghai and 
Gansu and northern Sichuan).  These individuals included 
reincarnate lamas as well as academics and others deemed to have 
special influence within the Tibetan community.  Our contact 
noted many of them were being held under de facto house arrest. 
According to our contact, his mission was to "exchange ideas" 
with these individuals in an effort to convince them to respect 
the Chinese government, and to stress to them the "benefits" to 
be gained from cooperating with the authorities. 
 
¶14. (S/NF) According to this contact, the individuals visited 
were suspected by authorities of having acted as "liaisons" 
between the Tibetan "government-in-exile" and Tibetans inside 
China.  However, the contact said he was unable to ascertain 
that any of them had played any role in any anti-Government 
activity. 
 
¶15. (S/NF) The contact also told us he was surprised to learn 
how many TAR government employees were now working in Chengdu. 
He alleged that the TAR Justice Department, Procuratorate, PSB 
and Religious Affairs Bureau all had "large" representative 
offices in Chengdu, many located near the Southwest Minorities 
University campus.  He claimed that most of them were working in 
Chengdu to assist central authorities in the interrogation of 
suspects from the TAR.  (Note: A Congen local employee saw an 
underground parking garage in that area with spaces for about 
100 cars, each space marked with a freshly painted sign stating 
that it is reserved for the TAR Justice Department.) 
 
YOUNG TIBETANS A CONCERN 
------------------- 
 
¶16. (S/NF) According to a contact working for the Lhasa 
Religious Affairs Bureau, authorities have taken note of the 
large number of young lay Tibetans who participated in the March 
disturbances, and plan to conduct special patriotic education 
for persons born in the 1980s and later.  One particular concern 
for authorities was the burning of a Chinese flag on March 14 by 
students at the Lhasa Number Three Senior High School.  The 
contact claimed that 20 students from Lhasa's Beijing High 
School were still "missing," as well as seven students from 
Tibet University. 
 
¶17. (S/NF) The contact claimed that on March 14, two young 
Tibetan female students at the Lhasa police school ran into the 
Lhasa Mosque and burned a copy of the Koran inside.  This 
incident led to a conflict between ethnic Tibetan Muslims, many 
of whom claimed the young women acted as police provocateurs, 
and Hui Muslims, who insisted the Tibetans engaged on their own 
in anti-Muslim activities. 
 
INSIDE THE MONASTERIES: RESISTANCE AND FLIGHT 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶18. (C) Contacts in Lhasa described the situation in Drepung 
Monastery as remaining "very serious," with 300 young monks 
"missing."  A contact reported that only six monks were seen 
during a recent visit to Jokhang Temple.  Ganden and Sera 
Monasteries were described as "very tense," with monks 
discouraging visits by Tibetan visitors. 
 
¶19. (C) Contacts inside Labrang Monastery in Gansu Province told 
us that only three monks (Thabke, Jigme and Lujuba) remain in 
police custody. 
 
¶20. (C) Contacts in Sichuan's Aba County told us that monks in 
Kirti Monastery have put up "extreme resistance" to patriotic 
education, and that several weeks ago monks began to leave the 
monastery.  One contact alleged that 90 percent of Kirti's monks 
have now left, with many either returning to their home towns or 
heading for larger cities such as Chengdu, often in lay 
clothing.  A monk from Kirti Monastery alleged that ten of the 
monastery's monks remained in police custody. 
 
GANZI STILL SIMMERS 
------------ 
 
¶21. (S/NF) According to the secretary in the Lhasa Religious 
Affairs Bureau, TAR officials believe many of the participants 
in the March 14 disturbances were from Sichuan's Ganzi 
Prefecture.  As a result, many young people from Ganzi were 
arrested in the TAR, and the contact expressed the opinion that 
the number of Ganzi detainees is a factor in the continuing 
unrest in Ganzi Prefecture. 
 
¶22. (S/NF) According to a contact working for an international 
NGO in Ganzi Prefecture, media reports of the arrest and beating 
of a nun in Ganzi's Drango County on June 8 are correct.  The 
nun reportedly distributed pamphlets and displayed banners 
calling for the return of the Dalai Lama.  Following her arrest, 
about two hundred nuns from the same nunnery protested the 
detention, but were dispersed by police and several arrested. 
 
¶23. (C) Other media reports claimed a small protest by lay 
Tibetans took place in Ganzi County on June 11, followed by 
beatings and arrests, but we have not yet been able to confirm 
this incident. 
 
¶24. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Beijing. 
 
BOUGHNER