Tibet is one of the most tightly-guarded regions in China….reports Asian Lite News
Footage has emerged showing what appear to be rare large-scale protests against strict Covid-19 measures in the Tibetan regional capital, Lhasa, a media report said.
Multiple videos on social media show hundreds demonstrating and clashing with the police. They are said to be mostly ethnic Han Chinese migrant workers, BBC reported.
The city has been under lockdown for nearly three months as it battles a wave of infections.
Tibet is one of the most tightly-guarded regions in China.
The protests are said to have taken place on Wednesday afternoon and stretched on till the night. One video shows hundreds of people gathered on the streets, with officials blocking them at one end. A message calling for calm can be heard on a loudspeaker, with an official asking for people to “please be understanding and to go back”, BBC reported.
Another video shows scores of people on the streets at night, and a man can be heard commenting on the scene.
“[They] have been locked up for too long. And a lot of people in this community are people who have just come to work and earn money. If they could get that in mainland China, they wouldn’t have come here,” he says in Mandarin.
Yet another video showed people marching on the streets with the caption “We just want to go home”.
Tibetan sources have told news outlet Radio Free Asia (RFA) that protesters warned they would “set off a fire” if restrictions were not lifted – though it is not clear what this meant.
Another source said there were fears that scuffles between civilians and police officers could turn violent.
Beijing has been reinforcing tight control over the highly surveilled Tibet autonomous region and the authorities continue to increase its repression in the name of the Zero-Covid policy.
Recently, a new Human Rights Watch report pointed towards DNA collection drives by CCP among Tibetans in and outside Tibetan Autonomous Region from children as young as five years old without consent which clearly explains the possible implications of Xi Jinping’s re-election on Tibet and Tibetans.
Moreover, Beijing’s quest to sinicise Tibetan Buddhism in compliance with Chinese policies, which they refer to as “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” also explains how the election of the Chinese premier for the third term will prove for Tibet.
