China convicts man over self-immolation ‘goading’

A Chinese court in a Tibetan area convicted a man of intentional homicide and inciting secession on Friday for “goading” a monk to set himself on fire, state media reported, even though the monk did not follow through.

The official Xinhua news agency said the man, named as Phagpa, was sentenced to 13 years in jail by the court in a Tibetan prefecture of China’s northwestern Qinghai province.

Nearly 100 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2009 in apparent protest against Beijing’s rule, which critics say represses Tibetan religious rights and erodes their culture as more majority ethnic Han move to Tibetan areas.

According to the Tibetan government in exile, 83 of them have died.

With the 100th incident approaching, Chinese authorities have embarked on an extensive publicity drive on the issue, with both Xinhua and CCTV, the state broadcaster, covering it at length.

They said that outside forces linked to the Dalai Lama were manipulating vulnerable young people, telling them that burning themselves alive would make them heroes, while CCTV said coded messages on Voice of America radio were used.

VOA described the claims as “absurd”.