Tibetan monk beaten up in Sichuan for shouting anti-China slogans

China say the movement for Tibetan freedom and the Dalai Lama's return from India are terror activities

Tibetan monk beaten up in Sichuan for shouting anti-China slogans
Supporters of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama react during his visit in Prague, Czech Republic, October 17, 2016. REUTERS

Chinese police arrested and beat up a Tibetan monk who protested against Beijing's rule over Tibet, media reports said.

The monk who was attacked by the police belonged to the Kirti monastery, which has witnessed several self immolations by Tibetan monks protesting against China's rule over Tibet.

The incident happened in Sichuan's Ngaba county this week, Radio Free Asia reported. The monk has been admitted to a hospital with severe injuries.

The monk, who staged a solo protest, was identified as Lobsang Tsultrim, a monk in the Kirti monastery, the news site said citing local sources.

Tsultrim was seen shouting anti-China slogans and praising the exiled Dalai Lama on a street in in Ngaba county's main town."He called out for Tibetan freedom and for the long life of [exiled spiritual leader] the Dalai Lama as he walked, and when he arrived at the street in front of the Tibetan Language Middle School he was stopped by police and taken away," the source told RFA.

'Splittist'

Days before the monk's arrest, the Kirti monastery had opened a new residence for an exiled abbot who lives in Dharamsala, India.

More than 150 Tibetans, including monks and nuns, have set themselves ablaze protesting against the Chinese repression.

China say the movement for Tibetan freedom and the Dalai Lama's return from India are terror activities.

While Dalai Lama says he wants only genuine autonomy for the Himalayan homeland, Beijing calls him 'splittist'.

China's Communist party forces annexed Tibet in 1950. The Dalai Lama fled the country after an abortive attempt against Chinese rule in 1959.

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