CHINA-INTERNAL: TIBET AND 19TH PARTY CONGRESS
|
Radio Free Asia reported on September 25, 2017, that authorities in Tsolho (in Chinese, Hainan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture’s Trika (Guide) county, in Qinghai province, summoned the heads of local Buddhist monasteries the previous week to warn against the use of social media to view or spread “illegal content” while top-level Party meetings are held in Beijing in October. The gathering was held from Sept. 14 to 18, and leaders of “all Tibetan monasteries, both large and small, in Tsolho, were called. RFA quoted its source as saying: “Authorities explained that the meeting was being conducted on the orders of higher authorities to tell the prefecture’s monks and nuns that they must not use social media to listen to, or to view and share photos and video clips of, illegal material during the period of the 19th Congress of the [ruling] Chinese Communist Party.” “Severe consequences” were threatened for anyone found violating the ban or enticing others to do so. RFA's source added “During the meeting, the officials emphasized the importance of expressing loyalty to the Chinese government and the Communist Party of China.”
He disclosed also that one official cited the case of a monk in Tsolho’s Mangra (Guinan) county who had been caught viewing banned material and been jailed for three years. “He also noted that ten Han Chinese nationals are curretly being investigated for listening to and distributing illegal political material and could be sentenced at any time now for not obeying the rules.” Authorities have banned travel to Tibet from outside the politically sensitive region while the top-level meetings are held.
|