Tibetan nun dies in self-immolation

3 Nov 2011, 10:31 pm   -   Source: AAP
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A Tibetan nun died after setting herself on fire in southwest China on Thursday in the 11th such incident involving Buddhist monks and nuns.

A Tibetan nun died after setting herself on fire in southwest China on Thursday, the official Xinhua news agency said, in the 11th such incident involving Buddhist monks and nuns in the restive region.

The International Campaign for Tibet confirmed the death of the nun, named Qiu Xiang and aged about 35, saying she called for religious freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, as she set herself on fire.

Xinhua said Qiu set herself alight around 1pm (1600 AEDT) in Dawu county, part of China's Sichuan province, and that local authorities had launched an investigation of the nun's death.

Eight Tibetan Buddhist monks and two nuns have now set themselves alight in Tibetan-inhabited regions of Sichuan since the self-immolation of a young monk at the Kirti monastery in Aba county in March sparked major protests that led to a government clampdown.

At least five monks and two nuns have died in the self-immolations, rights groups have said.

"We heard she called for religious freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet," ICT spokeswoman Kate Saunders said, citing sources in the region.

Many Tibetans in China are angry about what they see as growing domination by the country's majority Han ethnic group.

Most of the suicide attempts have taken place around the Kirti monastery, which is also in Sichuan, and which has become a flashpoint for the mounting anger at the erosion of Tibetan culture.

All but two of the incidents occurred after in Aba after Chinese authorities in late August jailed three monks for prison terms ranging from 11 to 13 years for their alleged involvement in the March death in Kirti.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 and founded a government in exile in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala after being offered refuge there.

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