China's state security departments have prevented the Dalai Lama's exiled separatist group from causing a self-immolation incident in the Tibet Autonomous Region, according to official sources.
Two spies of the Dalai Lama's clique, Tugyi and Cengdan Gyaco, crossed the Sino-Nepalese border in July last year. On orders of the "security ministry" of the clique, Cengdan was to set himself on fire in the square of the Johkang Monastery in Lhasa, the regional capital. Tugyi was ordered to videotape the self-immolation and then send it to the UN Human Rights Conference.
After the two spies sneaked into Xigaze Prefecture, Cengdan was captured by the local security department. After a period in hiding, Tugyi was caught on May 5.
Cengdan, also known as Rinzin, was previously a Tibetan lama. He was born in 1969 in the Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. He said he was ordered by the Dalai Lama's clique to flee to India in 1999 and participate in a hunger strike.
But a member of the clique and the organizer of the hunger strike said the hunger strike would not be enough to accomplish the group's aim of separating Tibet from motherland. Cengdan agreed to take more extreme action and set himself ablaze in front of the Chinese Embassy in India.
The officials with the so-called "security ministry" of the Dalai Lama's clique then convinced Cengdan that his self-immolation would have greater international impact if it took place within the territory of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
The secretary-general of the "security ministry" also met with Cengdan and directed him to set himself ablaze on the square of the Johkang Monastery in Lhasa.
He was instructed to read out a four-point statement calling for the "release" of "the 10th reincarnated Panchen designated by Dalai" to be videotaped before the self-immolation.
Cengdan then went to the clique's office in Nepal, where he was given 400,000 Nepalese rupees. On January 13, 2001, the Intermediate People's Court of Lhasa charged Cengdan with sedition and espionage, and sentenced him to 8 years in prison and deprived him of political rights for three years.
Cengdan pleaded guilty and expressed regret for his actions. Tugyi has also confessed, but his case is still pending.
(Xinhua 05/19/2001)
