Machu, Gansu, and other eastern Tibetan regions saw mass demonstrations on 16 March, continuing the pan-Tibetan protests that began on 10 March and have continued through the week. Unlike the ethnic clashes in Lhasa at the end of the week, the protestors’ anger was largely focussed on symbols of the state power and government-owned properties.
According to TibetInfonet sources, around 2,000 thousand Tibetans gathered in Machu, a town in the area traditionally known as Amdo ( Gansu province) at about 4pm on 16 March to protest. Initially, the demonstrators were mostly nomads from the surrounding pasturelands, but large numbers of monks, as well as townspeople and local students swelled their ranks. People were shouting pro-independence slogans and demanding the return of the Dalai Lama. The most frequently shouted slogans were: “Independence for Tibet”; “Long live the Dalai Lama” and “Grant Tibetans freedom!” The main street of Machu county town was thronged with protesters waving kataks (traditional ceremonial white scarves) and a large hand-drawn Tibetan flag was displayed, in defiance of the Chinese ban on the Tibetan national symbol. Above their heads, people carried portraits of the Dalai Lama as well as those of the late 10th Panchen Lama.
Some demonstrators, marching along the main street, hurled stones at government offices and Chinese businesses, buildings seen as symbols of Chinese rule. Outside the regional government headquarters the crowd threw stones at the windows, and seven luxury vehicles belonging to the government were set on fire, along with one motorbike. The protestors then marched on to the local Chinese police station where they again threw stones and burned five police cars and a motorbike. The sheer number of protestors overwhelmed the police and the local police station was set alight, along with the headquarters of China Mobile, the state-run telecoms company
Reinforcements for the local security forces came from Dingxi city near Lanzhou, with one source reporting eleven truckloads of Chinese security personnel arriving. In the aftermath of the protest, security forces in riot gear patrolled the streets of Machu town, supported by local police and other government officials. There were no casualties reported
Local authorities convened an emergency meeting of local cadres the following morning. Sources told TibetInfoNet the local Party Secretary ordered everyone present to confront the intrigues and manipulation of the “Dalai Clique” to protect the economy of Machu county, as well as the country as a whole. He warned that those who failed to carry out their official duties would “lose their own bowls” (meaning their state allocated jobs).
Further demonstrations, directly linked to those in Machu, took place in Ngora township. Mobile phones were used to keep abreast of what was happening in the county town (Machu), and as demonstrations began there, about 200 monks and local people assembled in front of the government offices in Ngora. Protesters shouted: “Long live the Dalai Lama”, and: “Independence for Tibet”, and other slogans. TibetInfoNet's correspondent could clearly hear Tibetans calling for independence over the phone while conducting an interview with a protestor during the demonstration.
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The same source said that a Tibetan flag was flown outside the government offices, and protesters took down the Chinese flag and burned it, before hoisting a Tibetan flag at a local school. Someone made a brief speech, saying: “From today we are free and we no longer need to suffer under the Chinese rule!” A separate source confirmed what had happened and added that Tibetan protesters had set fire to the local police station and government headquarters. She also mentioned that there were similar protests in other townships within Machu county: Malma, Wayan and Murshak. Protests apparently took place in Luchu (Chin: Luqu) county, Gansu province, and at Taktsang Lhamo monastery but detailed information was unavailable.
A bloody anti-China protest took place in Amdo Ngawa (Chin: Aba), Sichuan province, on 16 March. Sources said several hundred Chinese soldiers had been carrying out military exercises near the Kirti monastery for five days prior to the unrest, which the locals saw as an attempt at intimidation. At around midday, 3,000 monks from Kirti began protesting and were quickly joined by locals. Confronting the protestors, troops and police in riot gear opened fire on the demonstrators, killing at least seven and wounding about a hundred. Another source claimed that the local government hospital was refusing to treat the wounded Tibetans. However, this has not been confirmed.
Tibetan students at Lanzhou Northwest National University also organised a march in solidarity with the protests across Tibet. A student at the Tibetan department of the university told TibetInfoNet that the marchers carried a large banner supporting Tibetans' demand for democratic change, as they walked around the university campus. Other sources report that outside Tibet, in Sichuan province's capital, Chengdu, police are stepped up patrols around the four blocks of Wuhouci, the Tibetan area of the town.
It is difficult to keep track of the rapidly evolving situation in Tibet but reports of unrest in Kham Lithang (Sichuan), Maldrogongkar, and Phenpo Lhundrub in the vicinity of Lhasa, indicate that the protests continue outside the region Tibetans know as Amdo (Gansu, Qinghai and north Sichuan).
In Phenpo county, 30 army trucks arrived at Shar Bumpa nunnery on the evening of 15 March. Homes were searched in the township, where a boy is said to have been shot dead, as well as in surrounding villages. On the same night, gunfire was reported by several sources in Shigatse, and a demonstration is said to having been held at Samye monastery on the banks of the Tsangpo river (Brahmaputra).
An uneasy silence appears to prevail in the Tibetan capital Lhasa after heavy military presence brought the situation under control and operations have been launched to arrest those accused by the Chinese authorities of having “orchestrated” the recent protests, in particular former political prisoners. Homes have been surrounded and many people are said to be missing, some since 10 March. Shops remain closed and people are said to be surviving on what little provisions they might have at home. The military appears to have taken full control of the area, although it is not clear whether the martial law has been formally declared.
Conversations with protesters from different areas of Tibet reveal a strong determination within them to express their grievances, at the same time though they appear fully aware of the dangers they face during their protests or through reprisals later. A Tibetan activist declared himself certain that the Chinese authorities' wrath will result in brutal reprisals, but expressed the conviction that “the world will not look away” when these will occur.