{"id":16748,"date":"2021-02-01T22:11:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T22:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=157202"},"modified":"2021-02-01T22:11:00","modified_gmt":"2021-02-01T22:11:00","slug":"curfew-imposed-in-tibetan-areas-of-qinghai-ahead-of-lunar-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/02\/01\/curfew-imposed-in-tibetan-areas-of-qinghai-ahead-of-lunar-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Curfew Imposed in Tibetan Areas of Qinghai Ahead of Lunar New Year"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Authorities in northwest China\u2019s Qinghai province are restricting travel in Tibetan-populated areas ahead of the start of Lunar New Year, called Losar by Tibetans, later this month, Tibetan sources say.<\/p>\n

The move includes a 10:00 p.m. curfew in the Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture’s Golog (in Chinese, Guoluo) and Matoe (Maduo) counties imposed in the name of \u201csocial stability\u201d and \u201csanitation,\u201d a Tibetan living in exile told RFA\u2019s Tibetan Service, citing sources in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecurity personnel have been dispatched to restaurants, hotels, internet cafes, and all places of recreation,\u201d RFA\u2019s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone caught out after curfew risks punishment, including imprisonment and severe physical abuse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Police] are also checking everyone\u2019s identification card,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Matoe county in particular is an important hub of local transportation and travel by Tibetans in Qinghai, Swiss-based former Tibetan political prisoner Golog Jigme said, adding, \u201cAnd armed police and other security personnel are often stationed there ahead of important cultural and religious festivals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Authorities in northwestern China\u2019s Gansu province have meanwhile imposed restrictions on travel to and from an important Tibetan monastery ahead of a major prayer festival, Jigme told RFA in an earlier report.<\/p>\n

Labrang Tashi Kyil monastery\u2019s annual Monlam Chenmo festival, which typically draws large numbers of participants, will begin on February 15, the third day of Losar celebrations, but is barred this year to visitors not wearing face masks, and entry is forbidden to private vehicles, Jigme said.<\/p>\n

Authorities have cited fears of a spread of COVID-19 in imposing their restrictions, Jigme said, \u201cBut in reality, the crackdown is aimed at the soon-to-be-observed great Monlam Chenmo religious festival itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buddhist monasteries in Tibet and Tibetan-populated provinces of western China have frequently become the focus of efforts to promote not just religion but Tibetan cultural values, and Chinese security forces often monitor and sometimes close down events involving large crowds.<\/p>\n

Annual public assemblies at the monasteries have greatly increased in size in recent years, as thousands of Tibetans gather to assert their national identity in the face of Beijing\u2019s cultural and political domination.<\/p>\n

Reported by Lobe Socktsang for RFA\u2019s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Authorities in northwest China\u2019s Qinghai province are restricting travel in Tibetan-populated areas ahead of the start of Lunar New Year, called Losar by Tibetans, later this month, Tibetan\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16748"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16748"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16749,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16748\/revisions\/16749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}