Dharamshala: - The United States government on Wednesday voiced deep concern about the current tragic situation in Tibet and urged Chinese authorities in Tibet to take immediate steps to address the underlying grievances of the Tibetan people. However, there is still a lack of an international pressure on China to find a lasting solution to the year after year of tragic situations in Tibet.
"We have consistently expressed our concern about the violence in the Tibetan areas, about the continuing pattern of self-immolations, heightened tensions, and Tibet in general," US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters during a press briefing in Washington.
"We continue to both publicly and privately urge the Chinese Government at all levels to address the underlying policies in Tibet that have created these tensions and that threaten the cultural heritage of the region," she added.
The spokesperson, Nuland's comments came when asked by a reporter whether she was aware about a reward of about $8,000 offered by the Chinese government for information about people planning to set themselves on fire. Nuland said she was not aware of the reward offer but expressed concern about the volatile situation in Tibet.
The U.S government voiced deep concern about the tragic situation in Tibet a day after a Tibetan man in his late fifties set himself on fire Tuesday,23 October to protest against the oppressive Chinese policies in Tibet. The Tibetan man, identified as Dorjee Richen, reportedly suffered third-degree burns and died.
Dorjee Richen set fire to himself near a military camp and in front of the Cayuga market on the main street of Lab rang in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Kano in Gan's province. According to some reports, Dorjee Richen died at his home in Sayue village, where he was taken by the local people.
The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile based in India yesterday, 24 October, strongly urged governments and human rights organisations to apply meaningful pressure on China to find a lasting solution to the aggravating situation in Tibet.
It strongly urged "the international community, including governments, human rights organisations, and freedom loving people, to take serious note of the grim situation in Tibet and apply meaningful pressure on the Chinese government to address the problem of Tibet through dialogue," it said in a statement.
"The self-immolations by Tibetans is a highest form of non-violent protest against the Chinese government's systematic repression of their freedom of religion and human rights, destruction of Tibetan language, culture and environment, and assimilation of Tibetan nationality through induced massive influx of Chinese population into Tibet," it added.
"The Chinese government is solely responsible for the continuing self-immolations by Tibetans in Tibet as it refuses to address the underlying the causes of the problem, and instead intensifies measures to suppress the Tibetan people," it said.
"If the Chinese government's allegations against the so-called "Dalai clique" for fomenting self-immolations in Tibet are right, then it should allow independent fact-finding delegations and the media to find out the ground reality in the Tibetan areas," it continued.
