REPRESSION IN TIBET

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29009, 25 September 1959, Page 11

REPRESSION IN TIBET

“Tibetans Prefer Death” 'Rec. 10 p.m.) NEW DELHI, Sept. 23. Signs of renewed fighting between Tibetan rebels and the Chinese in certain areas of Tibet were reported in the Indian newspaper the “Statesman." today. Its Darjeeling correspondent said: "Chinese atrocities have reached such magnitude that Tibetans prefer death in battle rather than face slow and excruciating death in concentration camps.” The correspondent said that, according to a usually reliable source, Tibetan resistance groups had rallied in large numbers north, north-east, east and west Tibet, and the Chinese had moved in troops specially trained in mountain warfare. He quoted this source for rumours that seven Chinese aircraft had been damaged as a result of a surprise attack by rebels on Dam Shung airport, 75 miles north of Lhasa. This source also said that a Tibetan who escaped recently had been deported to Amdo with 5000 others to help construct a railway to Lhasa. This Tibetan said workers were tortured at the slightest pretext and food was poor and insufficient. The correspondent also said that the Chinese were reported to have erected barbed wire fencing around concentration camps on the banks of the Kyi Chu River, about 25 miles from Lhasa to prevent Tibetans committing mass suicide by jumping into the swiftly flowing river. These Tibetans were employed in building the largest of three new hydro-electric projects near Lhasa, he said.