Departmenet of Information and International Relations

DHARAMSALA, Nov 1, 97, (DIIR) In the face of the Chinese government's increased repression in all the three provinces of Tibet, covering, in particular, the Tibetan cadres and monastic institutions, it may seem the general Tibetans aren't left with much room for movement. However, according to a report from Tibet, two-paged independence posters came to be seen on 25 October, one pasted on the wall of Barkhor's Public Security Bureau in Lhasa, and the other an inch next to the Buddha Sakyamuni statue in the city's Jokhang.

The posters read, "The fact that China's policy on Tibet has necessitated the ban on the photographs of our leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, points to the non-existence of any sort of religious freedoms or human rights in our country. We appeal to all the countries, including the United States, to recognise this fact and bring pressure to bear on China, without letting your economic interests obstruct your moral obligations. Our conviction in peaceful non-violent struggle will never waver. May His Holiness the Dalai Lama live for ten thousand years."

When, one morning, some devouts in Barkhor were reading the posters, a group of Public Security Bureau officials arrived, split themselves into two units, and went about pulling the posters down with wet brooms.

According to a telephonic conversation made from Lhasa to Chengdu between the source and one of his friends, the sidewalks of Drepung, Sera and Nechung monasteries were all strewn, as on 25 October, with pamphlets calling for human rights in Tibet and denouncing China's brutal repression of religious freedoms in the country. Some of them simply read, "Tibet is an independent country," "Please help Tibet."

The day after the incident on 26 October, our source continues, a grand insence-burning ceremony was held and many private-owned shops closed in Tibet's capital. It was Sunday. To the baffled enquiries of other Tibetans, the participants explained that they hoped the incense-burning ceremony would bring luck to the proposed discussion of Tibetan issue between the US President Bill Clinton and the Chinese President Jiang Zemin, during the Chinese strongman's state visit to the US. "And the shops' closure is to signify our displeasure with Chinese policy on Tibet," they were reported as saying.

Although no arrests have been reported following the 25 and 26 October incidents, there has been a drastic increase in the number of army personnel and policemen, both in uniform and in civilian disguise, stationed inside Barkhor and other monasteries.