“China from Tibet”: Why did a Tibetan set himself on fire outside the UN headquarters? All eyes on China’s ‘Ethnic Unity Law’ | Today’s news
Logba Rangzen, a 42-year-old Tibetan man, set himself on fire outside the United Nations headquarters in a desperate plea for his country. He reportedly left behind a Tibetan flag and a simple message written on a piece of paper: “CHINA FROM TIBET.”
Police said Thursday that he died of severe burns near the United Nations headquarters. He breathed his last at Bellevue Hospital in New York.
A spokesman for the New York Police Department was quoted by Reuters as saying that police who responded to an emergency call around 6:30 p.m. ET (2230 GMT) on Thursday found the man badly burned.
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Lobga Rangzen was a 42-year-old Tibetan activist who set himself on fire in front of the United Nations headquarters to protest China’s strict control over Tibet and voiced a plea for Tibetan independence and unity.
The message “China from Tibet” symbolizes the collective demand of Tibetans for independence from the Chinese government, reflecting a deep frustration with cultural repression and restrictions in Tibet.
China’s foreign ministry has reiterated its claim that Tibet is an inalienable part of its territory and called on other countries to stop spreading falsehoods about a new ethnic unity law amid international concern.
China’s “Ethnic Unity Law” is aimed at promoting a shared national identity among ethnic minorities. It is considered controversial because critics say it undermines cultural rights and allows for greater repression of dissent, particularly against Tibetan culture.
The Free Tibet Movement seeks to restore Tibetan self-government and challenges the Chinese government’s control over Tibet, with acts of self-immolation such as Rangzen’s serving as powerful symbols of political dissent in this struggle.
He was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
Police have not named the man or given any possible motive for his actions.
Who was Lobga Rangzen? Why did he ‘immolate himself’?
The Voice of Tibet, a media outlet for Tibetans in exile, said Tibetan activist Lobga Rangzen “set himself on fire outside the United Nations headquarters in New York after making a live call for Tibetan independence and unity.”
According to Tibetan Frontline, Rangzen worked as an Uber driver and lived in the United States for two decades. “Friends said he was deeply angry at China’s tight and cruel control of Tibet,” the report added.
Rangzen reportedly went to the site with a Tibetan flag, local news site amNewYork reported. Rangzen “was enraged by the restrictions the Chinese government imposed on his compatriots,” the website quoted his fellow Uber driver Lobsang Paljor as saying.
Tencho Gyatso, president of the International Campaign for Tibet, described Rangzen as a “tireless advocate for Tibet” and said she was “deeply saddened” by his death.
China’s Ethnic Unity Law
The incident occurred in the same week that China introduced a new law on ethnic unity. The law gives Beijing a legal basis to crack down on people outside its borders.
The law creates a “shared” national identity among the country’s 55 ethnic minority groups, including Tibetans and Uighurs, some of whom resent Chinese rule.
The Chinese government says the law helps minority groups get along and share a national identity. However, human rights experts warn that the law is actually a tool to wipe out Tibetan culture, Tibetan Frontline claimed.
“It forces Tibetan children to learn Mandarin over their mother tongue and gives China the power to punish Tibetan activists even if they live in other countries,” the report added.
Tibetans around the world opposed the law. The United States and the European Union also expressed concern over China’s new ethnic unity law on Thursday.
An EU spokesman said the law could further restrict the cultural, linguistic and religious rights of ethnic minorities. Such rights should be respected in accordance with international human rights standards and China’s obligations under the UN, the spokesman added.
“We are concerned about the extraterritorial application of the law. The EU is against the extraterritorial application of the legislation of third countries in violation of international law,” Reuters quoted a spokesperson as saying.
“We call on any third country to refrain from attempting to carry out transnational repression within the European Union or elsewhere,” the spokeswoman added.
In a separate statement, a US State Department spokesman called the law “problematic” because it forces people outside of China to “actively promote the Chinese Communist Party’s ‘ethnic unity’ agenda or face retaliation from Chinese authorities.”
“The United States will protect our sovereignty and defend individuals from the overreach of foreign governments and regimes that seek to silence, intimidate, harass, harm, or coerce them within our borders,” the official said.
China took control of Tibet in 1950 in what it describes as “peaceful liberation” from feudal serfdom. Beijing has exercised greater institutional control in Tibet since Xi Jinping became the country’s president in 2012.
Ethnic minority issues are highly sensitive in China, with Tibetans and other minorities under close scrutiny for any signs of alleged “separatism”, Reuters reported.
How did China respond?
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kuo Jiakun said about the burning at a daily press conference on Friday that Tibet has been an inalienable part of the country’s territory since ancient times, and Beijing believes that “relevant countries will deal with the matter in accordance with domestic laws.”
Responding to criticism of the new ethnic unity law, China on Friday urged countries to “stop spreading falsehoods” about it.
“We call on the countries concerned to respect the basic facts, stop spreading falsehoods and stop using so-called ethnic issues as a pretext to interfere in China’s internal affairs,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Kuo Jiakun said at a press conference.
But international human rights groups and exiles routinely condemn what they call China’s repressive rule in Tibetan areas. China rejects such assessments.
The International Campaign for Tibet reports that between 2009 and 2022 there have been more than 150 self-immolations of Tibetans. According to her data, there were 10 Tibetan self-immolations while people were in exile.
(With inputs from Reuters)
