Rights groups claim the victims chant slogans protesting China’s alleged
oppressive rule and call out the exiled Dalai Lama’s name.
“The selfishness and ruthlessness of the Dalai group are carefully
packaged by the West,” the editorial said.
“It is cruel to put political pressure on young Tibetan monks. They are
unable to distinguish good from evil in international politics and cannot
imagine they have been used,” it added.
The previous rounds of self-immolation suicides in China was carried out by
followers of Falun Gong, a cult even acknowledged as such in the West, the
editorial noted.
“Hopefully the Dalai group will not become another cult. As time goes by,
hopefully the believers of Tibetan Buddhism will finally know the Dalai
Lama’s true intentions,” it said.
In its ideological media battle, Beijing also announced Wednesday the launch
of a new English-language bimonthly magazine, “targeting global
researchers on Tibetan culture”.
The publication is to focus on Tibet’s “economy, history, religion,
culture and folklore”, and will be sent to foreign embassies,
universities and research centres.