BEIJING — Security forces in Tibet have arrested 16 Buddhist monks on charges of planning or carrying out separatist bombings that authorities said were inspired by propaganda from the Dalai Lama, Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.
The arrests, which the official agency said took place in May, refocused attention on Tibet after nearly a month during which the devastating earthquake in Sichuan province has dominated news from China and eclipsed a still-intense security crackdown in the restive mountain region.
Since rioting March 14 in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, security forces have arrested scores of Tibetans, many of them monks, and sentenced them to prison for crimes including arson, murder and inciting subversion against the state. In addition, thousands of monks have been forced to undergo what authorities call patriotic education, designed to inspire loyalty to China’s rule and discourage support for the Dalai Lama and his exile group in India.
A group of Hong Kong and other Chinese-language reporters allowed into Tibet this week on a government-supervised trip said they saw armed police posted at major intersections in Lhasa. The police had been withdrawn earlier, they reported, but returned in force because of what authorities in Lhasa said were fears of renewed unrest before the Olympic Torch relay passes through this month.
In addition, authorities said they feared unrest could bubble up again as thousands of Buddhist pilgrims gather in Lhasa beginning this week for the annual Saga Dawa festival, marking the Buddha’s birthday according to the Tibetan calendar.
The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual and temporal leader, has said he feared renewed trouble if talks between China and his government-in-exile broke down.
The next round of exploratory talks had been scheduled for next week in Beijing but have been postponed indefinitely.
The bombings and bombing plots reported Thursday took place during April, hitting an electricity transformer, a police station and a home, Xinhua said. It was not clear whether anyone was injured or killed.
