China crackdown reported in Tibet

Tsering, a senior monk at the Kirti Jepa monastery in Dharamsala, said his religious order relied primarily on telephone calls or hand-delivered messages to communicate with two affiliated monasteries in the eastern part of China's ethnically Tibetan region, referred to as Amdo by exiles. That became necessary after Chinese authorities seized the monks' laptops in March. "I don't know about a new crackdown, but we heard the number of military has increased not only in Amdo but Lhasa [as a] show to the Tibetan people," said Tsering, speaking through an interpreter.

The affiliated monasteries in China, the Aba Kirti monastery with about 2,700 monks and the Taktsang with about 700, have come under increased pressure since riots broke out in March, said Tsering, who goes by one name.

Dharamsala is a focal point for most of the estimated 500,000 exiles spread around the world. But the contrast is stark between this politically astute, cosmopolitan, often well-educated group and the largely rural, often illiterate Tibetans in the homeland.

The government in exile contends that its views are in line with those of many Tibetans. It says a secret survey conducted in China shows nearly 50% of Tibetans supported the Dalai Lama's policies.

But some are skeptical.

"Many say 'the Tibetan youth wants this or that,' " said Andrew Fischer, a lecturer with the Institute of Social Studies in the Netherlands. "Give me a break. Who knows what the Tibetan youth wants when 95% of them are in Tibet?"

Tsering fled across the Himalayas at 19 because he faced arrest for posting "Free Tibet" posters and organizing fellow monks to resist Chinese indoctrination. A decade later, he is responsible for communicating with the two monasteries in the ethnically Tibetan region and acting as a liaison with the outside world.

He said several of the estimated 1,000 monks who participated in the March protests had received jail terms of four to nine years, with more sentences expected.

After the protests, China stepped up its "patriotic education" program at the monasteries. On May 23, a Communist Party work team asked monks at the Aba Kirti monastery to admit mistakes, renounce the Dalai Lama as a "splittist," state that Tibet is an inalienable part of China and acknowledge China's kindness, Tsering said.

He said China had in many ways won the decades-long standoff over Tibet and it was time for a new approach.

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mark.magnier@latimes.com