China tight-lipped over Tibet temple fire
A fire broke out at Tibet’s most sacred Buddhist temple last weekend, and the public knows nothing more about it.
The blaze may have severely damaged the 1300-year-old temple and many of its precious architectural features, murals and relics – or perhaps it was small and quickly extinguished, and the temple is more or less fine.
Last Sunday, Tibetan social media users posted photos and videos of the ancient Jokhang Temple complex in the region’s capital, Lhasa, a Unesco world heritage site, with one of its golden roofs engulfed in flames.
Hours later, Chinese state media said the fire had been extinguished and that cultural relics were safe. No deaths have been reported.
But since then, Chinese authorities have restricted discussion of the fire on social media, leaving Tibetologists poring over shreds of dubious information to ascertain its most basic facts – how it started, how long it continued, how much damage it caused – and underscoring the Chinese government’s vice-like grip on information
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in Tibet, a minority region that has chafed against Beijing’s rule.
‘‘There’s been this whole process of drip-feeding critical information to certain people, anonymously, unattributed,’’ said Robbie Barnett, a prominent Tibet expert based in London. ‘‘Key Tibetologists are getting this information; key foreigners in China are getting these accounts. But nobody outside knows where they’re from, and we don’t know which of the photos or stories are genuine.’’
Jokhang, a crucial destination for Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims, is a sprawling compound of predominantly wooden structures built in the 7th century. It lies at the centre of Lhasa’s commercial core, surrounded by mazelike streets. Its main chapel is home to the Jowo, Tibet’s holiest statue, which is believed to have been blessed by the Buddha himself.
Partly because of the temple’s importance and central location, it was the site of anti-Beijing demonstrations in the late 1980s. Security is reportedly tight.
Yesterday, China’s official New China News Agency reported that arson had been ruled out, that the temple’s roof had been removed ‘‘in case of collapse or reburning’’, and that the Jowo statue as well as ‘‘all the registered 6510 cultural relics and the main building’’ were intact.
The fire affected an area of about 45 square metres, the agency said, and ‘‘the temple opened to the public as usual one day after the fire’’.
Tibet ranks among the world’s most repressive places. Since protests racked the region in 2008, Chinese authorities have imposed an intensive surveillance network and lowered their tolerance for dissent. Any criticism of the government, independent news reporting and support for Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama – who has lived in India since Chinese forces occupied the region in 1959 – can incur draconian punishment, including jail terms.
The Chinese government restricts access to Tibet for foreigners, making independent verification of the damage from the fire difficult.
Yet information about the temple – photos, videos and anonymous witness reports – has been trickling out, and Tibetologists say this has cast doubt on the official narrative. They say the compound’s main chapel, the one holding the Jowo, is still closed.
Barnett has meticulously documented the flow of information on his Twitter feed. He tweeted that ‘‘messages by phone from Tibet’’ claimed that police had threatened to punish anyone ‘‘distributing ‘rumours’ ‘‘ about the fire, and that posts from Tibet had abruptly stopped.
Afterwards, Barnett and other Tibetologists received photos – many from unknown sources – that supported the government’s narrative.
One showed the Jowo statue seemingly intact, but it was undated and its yellow curtain was out of place, Barnett said, raising the possibility that it could be concealing damage.
‘‘Whatever we make of the information management that has taken place – and whether we think it’s accurate or not – it’s been very effective in calming people outside Tibet, because they believe what the Tibetan exile government is telling them,’’ Barnett said.
– LA Times