2 set themselves on fire in Lhasa

BEIJING — Two men engulfed themselves in towering flames outside a temple that is a popular tourist site in Lhasa, marking the first time a recent wave of people setting themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule has reached the tightly guarded Tibetan capital, a U.S. broadcaster reported Monday.

Radio Free Asia said in a statement that the men were taken away by authorities within minutes of setting themselves on fire Sunday outside the Jokhang Temple.

There have been at least 34 instances of people setting themselves on fire since March of last year to draw attention to China’s restrictions on Buddhism and to call for the return from exile of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Most have taken place in heavily Tibetan areas of China, but only one had occurred in Tibet itself and none in the capital.

Radio Free Asia said the men in Sunday’s protest were believed to be monks but their identities and personal details were not immediately available.

The broadcaster cited a Tibetan living in exile as saying he had heard from others inside Tibet that huge flames had engulfed the two men and that they were believed to be seriously hurt or dead.

A woman with the Lhasa city police denied any immolation attempts had occurred. Like many Chinese bureaucrats, she refused to give her name.

Fu Jun, an official with the propaganda department of the Tibetan regional Communist Party office, said he was unaware of any immolation attempts.

Radio Free Asia said Lhasa was under heavy police and paramilitary guard and that the situation was very tense.