Chinese Military don Monks’ Robes?
Filed Under Tibet, Human Rights, China | Posted on March 22, 2008
Apparently, members of the Communist Chinese People’s Liberation Army enjoy playing dress-up.
Phayul.com reports that the riots that began in Lhasa on March 10 were actually incited by agents of the PLA dressed in monk’s robes.
Britain’s GCHQ, the government communications agency that electronically monitors half the world from space, has confirmed the claim by the Dalai Lama that agents of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the PLA, posing as monks, triggered the riots that have left hundreds of Tibetans dead or injured.
GCHQ analysts believe the decision was deliberately calculated by the Beijing leadership to provide an excuse to stamp out the simmering unrest in the region, which is already attracting unwelcome world attention in the run-up to the Olympic Games this summer.
…
The images they downloaded from the satellites provided confirmation the Chinese used agent provocateurs to start riots, which gave the PLA the excuse to move on Lhasa to kill and wound over the past week.
What the Beijing regime had not expected was how the riots would spread, not only across Tibet, but also to Sichuan, Quighai and Gansu provinces, turning a large area of western China into a battle zone.
If that report is accurate, I’m surprised it’s not getting more attention. If it weren’t directed at China, I’d dismiss it immediately as a wacky conspiracy theory. Since it is China, it somehow seems less incredible than it would otherwise.
Tibet.net reports that Chinese military personnel began donning the robes again on March 19 to provide an image of stability in the Tibetan capital, and for intelligence gathering purposes.
According to a very reliable source (from within the People’s Security Bureau), since 19th March, Chinese military personnel deployed in Lhasa have been dressing up as monks for two main purposes. Firstly, military dressed up as monks are roaming the streets of Lhasa to give of the false image that stability has been restored in Lhasa (even though a Martial Law situation is still prevalent in Lhasa). Secondly, the military dressed as monks are also being used for surveillance purposes to crackdown on the protestors. For example, the military dressed as monks have been interacting with the local Tibetans to collect information, which they have been passing on to their authorities.
4 Responses to “Chinese Military don Monks’ Robes?”
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Please, the alleged photo was taken on the set of a 2001/2002 movie starring Michelle Yeoh. The soldiers would be freezing in their summer uniform.
The growing consensus does seem to be that the Gordon Thomas article on which the Phayul article was based is not credible.
I’ll just note for the record, that:
1. Both of my posts that referenced the story included statements that should have led the reader to infer that I was not accepting the story as factual;
2. I didn’t post “the alleged photo” to which you refer;
3. There are other reports which might lead one to reasonably conclude that the Chinese police and/or military are, in fact, masquerading as monks and Tibetan citizens for various reasons, including intelligence-gathering;
4. The fact that one particular allegation of Chinese abuse may not be factual certainly does not absolve the Chinese government of the many abuses that are well documented.
I do hope that Tibetans and their supporters take care to ensure that their reports are accurate and documented. Honesty, transparency, and forthrightness are characteristics that dramatically distinguish the Tibetan cause from the Chinese government’s policies and actions.
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