Numerous outlets are reporting that Kunchok Sonam has become the 121st Tibetan to protest the Chinese occupation of his homeland by self-immolation. The 18-year-old monk was described as having shouted slogans for a free Tibet before setting himself on fire in front of his Thangkor Soktsang monastery, located in the area of Ngaba, where there have been several other such protests this year alone. Kunchok Sonam died from his injuries, and eyewitnesses said his fellow monks successfully fended off Chinese authorities’ efforts to seize the body.
This Radio Free Asia report on Kunchok Sonam’s protest also details the increasingly restrictive Chinese policies in the area that are giving rise to Tibetan grievances.
Image via Dossier Tibet.
