BEIJING – China has accused Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama of inciting a wave of self-immolations among Tibetans as desperate protests against Chinese rule.
A government report issued Wednesday says police investigations show such incidents are being “manipulated and instigated” at the highest level by the 79-year-old leader and his supporters.
The International Campaign for Tibet says 113 men and 24 women have self-immolated since March 2011, the latest last week in a Tibetan part of Sichuan province.
The report says a strategy to encourage Tibetans to burn themselves to death emerged after the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile recommitted itself to non-violence in 2011.
The Dalai Lama has called the deaths sad and ineffective at changing Chinese policy, but urged Beijing to look more closely at the reasons behind them.
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