Police in southwest China have detained a Tibetan writer amid scores of detentions in the region hit by anti Chinese protests, a US-based broadcaster Radio Free Asia said on Sunday. A team of 20 policemen took Gangkye Drubpa Kyab, 33, from his home in Seda county, Sichuan province on Wednesday last week, the broadcaster said, citing acquaintances of the popular author.
Writers, singers and artists promoting Tibetan national identity and culture have frequently been detained by Chinese authorities, especially following protests against Chinese rule in 2008, it said. Drubpa Kyab’s disappearance comes amid a huge clampdown in Tibetan-inhabited areas following several bouts of deadly unrest, and ahead of the March anniversary of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama’s flight into exile.
A government official in Seda said that he was unaware of the arrest. Police in the country did not answer phones on Sunday. According to Human Rights Watch, authorities have also detained large numbers of Tibetans for political re-education after they returned from a visit to India to listen to religious teachings. The New York-based group quoted multiple sources as saying that since February 6, many recently-returned Tibetans had been detained in ad hoc centres in Lhasa and other areas.