Following up on my post earlier this week about the killing of Tibetan refugees by Chinese troops, The Independent reports that Chinese diplomats are trying to keep witnesses quiet:
Chinese diplomats in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu are tracking down and trying to silence hundreds of Western climbers and Sherpas who witnessed the killing of Tibetan refugees on the Nangpa La mountain pass last week.
This ominous development comes as fears grow for the safety of a group of Tibetan children, aged between six and 10, who were marched away after at least two refugees including a nun, were shot dead.
Seems a bit questionable that they're tracking down "hundreds" but even if they're trying to silence one it's outrageous. This story should be getting much more media attention than it is, but I suppose it's hard enough to
follow
one crazy crackpot regime like North Korea let alone
China's endless human rights and environmental violations. But we
aren't the MSM, so there's no reason other outdoor bloggers shouldn't
cover this.
Well except for the tiny fact that most of our gear comes from China. But lets overlook that for the moment shall we? The Adventure Blog,
GoBlog,
MountEverest.net, and
The Piton have covered it already. How about a few others?
Support the climbers out there with the courage to bear witness.(Image of some of the children and border guards, from Slovenian climber Pavle Kozjek)
Update:
The AFP
has picked the story up and is reporting that the Chinese claim their
soldiers acted in self defense. Right. The nuns and kids tried to kill
them in a barrage of snowballs.
China
admitted that its soldiers killed a person who was trying to flee
Tibet, but the official account contradicted eyewitness reports that
the troops had shot at unarmed refugees.
The state-run Xinhua
news agency released a short report of the September 30 incident that
occurred near Mt Everest, saying soldiers had found nearly 70 people
trying to illegally cross the Tibetan border into Nepal.
The
soldiers tried to persuade the group to go back home, according to
Xinhua, which was citing an unnamed Tibetan government official.
"But the stowaways refused and attacked the soldiers," Xinhua said.
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