Self-immolation in China

As of 5 June 2017 there have been 148 confirmed and two disputedself-immolations reported in Tibet since 27 February 2009, when Tapey, a young monk from Kirti Monastery, set himself on fire in the marketplace in Ngawa City, Ngawa County, Sichuan. In 2011 a wave of self-immolations by Tibetans in Chinese-occupied Tibet, as well as in India and Nepal, occurred after the self-immolation of Phuntsog of 16 March 2011 in Ngawa County, Sichuan. Protests are ongoing.

Most of the protesters have been monks and nuns, or ex-monks Some of the protesters who set themselves on fire were teenagers.

Most such incidents have taken place in China's Sichuan province, especially around the Kirti Monastery in Ngawa City, Ngawa County, Sichuan, others in Gansu and Qinghai and Tibet Autonomous Region. Self-immolation protests by Tibetans also occurred in India and Kathmandu, Nepal.

According to Reuters the Dalai Lama said in March 2012 he does not encourage the protests, but he has praised the courage of those who had engaged in self-immolation and blamed the self-immolations on "cultural genocide" by the Chinese. Four months later the Dalai Lama made clear that he wishes to remain neutral regarding this topic and he explained why to The Hindu:

This is a very, very delicate political issue. Now, the reality is that if I say something positive, then the Chinese immediately blame me. If I say something negative, then the family members of those people feel very sad. They sacrificed their own life. It is not easy. So I do not want to create some kind of impression that this is wrong. So the best thing is to remain neutral.

When asked by an Australian journalist – in the context of self-immolations to oppose Chinese rule and policies – if Tibetans are "losing patience with non-violence", the Dalai Lama replied:

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Wikipedia