A Tibetan nun died Thursday after setting herself on fire in southwest China. The state-run Xinhua news agency identified the woman as 35-year-old Qiu Xiang. The incident occurred in the Ganzi region of Sichuan Province. It is unclear why the woman set herself on fire. Xiang’s remains were taken to the Ganden Choeling nunnery in Tawu.
Xiang is the second Tibetan nun to die by self-immolation in less than a month. In early October, 20-year-old Tenzin Wangmo died after setting herself on fire to protest China’s rule of Tibet. She also called for the return of the Dali Lama. Wangmo died outside the Dechen Chokorling Nunnery in Ngaba County, Sichuan Province.
After Wangmo’s death, Free Tibet director Stephanie Brigden said the increase in self-immolation cases show unrest in Tibet is “escalating and widening.” "The acts of self-immolation are not taking place in isolation, protests have been reported in the surrounding region and calls for wider protests are growing," she said.
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