Dharamsala (AsiaNews) - China has imposed an almost total news blackout on the Tibetan Prefecture of Kanlho where seven ethnic Tibetans have died from self-immolation to protest Chinese Communist repression and demand the return of the Dalai Lama, this according to the Dharamasala-based Tibetan Centre for Human rights and Democracy.
Local authorities have cut Internet and mobile communications and banned the sale of SIM cards needed to operate mobile phones in Sangchu County.
A local source also said that Internet cafés and wireless communications have been shut down. Only outside Kanlho is communication possible.
Security forces have also restricted the sale of petrol and other inflammable liquids in the entire region, limiting car travel.
Similar measures have been taken in the counties around the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, and even in some areas in the city.
According to rumours, the crackdown is related to the upcoming 18th Communist Party of China congress in Beijing, which opens on Thursday.
The government is afraid that a new wave of self-immolations might mar the important political event, which will mark the coming to power of a fifth generation of Communist leaders.
So far, 60 self-immolations have been reported in Tibetan areas.