Police in New York City said on Thursday a man died from severe burns near the United Nations headquarters, and activists and a media outlet of exiled Tibetans identified him as a Tibetan who set himself on fire in an appeal for independence.
Law enforcement responded to a 911 call at about 6:30 p.m. and found a 52-year-old man with severe burns throughout his body, the New York Police Department said.
Tibetan who set himself on fire in an appeal for independence
He was taken to Bellevue Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said, adding an investigation was ongoing. Authorities were investigating.
Voice of Tibet, a media outlet of exiled Tibetans, said Tibetan activist Lobga Rangzen "self-immolated outside the UN headquarters in New York after a live appeal for Tibetan independence and unity."
Rangzen was an Uber driver and went to the scene with a Tibetan flag, local news site amNewYork reported. The website quoted fellow Uber driver Lobsang Paljor as saying he knew Rangzen from gatherings in the Tibetan community.
A U.N. spokesperson said the incident happened after all scheduled meetings were finished for the day and no U.N. business was affected.
Ethnic unity law enacted
The United States and the European Union have expressed concern about China's new ethnic unity law, which went into effect this week and gives Beijing the legal basis to take action against people outside its borders.
The law, opens new tab creates a "shared" national identity among the country's 55 ethnic minority groups, including Tibetans and Uyghurs, some of whom chafe under Chinese governance. Tibetans around the world have opposed the law.
Officials were not able to comment on what prompted the man to set himself on fire
Tibetans have also previously committed acts, opens new tab of self-immolation in protest against Beijing's policies in Tibet and nearby regions with large Tibetan populations.
Ethnic minority issues are highly sensitive in China, with Tibetans and other minorities put under heavy surveillance for any sign of alleged "separatism". Beijing has exerted greater institutional control in Tibet since Xi Jinping became the country's president in 2012.
China says Tibet has been part of its territory for more than seven centuries, and its Communist Party has governed the Himalayan region since 1951. But many Tibetans say they were essentially independent for most of their history and have protested what they regard as Beijing’s heavy-handed rule.
There have been more than 150 self-immolations by Tibetans between 2009 and 2022, according to the International Campaign for Tibet.
China does not recognize Tibet’s government-in-exile, the Central Tibetan Administration, and it has not held dialogue with the Dalai Lama’s representatives since 2010.