Another Tibetan self-immolation in China: exiled govt

A 24-year-old Tibetan has died after setting himself on fire in China's northwest province of Qinghai, the exiled Tibetan government said, taking the death toll from such protests to 62.

A 24-year-old Tibetan has died after setting himself on fire in China's northwest province of Qinghai, the exiled Tibetan government said, taking the death toll from such protests to 62.

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It said Sangdhak Tsering, who had a three-year-old son, killed himself on Saturday shortly after a female taxi driver died in the same area in a similar protest against Chinese rule.

The latest incidents bring the total number of people who have set themselves on fire in Tibetan areas to 14 since November 7 -- the day before a week-long Chinese Communist Party leadership meeting began in Beijing.

"Sangdhak Tsering had repeatedly told his wife that it is not worth living with no freedom in Tibet," the Tibetan exiled government, which is based in the Indian hill town of Dharamshala, said in a statement.

Many Tibetans in China accuse the government of religious repression and eroding their culture, as the country's majority Han ethnic group increasingly moves into historically Tibetan areas.

The exile government says 76 people have set themselves on fire since 2009, of whom 62 have died.