Chinese Police Raid Tibetan Monastery

The 500 Tibetan monks at a monastery in China's Qinghai province were outnumbered by heavily armed police during a massive raid Saturday, reports Radio Free Asia. The security forces arrested five monks in the raid. Two Tibetans set themselves on fire in the region earlier this year, and three of the monks were arrested for providing foreign journalists with information about the self-immolation protest, a source tells RFA. Another was arrested for possessing photographs of the Dalai Lama, and the fifth monk was arrested for filming the raid. Before the raid the monastery had been told to expect an "official visit," the source says. "Shortly afterward, the monastery’s electricity and all means of communication were cut off." (More Qinghai stories.)