Tibetan sets himself on fire in China protest - rights group

DHARAMSALA, India (Reuters) - An ethnic Tibetan has set himself on fire in southwestern China in protest against Chinese rule, an exiled rights group said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of self-immolations over the past year.

Tsering Tsomo, executive director of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Dharamsala, home of Tibet's government-in-exile, said the man set himself on fire in Sichuan province's Aba County, called Ngaba County by Tibetans.

He said the incident happened outside a school early on Wednesday evening, but could not provide further details.

The man appeared to be a monk and set himself on fire while shouting slogans against the Chinese government, monks Kanyag Tsering and Losang Yeshe said in an email, citing an unnamed source.

The two Buddhist monks, members of Dharamsala's Kirti monastery, said the man was taken away by soldiers and police and his whereabouts and condition were unknown.

Reuters was unable to reach the Sichuan government for comment.

If the latest incident is confirmed, 19 Tibetans have set fire to themselves in the past 11 months - most of them Buddhist monks and nuns - and at least 13 of them are believed to have died.

Speaking at a candle-lit vigil in Dharamsala, the prime minister of Tibet's government-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay, denounced what he called the occupation.

"Any human being given a choice would like to live rather than die, but Tibetans inside Tibet are giving up their lives ... for Tibet and Tibetan people because the occupation of Tibet is unacceptable," he said.

"We have reports that hundreds of convoys carrying Chinese military personnel with automatic machineguns are moving towards Tibet," he added, ahead of the Tibetan new year on February 22.

"We fear many Tibetans might face an unfortunate experience."

China has ruled what it calls the Tibet Autonomous Region since 1950, when Communist troops marched in. It rejects criticism that it is eroding Tibetan culture and faith, saying its rule has ended serfdom and brought development to a backward region.

For the Chinese government, the self-immolations are a small but destabilising challenge to its regional policies, which it says have lifted Tibetans out of poverty and servitude.

China has branded the immolators as terrorists and accused Tibetan separatist forces of fomenting hatred among the people.

Security forces have clamped down on the Tibet Autonomous Region and other Tibetan areas of China, setting up road blocks and cutting off some communications, making it impossible for journalists and others to verify conflicting accounts independently.

Tibetan advocacy groups say as many as seven Tibetans were shot dead and dozens wounded during protests in Sichuan in January. China's official Xinhua news agency reported that police fired in self-defence on "mobs" who stormed police stations.

(Reporting by Abhishek Madhukar; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Ben Harding)