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Map showing the location of Chuchen County

Peaceful protests by Tibetans in the Ngaba region in Sichuan province have succeeded in effecting a temporary halt to mining activities near a sacred mountain. Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that the Chinese authorities called a halt to mining operations there during the last week of June.

A Tibetan resident of the area told RFA that the project has been temporarily stopped and it is believed this is due to the strength of local resistance and coverage of the protests by international media, “Appeals by Tibetans in Akhore town to local and central authorities may also have played a role,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Tibetans in the area “know very well that the mining project on the sacred mountain near Akhore is a part of China’s broader mining plans, and that they can resume mining in the area whenever they choose to do so”, he continued.

Tibetans living in Akhore town in Ngaba’s Chuchen County have been protesting against the project since the beginning of March 2013. On May 20 this year Chinese armed police were sent into the area to control protestors who were trying to stop a road construction in the area which they believed to be connected to a mining operation on a nearby sacred mountain.

Chinese police issued warnings and threatened the Tibetan protesters with serious consequences if they continued their protests. Chinese police beat protesters, some of whom were seriously injured, and arrested seven, releasing them after a few weeks.

China’s extraction of minerals and natural resources in Tibet has brought massive environmental degradation in Tibet, including the destruction of grasslands, landslides and pollution of water resources. Many of the Tibetan people who have self-immolated raised their voices against China’s destruction of Tibet’s environment. The numerous anti-mining protests have succeeded in halting some mining activities but it is understood that these halts are only temporary and that operations could resume at any time.