By Ryan Schwach
A Queens man set himself on fire last week in protest of the Chinese government’s control over his native Tibet. He later died of his injuries.
Lobga Rangzen, a 52-year-old Uber driver, self-immolated in Manhattan near the United Nations’ headquarters on Thursday, a day after China implemented a new law aimed at forcing minority groups, including Tibetans, to assimilate into Chinese culture.
Rangzen lived in Queens, which is home to the largest concentration of Tibetan refugees in the United States.
Rangzen posted his actions on Facebook in a video that was later deleted. On Thursday, he walked across the street from the United Nations building in Manhattan dressed in monastic clothing and holding a Tibetan flag. He then set himself on fire.
Before his final act, he recorded a video message arguing for Tibet’s independence.
“Today, if I engage in an alarming activism, it is not because I do not have food, or clothes or out of sadness. I do it for the Tibetan nation,” he said. “And since I am doing it for the cause of the Tibetan nation, whatever action is necessary to be done for the cause of Tibet, must all be continued.”