China-based monk says self-immolations harm Buddhism

BEIJING (Reuters) - A wave of self-immolations by Tibetan Buddhist monks at a monastery in southwest China is a form of extremism that degrades the religion, state media reported a senior monk at a Beijing-backed organisation saying on Monday.

Eight young men in ethnically Tibetan parts of Sichuan province have set themselves on fire since March in opposition to religious controls by Beijing, which labels their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, a violent separatist.