Examining the California Manhunt Case; Artist Continues to Display Banned Paintings
STOUT (voice-over): Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching NEWS STREAM.</s>STOUT: Now in the past three years, 100 Tibetans in China have set themselves on fire to protest Beijing's rule. That is according to a Tibetan advocacy group which says the grim milestone was reached earlier this month when a former monk set himself on fire in Aba prefecture. Now several other Tibetans have carried out self-immolations in other countries. On Wednesday, a man died after he set himself on fire in the Nepalese capital of Katmandu. Chinese authorities insist the self-immolations are isolated incidents and that most Tibetans do not sympathize with or support such actions. Echoing other leaders, one senior official from Sichuan, a province with a large Tibetan population, had this to say back in December.</s>LI CHANGPING, SR. SICHUAN PROVINCE OFFICIAL (through translator): They plot, incite and instigate. The root cause for such acts is the Dalai Lama clique. Its loyalists have called those who committed self-immolation national heroes or freedom fighters.</s>STOUT: Blame being placed on the Dalai Lama clique. Now meanwhile, a spokesman for the Dalai Lama repeated a call from the Tibetan spiritual leader to end the protests. But it is a sensitive issue and here is what the Dalai Lama said when asked about the events while visiting London last year.</s>DALAI LAMA, EXILED TIBETAN SPIRITUAL LEADER: I think that is quite sensitive political issue. I think my answer should be zero.</s>STOUT: Now the Dalai Lama clarified his position a few months later. In an interview with a Hindu newspaper, he said it is best for him to remain neutral. Now an artist in Beijing has created portraits that put a face to those who have set themselves on fire in protest. He sympathizes with their cause. Steven Jiang takes us inside his studio.</s>STEVEN JIANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Removing the tape the authorities used to seal his paintings, Liu Yi defies latest banned artwork on the ground at the studio to create a powerful montage.</s>LIU YI, CHINESE ARTIST (through translator): If you don't care about them, you should feel ashamed for being numb to their cries for freedom.</s>JIANG (voice-over): The 40 men and women in Liu's stark portraits have one thing in common: they're Tibetans who have set themselves on fire to protest what they call increasing repression by the Chinese government. As seen in horrifying videos like these smuggled out by human rights groups, although the videos cannot be independently verified, state broadcaster CCTV has aired reports showing similar scenes.</s>JIANG: More than 90 percent of China's population has Han Chinese, an ethnic group distinctively different from the Tibetans. Although the Communist government often boasts ethnic harmony, observers say divisions run deep.</s>JIANG (voice-over): Pro-Tibet groups like Free Tibet estimate since 2009 around 100 or more Tibetans have set themselves ablaze. But the topic remains taboo in China, and most Han Chinese seem indifferent to the plight of Tibetans. Liu is among the exceptions. The 50-year-old Han Chinese artist has never met any of his subjects. His portraits are based on their photographs. But he says they're all like family. And despite repeated warnings from officials, he continues to speak out.</s>LIU (through translator): The current government policy on Tibet is hurting the Tibetan people too much, especially on the religious front. I feel their struggle is also our struggle because we all want more freedom.</s>JIANG (voice-over): Prominent Tibetan writer Woeser has known Liu for years. She says many Tibetans feel touched by his portraits and message.</s>WOESER, TIBETAN WRITER (through translator): (Inaudible) should -- he should (inaudible) many times and knows what's going on. That's why he paints with such sympathy and humanity. I hope more Han Chinese will be like him.</s>JIANG (voice-over): But for now, activists like Woeser see darker days ahead under a new leadership in Beijing, the Chinese authorities have made self-immolation a crime, offered rewards for tipsters and arrested and tried Tibetans who officials say are instigators of such horrific acts.</s>WOESER (through translator): (Inaudible). This kind of policy has only created more backlash, pushing more Tibetans to fight for their rights.</s>JIANG (voice-over): As the disturbing trend of Tibetan self- immolation continues, Liu is defying government orders and preparing to create more portraits.</s>LIU (through translator): Those Han Chinese people's understanding of Tibet is still in line with government propaganda. I feel very lonely when I paint these portraits.</s>JIANG (voice-over): But solitude, says the artist, has its benefit. It will allow him to keep drawing from the heart -- Steven Jiang, CNN, Beijing.</s>STOUT: Now police in California say that they are reasonably sure that the charred body found in a burned-out cabin is that of Christopher Dorner. Forensic experts are working to confirm that. And Dorner is suspected of killing four people in a revenge spree over his 2009 dismissal from the L.A. police force. Now Dan Simon reports that Dorner's case is generating support in some quarters and a lot of conspiracy theories.</s>WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Sheriff McMahon (ph) has asked that all the helicopters pull back, relieve the area of the barricaded suspect.</s>DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As police asked news helicopters to back off --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have shots fired, four or five shots fired.</s>SIMON (voice-over): -- and as the cabin went up in flames, social media also lit up with users like this one, crying conspiracy. "So U.S. authorities have apparently burned someone to death in a cabin and let it burn through the basement so no body is left." Another user, referring to reports that Dorner's ID was found, "Come on, people. How in the world is Dorner body burned beyond recognition but they found his license he just so happened to be carrying?" Another pervasive theory: "I think Dorner probably killed someone and left their body in that fire while he escaped." Others blasted the police --</s>LINCOLN: We're going to go -- we're going to go forward with the plan, with the -- with the burn.</s>SIMON (voice-over): -- blaming them for the cabin fire. "LAPD was prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner yesterday. They burned him alive." "Apparently burning people alive is now considered appropriate behavior for the police." From the very beginning, Dorner had found plenty of sympathizers.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want to start off by saying that I perfectly support 100 percent what Chris Dorner is doing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I read this manifesto and I basically -- I believe him.</s>SIMON (voice-over): On Facebook, more than 18,000 likes for a page titled, "We Stand with Christopher Dorner." On Instagram, the rapper Ab- Soul spoke for many when he said this about Dorner's rampage, "This was a necessary evil. God bless you, sir."</s>KAREN NORTH, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: People like antiheroes, and we have a history of rooting for everybody from Bonnie and Clyde and Butch Cassidy.</s>SIMON (voice-over): USC Professor Karen North studies the intersection of psychology and social media.</s>NORTH: One of the things that social media has allowed us to do is to join conversations and not be as accountable for our opinion.</s>SIMON (voice-over): In other words, people may express things online they wouldn't necessarily say to their friends in public. Others just like to be provocative. Still, this user poses a question many today are asking.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is America showing so much support for him?</s>SIMON (voice-over): Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco.</s>STOUT: Still to come here on NEWS STREAM, more of our coverage of the shooting death in the home of South Africa's Olympic star Oscar Pistorius. The details continue to emerge about the death of his girlfriend. We'll keep you on top of all the latest developments. Keep it here.