Beijing, Jan 12 (DPA) The chairman of China’s Tibet Autonomous Region resigned Tuesday, 22 months after anti-Chinese protests escalated into deadly violence in the regional capital.
The regional government said it had accepted the resignation of Qiangba Puncog, 62, for unspecified reasons.

Qiangba Puncog, a Tibetan, had led the Chinese government’s public-relations efforts after the rioting in Lhasa in March 2008.

Protests in Tibet’s capital escalated into violence that left at least 21 people dead, the government said.

Tibetan exile groups put the toll at more than 200 and claimed that many Tibetans were killed by Chinese paramilitary police.

The government’s handling of the protests drew criticism within China and from foreign politicians and human rights groups, but it was not known whether Qiangba Puncog’s resignation was directly linked to the protests.

Qiangba Puncog had served as chairman of Tibet’s regional government since 2003.

A second Tibetan official, Legqog, also resigned Tuesday from his post as head of the regional People’s Congress, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported. Like many Tibetans, Legqog goes by only one name.

The Tibet Daily newspaper reported last week that Legqog, 65, had already been replaced in another former post as deputy secretary of the Tibet regional branch of China’s ruling Communist Party.

Tibet’s most powerful official is Zhang Qingli, the Han Chinese regional party secretary.

China normally requires local officials to retire once they reach the age of 65.