Tibetans and supporters rallied all over the world in recognition of Tibetan Uprising Day March 10, the anniversary of the 1959 revolt in the city of Lhasa, Tibet, when more than 100,000 Tibetans gave their lives in a peaceful, non-violent uprising against China’s invasion of their homeland.
In a speech marking the anniversary, the Dalai Lama called on the world to press China to allow freedom of expression during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. “The language, customs and traditions of Tibet … are gradually fading away,” the 1989 Nobel laureate said from Dharamsala, where he lives.
Political prisoners in Tibet have been locked up for 10 to 20 years just for possessing a picture of the Dalai Lama.
Now the huge influx of Han Chinese and their products, lack of freedoms, poor access to education and ongoing marginalization makes this “isolated” region even more vulnerable to being absorbed by the larger culture.
On March 10, about 300 monks started marching from Drepung Monastery with the intention of going to the Potala Palace in the center of Lhasa to demand the release of monks who were detained last October when the Dalai Lama received a Congressional Gold Medal in Washington. They never made it that far.
An unknown number were arrested and detained by officers of the People’s Armed Police. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman described the march as “an illegal activity that threatened social stability.” Radio Free Asia reported on March 11 that police used tear gas to disperse an estimated 500 to 600 monks from the nearby Sera Monastery who were marching to demand the release of imprisoned fellow monks.
Having traveled to Tibet in June 2007, I got e-mails from friends in China asking me what was going on because all news about Tibet was being withheld.
Finally, on Thursday, March 13, China did admit that there had been serious problems in Tibet. Foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the authorities had “stabilized” the situation; he confirmed that a series of rallies had taken place.
“In the past couple of days, a few monks in Lhasa have made some disturbances in an effort to cause unrest,” news agency AFP quoted him as saying. “Thanks to the efforts of the local government and the democratic administration of the temples, the situation in Lhasa has been stabilized.”
With the summer Olympic Games in Beijing, there is a larger than usual international eye on human rights violations in China. What apparently started as a peaceful protest by monks in Lhasa on March 10 escalated into sheer chaos. These incidents followed several months of rising apprehensions in Tibetan areas of Western China, with Chinese authorities taking a stronger stand against what they consider ethnic “splitism” or resistance to Chinese rule.
This is where the information gets very tricky. According to news outlets worldwide there is one story, but it is in stark contrast to the official version offered by the Chinese. According to the Chinese, the “Western media” is lying in order to make China look bad. So it is up to each of us to make up our own mind as to what the truth is.
I have been reading media accounts from the U.S. as well as Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and even the official Chinese press. It is so difficult to get independent verification of events in Tibet since Chinese authorities maintain stiff control over the region. According to People’s Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China (CPC), “On March 14, violent crimes of beating, looting and burning in Lhasa of Tibet killed 13 innocent people and injured more than 300. More than 30 public buildings including schools and hospitals and 100 civilian homes were set ablaze and over 420 shops and 80 police and civilian vehicles were burned in fire.”
The commentary says, “Such atrocities have caused huge losses to the people’s life and property, and severely disrupted Lhasa’s social order and stability. Evidence shows that the violent incidents were created by the ‘Tibet independence’ forces and masterminded by the Dalai Lama clique with the vicious intention of undermining the upcoming Olympics and splitting Tibet from the motherland.”
First of all, China expelled all foreigners from Tibet immediately, and even shut down access to YouTube. They declared martial law and employed strict curfews in Lhasa. Reports of gunfire have been made by many. There is never much coverage of Tibet in general because foreign journalists are forbidden to travel there. Travel in Tibet normally requires a special permit with many restrictions in addition to a normal visa. CNN said they have reported from Tibet twice in the last decade.
So for the first few days the news was very hard to confirm, and even now we do not know the full extent of what is going on.
What we do know is this is the largest and broadest rebellion to Chinese rule by ethnic Tibetans in decades. It has spread from Lhasa to many areas of Tibet and to several provinces of China with large populations of ethnic Tibetans. There are reports of violence, arrests and even torture.
“I . appeal to the Chinese leadership to stop using force and address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people through dialogue with the Tibetan people,” the Dalai Lama said in a statement to AFP on March 15.
How this will affect the 2008 Beijing Olympics is still unknown. The torch is supposed to travel through Tibet. Should the United States still attend the games? Bush is still planning to attend. Remember, it is the government, not the people of China that is responsible for this policy.
What do you think?

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