2008 Tibetan unrest - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The 2008 Tibetan unrest, also known from its Chinese name as the 3•14 Riots, was a series of riots, protests, and demonstrations that started in Tibetan

Tibet Autonomous Region

The Tibet Autonomous Region , Tibet or Xizang for short, also called the Xizang Autonomous Region is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China , created in 1965....

regional capital of Lhasa

Lhasa

Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...

and spread to other Tibetan areas and a number of monasteries including outside the Tibet Autonomous Region. What originally began as an annual observance of Tibetan Uprising Day

Tibetan Uprising Day

Tibetan Uprising Day, observed on March 10, commemorates the 1959 Tibetan uprising against the presence of the People's Republic of China in Tibet...

resulted in street protests by monks, that later descended into rioting, burning, looting, and killing by March 14. The violence was mostly directed at Han

Han Chinese

Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...

and Hui

Hui people

The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...

civilians by Tibetan

Tibetan people

The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...

s participating in the unrest. Police intervened to prevent the conflict from further escalation. At the same time but also in response, protests mostly supporting the Tibetans erupted in cities in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. 18 Chinese embassies and consulates were attacked.

According to the Tibet regional government, the unrest was motivated by separatism

Separatism

Separatism is the advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. While it often refers to full political secession, separatist groups may seek nothing more than greater autonomy...

and orchestrated by the Dalai Lama

14th Dalai Lama

The 14th Dalai Lama is the 14th and current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has consolidated control over the other lineages in recent years...

. The Dalai Lama denied the accusation and said that the situation was caused by wide discontent in Tibet. The Government of the People's Republic of China

Government of the People's Republic of China

All power within the government of the People's Republic of China is divided among three bodies: the People's Republic of China, State Council, and the People's Liberation Army . This article is concerned with the formal structure of the state, its departments and their responsibilities...

and the Dalai Lama held talks on the riots on May 4 and July 1 of the same year.

During the riots, Chinese authorities would not allow foreign and Hong Kong media

Media of Hong Kong

Media in Hong Kong are available to the public in the forms of: television and radio, newspapers, magazines and the Internet. They serve the local community by providing necessary information and entertainment.-Overview:...

to enter the region. Domestic media downplayed the riots. Only James Miles, a correspondent from The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...

, gained approval for a week-long trip which happened to coincide with the increase in tensions. According to Miles, the riot police response was tame, but Tibetan exile groups claim a brutal crackdown. Western media speculated that the violence might affect attendance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

, but by and large it did not.

Background

The political situation in Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

makes the area especially sensitive, but it is also reported by some western media that a number of simmering socio-economic issues may have led to the riots in Lhasa

Lhasa

on March 14. The Economist reporter James Miles, when asked in an interview if the Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...

was responsible for the riots, responded that he "didn't see any evidence of any organized activity" and that "it's more likely that what we saw was yes inspired by a general desire of Tibetans both inside Tibet and among the Dalai Lama's followers, to take advantage of this Olympic year. But also inspired simply by all these festering grievances on the ground in Lhasa," and he noted in another report that "[the] rioting seemed to be primarily an eruption of ethnic hatred." Some Tibetans also complained about social discrimination, unequal pay, and rumors that Tibetan monks had been arrested, and even killed, in the days before the riots.

In recent years many migrants from other parts of the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

have been moving into Lhasa

Lhasa

and now own many of the city's small businesses. According to the Tibetan Independence Movement and some western media, Tibetans in Lhasa are angered by inflation that has caused the prices of food and consumer goods to increase. Residents were worried that a railway built to link Lhasa to China would increase the number of migrants in the city, but they accepted it because the government assured them that cheaper transportation would keep prices lower. However, as in other parts of the country, prices have continued to rise, creating resentment amongst the residents of Lhasa. Tibetan youth complain about not having equal access to jobs and education.

Chinese Communist Party authorities in Tibet have said that the uprising was masterminded by the Dalai Lama, whom the People's Republic of China government accuses of separatism

Tibetan sovereignty debate

The Tibetan sovereignty debate refers to two political debates. The first is whether the various territories within the People's Republic of China that are claimed as political Tibet should separate and become a new sovereign state...

. The uprising coincided with demonstrations to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising

1959 Tibetan uprising

The 1959 Tibetan uprising, or 1959 Tibetan Rebellion began on 10 March 1959, when a revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which had been under the effective control of the Communist Party of China since the Seventeen Point Agreement in 1951...

in other countries.

The Chinese Ministry for Public Security alleged that those who were arrested after the unrest confessed they were found and employed by some unknown persons to undertake the violence, such as arson, destroying shops and attacking non-Tibetan civilians, with a daily payment of several RMB ".

Violence and protests in Lhasa

Violence started in Lhasa

Lhasa

in Tibet on March 14 when police cars, fire engines and other official vehicles were set on fire as anger erupted following the police's dispersal of a peaceful demonstration near Ramoche Temple

Ramoche Temple

Ramoche Temple is a Buddhist monastery is considered the most important temple in Lhasa after the Jokhang Temple. Situated in the northwest of the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, it is east of the Potala and north of the Jokhang, covering a total area of 4,000 square meters .-History:Ramoche is...

in Lhasa. Rioters attacked Han

Han Chinese

and Hui passers-by and burned down Han- or Hui-owned businesses. Police used tear gas and cattle prods to quell the riots. According to Chinese media, 18 civilians were killed by rioters.

A mob tried to storm the city's main mosque and succeeded in setting fire to the front gate. Shops and restaurants in the Muslim quarter were destroyed. A Chinese businessman reported that many Hui Muslim beef shops were burnt, also stationary shops, banks, a wholesale market at Tsomtsikhang (one of the most important Tibetan markets, where many shops are owned by Hans and Hui Muslims).

Gansu riots

The Tibetan riots spread outside of the Tibet Autonomous Region

Tibet Autonomous Region

The Tibet Autonomous Region , Tibet or Xizang for short, also called the Xizang Autonomous Region is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China , created in 1965....

for the first time. Demonstrations by ethnic Tibetans and monks took place in the northwest province of Gansu

Gansu

' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...

on Saturday, March 15, 2008. The riots were centered around Gansu's Labrang Monastery

Labrang Monastery

Labrang Monastery is one of the six great monasteries of the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism...

, which is one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries outside of Tibet. Demonstrators marched through the streets of Xiahe, a predominantly Tibetan county in Gansu which surrounds the Labrang Monastery, a region referred to by Tibetans by its traditional name, Amdo
Amdo
Amdo is one of the three traditional regions of Tibet, the other two being Ü-Tsang and Kham; it is also the birth place of the 14th Dalai Lama. Amdo encompasses a large area from the Machu River to the Drichu river . While culturally and ethnically a Tibetan area, Amdo has been administered by a...

Golog. There were reports of government offices being damaged by the rioters, and police using tear gas and force to break up the demonstrations.
The Tibetan government-in-exile claims that 19 Tibetan rioters were shot dead on March 18. Little is known about Han or Hui deaths.
China's Xinhua News Agency

Xinhua News Agency

The Xinhua News Agency is the official press agency of the government of the People's Republic of China and the biggest center for collecting information and press conferences in the PRC. It is the largest news agency in the PRC, ahead of the China News Service...

reported the cost of damage in Gansu at an estimated ¥

Renminbi

The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC...

230 million (US$32.7 million).

Qinghai protests

Chinese authorities have reportedly arrested twelve Tibetan monks after an incident in the historic region of Rebkong, which is located in the Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture

Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture

Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture of Qinghai province in China. The prefecture has area of 17,921 km² and its capital is Tongren county.- Demographics :...

in Qinghai

Qinghai

Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...

(known to Tibetans as Amdo
Amdo
Amdo is one of the three traditional regions of Tibet, the other two being Ü-Tsang and Kham; it is also the birth place of the 14th Dalai Lama. Amdo encompasses a large area from the Machu River to the Drichu river . While culturally and ethnically a Tibetan area, Amdo has been administered by a...

). Chinese security forces have reportedly surrounded the Ditsa monastery in Bayan County. Qinghai province borders Tibet and has a large Tibetan population (still known as Amdo
Amdo
Amdo is one of the three traditional regions of Tibet, the other two being Ü-Tsang and Kham; it is also the birth place of the 14th Dalai Lama. Amdo encompasses a large area from the Machu River to the Drichu river . While culturally and ethnically a Tibetan area, Amdo has been administered by a...

according to Tibetans).

The Swiss Newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung

Neue Zürcher Zeitung

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung is a major German language Swiss daily newspaper based in Zurich.One of the oldest newspapers still published, it originally appeared as Zürcher Zeitung, edited by Salomon Gessner, from January 12, 1780, and was renamed to Neue Zürcher Zeitung in 1821...

published an account by a foreign journalist who managed to travel in the region of Xining

Xining

Xining is the capital of Qinghai province, People's Republic of China, and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. It has 2,208,708 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,198,304 live in the built up area made of 4 urban districts.-History:...

at the end of March. According to the reports Tibetan teachers were receiving intimidation calls from the Public Security Bureau (PSB), passports belonging to Tibetans were confiscated to prevent traveling abroad and foreign residents were informed about their possible expulsion in case they got involved in Tibetan Independence activism. Students in the region were receiving one-sided "political teaching". Notwithstanding, Tibetan students of the Medical University of Xining

Xining

held demonstrations to express their solidarity with the demonstrators and victims in Lhasa.

Sichuan riot

In an area of Sichuan province incorporating the traditional Tibetan areas Kham and Amdo, Tibetan monks and police clashed on March 16 in Ngawa

Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture

The Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in Sichuan, whose capital is Barkam town . It has an area of 83,201 km²....

county after the monks staged a protest, killing at least one policeman, and setting fire to three or four police vans. The India-based Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy claimed at least seven people were shot dead; however the claim could not be independently confirmed. There are claims that police shot between 13 and 30 protesters after a police station was set on fire, however reports of deaths have been impossible to verify because of restrictions on journalists.

International protests

According to Wen Jiabao

Wen Jiabao

Wen Jiabao is the sixth and current Premier and Party secretary of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as China's head of government and leading its cabinet. In his capacity as Premier, Wen is regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy...

, the Premier of the People's Republic of China

Premier of the People's Republic of China

The Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , sometimes also referred to as the "Prime Minister" informally, is the Leader of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , who is the head of government and holds the highest-ranking of the Civil service of the...

, attacks on between ten and twenty Chinese embassies and consulates occurred around the same time as attacks on non-Tibetan interests in the Tibet Autonomous Region

Tibet Autonomous Region

The Tibet Autonomous Region , Tibet or Xizang for short, also called the Xizang Autonomous Region is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China , created in 1965....

and several other ethnic Tibetan areas.

According to an article by Doug Saunders

Doug Saunders

Doug Saunders is a well-known British-Canadian journalist and author, a columnist and reporter for the Globe and Mail, a Canadian national newspaper based in Toronto, Canada...

published in The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...

, the protests were loosely coordinated by a group of full-time organizers hired by two umbrella groups that were loyal to the Tibetan government in exile. Documents were sent to more than 150 Tibet support groups around the world giving them detailed notes on how to behave when organizing similar disruptions as the torch made its six-month trip around the world. This included advice on maintaining non-violence and following the Dalai Lama's opposition to Tibetan national independence. (Protesters were to advocate a more autonomous Tibet within China). However, many of the protests did not follow this advice.
However, Doug Saunders further published that the torch-relay protests had no relationship with the riots and uprisings inside Tibet.

Casualties and fatalities

China's official Xinhua News Agency

Xinhua News Agency

reported on early Saturday, March 15, that 10 people to date had been burned to death by rioters, including two hotel employees and two shop owners. It also reported that the victims were all innocent civilians and that most of them were business people. It again reported on March 21 that, according to the Tibet regional government, 18 civilians and 1 police officer had been confirmed dead in the unrest by the night of Friday, March 15. In addition, the number of injured civilians rose to 382 from 325, 58 of whom were critically wounded. 241 police officers were injured, 23 of whom were critically wounded.

The Associated Press reported that at a press conference on Monday, March 17, Tibet Autonomous Region

Tibet Autonomous Region

The Tibet Autonomous Region , Tibet or Xizang for short, also called the Xizang Autonomous Region is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China , created in 1965....

governor Champa Phuntsok

Qiangba Puncog

Qiangba Puncog was the Chairman of the government of Tibet Autonomous Region of China from 2003 until January 2010. He is of the Tibetan ethnicity. He was most visible in public during the 2008 Tibetan unrest, receiving diplomats and journalists...

announced that 16 had been confirmed dead over the weekend's violence and dozens injured. Other sources published after the same press conference indicate that China put the death toll in Lhasa at 13. The Associated Press claimed later that the Chinese government's official death toll from the previous week's rioting in Lhasa had risen to 22. Accordingly, the death toll provided by Xinhua had risen to 19.

Tibet's government-in-exile

Central Tibetan Administration

The Central Tibetan Administration , is an organisation based in India with the stated goals of "rehabilitating Tibetan refugees and restoring freedom and happiness in Tibet". It was established by the 14th Dalai Lama in 1959 shortly after his exile from Tibet...

claimed to have confirmed at least 80 deaths.

According to James Miles, The Economists correspondent in Lhasa

Lhasa

, the police fatalities included both Tibetans and the Han ethnic group

Han Chinese

who were the target of much of the violence

Violence

Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...

. Qiangba Puncog

Qiangba Puncog

, the head of Tibet's regional government

Tibet Autonomous Region

The Tibet Autonomous Region , Tibet or Xizang for short, also called the Xizang Autonomous Region is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China , created in 1965....

, said that Chinese police did not fire their guns or use anti-personnel weapons against the Tibetan protesters, even though the Tibetans wounded 61 police officers, including six seriously, and the Tibetan regional government reported that 13 innocent civilians had been killed by mobs.

According to a news source affiliated with a Tibetan exile group, the People's Armed Police

People's Armed Police

The People's Armed Police , officially Chinese People's Armed Police Force is a paramilitary or gendarmerie force primarily responsible for civilian policing and fire rescue duties in the People's Republic of China, as well as provide support to PLA during wartime.In contrast to public security...

had blocked off water, electricity, food and health facilities in Sera

Sera Monastery

Sera Monastery is one of the 'great three' Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet, located north of Lhasa. The other two are Ganden Monastery and Drepung Monastery. The origin of the name 'Sera' is attributed to a fact that the site where the monastery was built was surrounded by wild roses in...

, Drepung and Ganden monasteries and others active in the demonstrations. As a consequence, monks were suffering starvation, and on March 25 one monk reportedly died from starvation at Ramoche Temple

Ramoche Temple

.

On March 28, IHT reported 5 shopgirls, Yang Dongmei, 24; He Xinxin, 20; Chen Jia, 19; Liu Yan, 22; Ciren Zhuoga, 21 had been burned alive when the rioters torched the Yishion clothing store where they worked. The IHT article noted Ciren Zhuoga was Tibetan.

On April 5, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) stated that the Chinese authorities arrested over 2,300 Tibetans from various parts of Tibet. According to the Tibetan Government in Exile, more than 140 people were killed in the crackdown on recent unrest.

On April 18, in an interview to Canadian journalists, it was reported that the Dalai Lama said that since the beginning of the demonstrations in Tibet at least 400 people had been killed and thousands of others arrested.

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reported that a Tibetan woman, 38, who was involved in peaceful protests on 16 and March 17, 2008 in Ngaba County, died after being tortured in a Chinese prison. Following her release, the government hospital, possibly under the influence of local Chinese authorities, had refused to admit her.

Media coverage

Initially, Chinese officials tried to contain information about the unrest and play down protests. According to The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

correspondent Tania Branigan, the government blocked foreign broadcasters and websites and denied journalists access to areas of unrest. Video sharing
Video sharing
Video hosting services refers to websites or software where users can distribute their video clips. Other sites such as file hosting services image hosting services and social network services might support video sharing as an enhancement to their primary mission, but in general, they are not...

websites like YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

, the entire The Guardian website, portions of the Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...

portal, and sections of The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

website had been restricted.

In European and US newspapers and TV, oppression of Tibetans was reported with inaccuracy and little independent cross-checking. The Chinese newspaper, China Daily

China Daily

The China Daily is an English language daily newspaper published in the People's Republic of China.- Overview :China Daily was established in June 1981 and has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in the country...

reported that there had been bias in the western media's coverage
Media bias
Media bias refers to the bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in the selection of events and stories that are reported and how they are covered. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening the standards of journalism, rather than the...

of the rioting in Tibet, including deliberate mispresentation of the situation. The newspaper pointed out Western media sources such as the Washington Post used pictures of baton-wielding Nepalese police in clashes with Tibetan protesters in Kathmandu, claiming that the officers were Chinese. The article stated that Chinese netizen

Netizen

The term Netizen is a portmanteau of the English words internet and citizen. It is defined as an entity or person actively involved in online communities and a user of the internet, especially an avid one. The term can also imply an interest in improving the internet, especially in regard to open...

s across Beijing were angered by what they saw as "biased and sometimes dishonest" reporting by Western media. There was also criticism of CNN's use of a particular cropped picture. John Vause

John Vause

John Vause, an Australian journalist, is an Atlanta based anchor for CNN International. Before that he was a Beijing correspondent responsible for coverage of China and the region. Before CNN, he was the LA bureau chief for the 7 Network Australia...

, who reported this story, responded to the criticism saying "...technically it was impossible to include the crashed car on the left", however CNN later replaced the image with one that was cropped differently. On March 24, 2008, the German TV news channel RTL

RTL Television

Rtl.de' redirects here. For other uses, see RTL.RTL Television , or simply RTL, is a German commercial television station distributed via cable and satellite along with DVB-T , in larger population centres...

disclosed that one photograph depicting rioters had been erroneously captioned. Separately, another German station, n-tv

N-tv

n-tv is a German television news channel owned by the Bertelsmann AG Media's RTL Group and an affiliate network of CNN since the networks creation in 1992....

, admitted that it had mistakenly aired footage from Nepal during a story on Chinese riots. AFP further reported that Chinese students abroad had set up a website, namely Anti-CNN

Anti-cnn

Anti-cnn.com is a website established by Rao Jin, who was a 23-year-old Chinese student at the time, in response to what he identified as "the lies and distortions of facts from the Western media" concerning the 2008 Tibetan unrest and the People's Republic of China's national unity. The anti-cnn...

, to collect evidence of "one-sided and untrue" foreign reporting. Media companies accused of "falsified reporting" include CNN

CNN

Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

, Fox News Channel

Fox News Channel

Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...

, the Times Online, Sky News

Sky News

Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...

, Spiegel Online

Spiegel Online

Spiegel Online , the online version of German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, is one the most visited news websites written in the German language.- Company :...

and the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

. Spiegel Online has rejected the accusations in an article. According to the New York Times, CNN apologized on May 18 over some comments made on April 9.

China's downplaying of the event soon ended. Riots against non-Tibetans began on Friday, March 14. Chinese TV channels aired hours of anti-Chinese riots in Lhasa and the aftermath. Employees at the state television service CCTV's English service

CCTV-9

CCTV-9 is the documentary channel of the television network, CCTV in the People's Republic of China. This channel has a local Mandarin Chinese edition called CCTV-9, and an international English language edition called CCTV-9 Documentary. The English edition is carried by more satellites than the...

were instructed to keep broadcasting footage of burned-out shops and Chinese wounded in attacks. As of March 18, 2008, no footages of demonstrators acting peacefully were shown. China's Communist Party

Communist Party of China

The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...

newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

, the People's Daily

People's Daily

The People's Daily is a daily newspaper in the People's Republic of China. The paper is an organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China , published worldwide with a circulation of 3 to 4 million. In addition to its main Chinese-language edition, it has editions in English,...

, called on the government to "resolutely crush the 'Tibet independence' forces' conspiracy and sabotaging activities". The People's Daily also accused the Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

and the Central Tibetan Administration

Central Tibetan Administration

of orchestrating the protests in its commentary

Editorial

An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...

. Yahoo! China have published "most wanted" poster across its homepage to help China police to catch 24 Tibetans. MSN! China has published the same list as well.

To counteract what the Chinese government called biased Western reporting on the crisis, foreign journalists were allowed to access the region again. Agence France-Presse

Agence France-Presse

Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...

(AFP) and Deutsche Welle

Deutsche Welle

Deutsche Welle or DW, is Germany's international broadcaster. The service is aimed at the overseas market. It broadcasts news and information on shortwave, Internet and satellite radio on 98.7 DZFE in 30 languages . It has a satellite television service , that is available in four languages, and...

(DW) reported that the Chinese government has allowed a small group of foreign journalists on a tour of Tibet. These reporters included those from the American Wall Street Journal, USA Today

USA Today

USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

, Britain's Financial Times

Financial Times

The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....

, Japan's Kyodo News Agency, KBS of South Korea, and Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera. However, on March 27 in Lhasa, a riot by a group of monks from the Jokhang Monastery disrupted a media tour organised by Chinese authorities through Lhasa. The tour was the first opportunity given to selected foreign journalists to enter Tibet after the de facto ban on foreign reporters. The delegation was composed of journalists from the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times

Financial Times

, USA Today

USA Today

, the Arabic news station Al-Jazeera and the Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

. The journalists were selected by the Chinese authorities and were kept under close control while in Lhasa. The authorities blamed the limited number of journalists permitted to attend and the restrictions on their movement on logistical considerations. The Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

ese media, who were also invited on the tour, reported that the monks told them that they had been locked down in the temple even though they had not participated in the riots and implored the foreign media to report the truth. The vice-chairman of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, Padma Choling

Padma Choling

Padma Choling is the eighth and current Chairman of the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region in China. He took this position in 2010 from the vice-chairmanship that he had since 2003, since given to Lobsang Gyaltsen. He also heads the Tibet Autonomous Region People's Congress...

, explained that they were locked down pending police interviews in relation to the riots, and that once interviewed they were released. He also promised that the monks involved in the protest would be "dealt with" according to law. The Tibet

Tibet

an activist group International Campaign for Tibet

International Campaign for Tibet

The International Campaign for Tibet is a private non-profit advocacy group working to promote democratic freedoms for Tibetans, ensure their human rights, and protect the Tibetan culture and environment. Founded in 1988, ICT is the world's largest Tibet-related NGO, with a total membership of...

stated on March 28, 2008 that it feared for the welfare and whereabouts of the monks involved in the protest -- Sera Monastery

Sera Monastery

, Drepung Monastery

Drepung Monastery

Drepung Monastery ,, located at the foot of Mount Gephel, is one of the "great three" Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet...

, Ganden Monastery

Ganden Monastery

Ganden Monastery or Ganden Namgyeling is one of the 'great three' Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet, located at the top of Wangbur Mountain, Tagtse County, 36 kilometers ENE from the Potala Palace in Lhasa, at an altitude of 4,300m...

and Ramoche Temple

Ramoche Temple

. The group did not explain why it identified four monasteries when the protest involved only monks from Jokhang. Choling later told reporters the monks would not be punished.

On March 17, 2008, The Toronto Star reported details from Canadians caught in the violent riots in Tibet. 19-year-old John Kenwood of Victoria, B.C. was witnessing a Chinese motorcyclist being pummelled unconscious by a Tibetan mob hurling chunks of pavement as big as bricks. "He may have died," Kenwood said last night (March 16). "I can't be certain." "He didn't seem to understand what was going on," said Kenwood. "He was wearing a gold helmet and he got off his bike and raised his arms. He didn't know what to do." Also the report cited Canadian eye-witnesses of how the riots turned violent and how some of them escaped with help from taxi drivers and guides. Another report described in detail how Canadian traveller Justin Winfield from Toronto helped to save a Han Chinese from mobs and took him to a local hospital along with two women.

People's Republic of China response

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao

Wen Jiabao

blamed supporters of the Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

for the recent violence in Tibet. "There is ample fact and we also have plenty of evidence proving that this incident was organised, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai clique," said the Premier; however, the young generation of Tibetans are dissatisfied with the Dalai Lama's insistence on peaceful protest, revealing deep divisions within the Tibetan community. The Dalai Lama denied any involvement in the events, On April 1, 2008, the Chinese government escalated its accusation against supporters of the Dalai Lama, accusing them of planning suicide attacks. The prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Samdhong Rinpoche

Samdhong Rinpoche

Samdhong Rinpoche is a Tibetan religious title. Rinpoche means "precious one". The current Samdhong Rinpoche is Lobsang Tenzin, who is considered by Tibetan buddhists to be the reincarnation of the 4th Samdhong Rinpoche....

, denied these allegations, saying "Tibetan exiles are 100 percent committed to nonviolence. There is no question of suicide attacks."

On March 31, 2008, the PRC state-owned news agency Xinhua

Xinhua News Agency

published what it claimed to be an account of the process by which the Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

allegedly masterminded the riots. Key claims include that five groups associated with the Government-in-Exile recruited agents for the "Tibetan People's Great Uprising" in India in February, that 101 agents sent from Dharamsala were instrumental in organising the protests and riots, that the Government-in-Exile directly funded the protests and that the Tibetan Youth Congress

Tibetan Youth Congress

The Tibetan Youth Congress is an international non-governmental organization that advocates the independence of Tibet from China. With around 30,000 members in the Tibetan diaspora, it is the largest of the pro-independence organizations of Tibetan exiles...

intends to conduct an armed guerilla campaign in China.

The West Australian reported that Chinese forces claimed to have found semi-automatic firearms hidden throughout a temple in Ngawa prefecture, in an ethnic Tibetan area of southwestern China which had been the scene of anti-Chinese riots in recent weeks. Police officers told state television, "they were modified semi-automatic weapons."

Riot actions

The People's Republic of China responded by deploying the People's Armed Police

People's Armed Police

. The BBC reported seeing over 400 troop carriers mobilizing into Tibet, which would represent a deployment of up to 4,000 troops. The Chinese authorities ordered all Hong Kong and foreign journalists to leave Lhasa

Lhasa

. According to General Yang Deping, regular military troops from the People's Liberation Army

People's Liberation Army

The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...

were not deployed.

Chinese authorities were also reportedly concerned that the Tibetan protests could "embolden activists in restive Xinjiang

Xinjiang

Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...

province" to organise street protests as well.
The Chinese-backed Panchen Lama

Panchen Lama

The Panchen Lama , or Bainqên Erdê'ni , is the highest ranking Lama after the Dalai Lama in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism...

, Gyaincain Norbu, condemned the unrest, saying, "the rioters' acts not only harmed the interests of the nation and the people, but also violated the aim of Buddhism.... We strongly condemn the crime of a tiny number of people to hurt the lives and properties of the people."

In addition to sealing off monasteries, an eyewitness at Sera Monastery

Sera Monastery

identified as John claimed, "They were grabbing monks, kicking and beating them". In Ngawa

Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture

The Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in Sichuan, whose capital is Barkam town . It has an area of 83,201 km²....

county, Sichuan

Sichuan

' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...

, police fired at the crowd after the rioters had burned down government buildings including the local police station, destroyed public and private vehicles including police cars, stabbed police officers with swords, and finally attempted to take firearms from the police, and after the police fired warning shots to no avail. The government claimed that the police acted in self-defense. According to the Chinese government, four protesters were wounded, and 18 "innocent" civilians, along with a police officer, were killed. In contrast, the Tibetan government in exile claimed there were at least 99 deaths across the region.

PRC and Dalai Lama dialogues

On March 19, 2008 Premier Wen Jiabao

Wen Jiabao

condemned the Dalai Lama's alleged role in the riot, but said the door for dialogue remained open if he renounced Tibetan independence, and if he "recognizes Tibet and Taiwan as inalienable parts of the Chinese territory." The Dalai Lama has repeatedly stated he seeks autonomy, not independence, citing the need for Tibet to develop as a modern nation.

On May 4, 2008, two representatives of the PRC government, Zhu Weiqun and Sitar met with two representatives of the Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

, Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen

Shenzhen

Shenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones...

. The two sides exchanged views and agreed that a further round of talks should be held at an appropriate time.
Plans for the meeting had been announced by the Xinhua News Agency on April 25, 2008 and was confirmed by the Dalai Lama's spokesman.

This was the first high-level dialogue between the Dalai Lama's representatives and the PRC government since the March unrest, and was the continuation of a series of talks between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama's representatives, including his immediate family and close aides.
During the Shenzhen meeting, a second meeting was scheduled for June 11, 2008. However, due to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake

2008 Sichuan earthquake

The 2008 Sichuan earthquake or the Great Sichuan Earthquake was a deadly earthquake that measured at 8.0 Msand 7.9 Mw occurred at 14:28:01 CST...

s, the two sides agreed to postpone the meeting.
The second meeting was held on July 1, 2008.

Aftermath and appraisal

According to the People's Daily

People's Daily

, on March 24 order returned to some affected areas in Sichuan Province as schools, shops and restaurants reopened to the public.

On March 26 a small group of foreign journalists was taken by bus into Tibet, in a move that appeared calculated to bolster government claims that authorities were in control and that the protests which began peacefully were acts of destruction and murder. The heavily armed police presence indicated Lhasa remained under lockdown. Reporters were guided to burned streets in Lhasa hung with a red banner that read, "Construct a Harmonious Society," a catchphrase from the Chinese president's efforts to deal with social unrest created by an increasing gap between an urban middle class and the poor. The Dalai Lama called the trip "a first step," provided that reporters were given complete freedom.

The US State Department issued a warning to US Citizens on March 20, to those who are attending the Beijing Olympics, that "Americans' conversations and telephones could be monitored and their rooms could be searched without their knowledge or consent."

On October 2009, Four Tibetans were executed in connection with their involvement with the unrest.

Amnesty International reported in June 2008 that over 1000 Tibetan protesters detained by Chinese authorities were unaccounted for. According to an October 10, 2009 report by the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China

Congressional-Executive Commission on China

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China is an independent agency of the U.S. government which monitors human rights and rule of law developments in the People's Republic of China. It was created in October 2001 under Title III of H.R. 4444, which authorizes normal trade relations with the...

, at least 670 Tibetans had been jailed in 2009 for activities that included peaceful protest or leaking information to the outside world.

The Open Constitution Initiative, operated by several Weiquan lawyers and intellectuals, issued a paper in May 2009 challenging the official narrative, and suggesting that the protests were a response to economic inequities, Han Chinese migration, and religious sentiments. The OCI recommended that Chinese authorities better respect and protect the rights and interests of the Tibetan people, including religious freedom.

Impact on Olympics

There were rumors that some athletes were considering boycotting the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 Summer Olympics

over the Tibetan violence. The vice-president of the International Olympic Committee

International Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...

discouraged this, as well as the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

and the Olympic Committees of Europe and Australia, who condemned politicizing sport. Even the 14th Dalai Lama

14th Dalai Lama

reiterated that he was against any boycott.

The attendance of government leaders at the 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony

2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony

The 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest. It began at 8:00 pm China Standard Time on August 8, 2008, as 8 is considered to be a lucky number. The number 8 is associated with prosperity and confidence in Chinese culture...

was watched by the media, because some groups called for a boycott of the ceremony on both human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

and Tibetan violence grounds. Nonetheless, by the end of July 2008, the leaders of more than 80 countries had decided to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, more than in any of the preceding Olympics. All but one leader of the countries that did not attend the opening ceremonies emphasized that it was not to boycott the olympics; one German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

chancellor

Angela Merkel

Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...

said that there was "no link to Tibet". Conservative Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk

Donald Tusk

Donald Franciszek Tusk is a Polish politician who has been Prime Minister of Poland since 2007. He was a co-founder and is chairman of the Civic Platform party....

was the one European head of government

Head of government

Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...

to boycott the opening ceremonies because of the violence in Tibet.

External links

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Background

Violence and protests in Lhasa

Gansu riots

Qinghai protests

Sichuan riot

International protests

Casualties and fatalities

Media coverage

People's Republic of China response

Riot actions

PRC and Dalai Lama dialogues

Aftermath and appraisal

Impact on Olympics

See also

Further reading

External links