Chinese authorities have imposed a security lockdown in Tibet as the Himalayan region this week marks the sensitive 50th anniversary of a failed uprising that sent the Dalai Lama into exile.
China’s leaders are desperate to prevent protests by Tibetan monks and nomads after violent unrest last year embarrassed the leadership in the lead-up to the Olympics in Beijing.
The Dalai Lama has called on his Buddhist followers to remain true to his non-violent cause, while also warning that worsening Chinese repression could provoke further confrontations.
“The situation in Tibet is very tense and discontentment over Chinese rule is simmering,” said Tsering Shakya, a Tibetan exile and historian now working as a researcher with the University of British Columbia in Canada.
ANNIVERSARY
Tomorrow marks half a century since Tibetans rose up against Chinese rule, a brutal period when exiles say more than 80,000 were killed in China’s military response.
Last year’s anniversary saw unrest that not only angered Chinese leaders, but made Tibet a top agenda item for world leaders dealing with Beijing.
Tibetan exiles say more than 200 people died when Chinese security forces clamped down, although China denies this and says “rioters” were responsible for 21 deaths.
The Beijing government has sent in extra forces in a bid to quell support for the Dalai Lama and ensure no repeat of last year’s violence in Tibet and neighboring areas of western China with Tibetan populations.
Those areas cover roughly one quarter of China’s landmass and have just 6 million Tibetans, many of whom remain nomads.
“Tibetans are living under de-facto martial law, all their most basic and cherished freedoms are denied,” said Matt Whitticase of the London-based Free Tibet.
Kate Saunders, a spokeswoman for US-based International Campaign for Tibet, said China’s response to last year’s unrest had been to intensify the hardline policies seen throughout its 58-year rule of Tibet.
MAINTAINING STABILITY
China’s Xinhua news agency published a commentary yesterday that appeared aimed at countering criticism of the security crackdown.
“Is it not crucial for the central government to take action to maintain social stability in Tibet, to protect the innocent from harm?” the commentary said. “Any other government in the world would be on alert, too, had they been in China’s shoes.”
It is extremely difficult to assess the situation on the ground as foreign tourists have been banned from Tibet this month, travel agents and hotels say, although the government denies any such restrictions.
International media are also barred from visiting Tibet independently. Foreign journalists who have sought to report from the other trouble spots of western China recently have faced police harassment.
Residents contacted by reporters in some of the most sensitive towns say they are too fearful of repercussions from local authorities to speak to foreigners.
Nevertheless, reports of protests have filtered out.
One monk in the flashpoint region of Aba, Sichuan Province, set himself alight in a protest over Chinese rule, with state media confirming the incident after activist groups first reported it.
Beijing plans to hold the first annual “Serfs Emancipation Day” on March 28 to celebrate bringing “democratic reform” to Tibet.
“Over the past 50 years ... Tibet has experienced a process from darkness to brightness, from poverty to prosperity,” the government asserted in a document outlining its version of events.
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