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2008 Tibetan unrest

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Template:2008 Tibetan unrest

Orange refers to Tibet's original land boundaries, subdivided into provinces by China and designated as Tibetan (and other ethnic minorities) autonomous areas.

The March 2008 Tibetan unrest (also referred to as the 2008 uprising in Tibetan media[1] or the 3-14 Riots[2] in Chinese media) was a series of protests and demonstrations against the Chinese government's persecution of Tibetans. The scheduled 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing was a rallying point before 2008,[1] and protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa by monks on 10 March is credited with beginning the movement. Numerous peaceful protests and demonstrations were held to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising Day, when the 14th Dalai Lama escaped from Tibet.[3] The demonstrations in Lhasa by monks, nuns and non-monastic Tibetans[4] were met on 14 March, Buddha Day, and afterwards with electric prods, tear gas canisters, and indiscriminate shootings, according to a report by Human Rights Watch on the excessive use of force by Chinese forces.[5][6][7] The protests and demonstrations spread spontaneously[1] to a number of monasteries and through the Tibetan plateau, including into counties located outside the designated Tibet Autonomous Region. The Chinese police and military units' excessive use force likewise spread, and the arrest of monks at Labrang Monastery caused more clashes. International protests of support were also held in major cities, and at Olympic events.

The International Campaign for Tibet estimates a total of 235 protests occurred from 10 March until the end of October 2009.[8] The Chinese government's Xinhua News Agency estimated that 150 protests occurred between 10 March and 25 March.[9][8] A casualty estimate according to the Chinese government claims 23 people were killed during the riots themselves; the Central Tibetan Administration claims 203 were killed in the aftermath alone[10] while the Dalai Lama stated 400 Tibetans were killed in total. Foreign journalists were expelled or forced to leave during the uprising anniversary. Amnesty International reported 1000 Tibetan protestors remained "unaccounted for" by June 2008,[11] while Thubten Samphel of the Central Tibetan Administration reported 5600 arrests of Tibetans occurred between March 2008 and January 2009, and 1294 injuries occurred in the same period.

Violence began when Chinese police and military units used excessive force on non-violent protests by monks,c[citation needed] and spread when protesting Tibetans later clashed with the security forces. Clashes also occurred between Tibetans and Chinese Han and Hui settlers,[6][12] enticed to move to Tibet by the Chinese government.[citation needed]

Protests supporting Tibetans were held in cities in North America, Europe,[13] Beijing, Australia,[14] India,[15] and Nepal.[16] Many of the international protests also called for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics. On 24 March, the torch lighting ceremony in Greece was disrupted by activists with Reporters Without Borders and others. At Chinese embassies, protests ranged from pelting the embassies with eggs and rocks to protestors entering the premises and raising Tibetan flags[17][18][19][20][21] which was outlawed in 1959 in Tibet by the Chinese government.

Protesters in Tibet that were arrested and detained say they were tortured, and told to admit they were paid to protest by the 14th Dalai Lama. [5] The Chinese government portrayed the unrest as motivated by separatism and orchestrated by the Dalai Lama.[22] The Dalai Lama denied the accusation and said that the situation was caused by "deep seated disillusionment and despair"[1] in Tibet,[23] and invited Beijing to come to India with its evidence.[1] The Government of the People's Republic of China and the Dalai Lama's representatives held talks on China's Tibet policies on 4 May and 1 July of the same year.[24][25]

Background

The protests erupted amidst growing frustrations with China's persecution of Tibetans and of Tibetan Buddhists,[1][26][27][28] which Tibetans assert began after China's illegal military invasion in 1950. Unresolved situations remained regarding Tibet's three highest spiritual leaders - the 14th Dalai Lama and the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa both escaped to India, while the 11th Panchen Lama's location remains unknown since his 1995 kidnapping by the Chinese government. Photographs of the Dalai Lama remain outlawed,[29] as are Tibetan flags. Efforts at brokering agreements on behalf of Tibetans by the Dalai Lama with China had stalled.[30]

The protests and uprisings in Tibet since 1950 include earlier mass protests in Lhasa - the 1959 Tibetan uprising, and the 1987 protests which were likewise led by monks from Sera monastery, Drepung monastery and Ganden monastery, as reported by Tibet Watch.[31] Both earlier mass protests were met with brutality by the Chinese government, and by a declaration of martial law in 1989.

Of the 1989 bloody supression in Lhasa, journalist Jim Yardley wrote,[32] "In the past China has not hesitated to crush major protests in Tibet or to jail disobedient monks. [Former] President Hu Jintao, who [was] also the general secretary of the Communist Party, served as party boss in Tibet during a violent crackdown in 1989. His support for the bloody suppression of unrest that year earned him the good will of Deng Xiaoping, then the paramount leader, and led directly to his elevation to the Politburo Standing Committee and eventually to China’s top leadership posts."

The Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) proposed the "Middle Way" approach to address the government of China's policies in Tibet. Specific agreements offered to China include the Five Point Peace Plan in 1987, Strasbourg proposal in 1988, and the Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy in 2008.[33] China has not agreed to the proposals for an autonomous cultural and Buddhist Tibetan region within the state.

As a policy begun by Chairman Mao in 1950, Beijing promotes settlements of Han Chinese within Tibet, which dilute Tibetan culture and identity, as the Dalai Lama and others have stated.[34][35] The CTA also states, "[u]nder the guise of the economic and social development, Beijing encourages its population to migrate to Tibet with the clear aim to marginalize Tibetans from the economic, educational, political and social life of the region." [36] A railway link opened in 2006 delivers three thousand Han a day to the region. Within Lhasa, Tsering Woeser reports that Tibetans are discriminated against at spiritual sites, and residents were relocated to rural areas, as urban areas were redeveloped for Han residents and businesses.[37][38][36] Nomadic Tibetans are forced to build homes and borrow money for construction costs,[39][29] while their grazing lands are redistributed, as reported by Free Tibet.[40]

Environmental concerns[28] also motivated the protests.[26] Some of Asia's most important rivers flow from the Tibetan plateau, and "are being polluted and diminished by careless industrialisation and unplanned irrigation" as stated by the Dalai Lama.[34]

Tibetan disobedience to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), even non-violent disobedience, is considered by Beijing as a crime of separatism, and a threat to China's national security and expansionism.[27] Kelsang Dolma also states, "when the 2008 Tibet protests erupted, fomented by discontent with decades-long repression, the CCP ruthlessly responded by killing and arbitrarily arresting protesters".

China's policies in Tibet which marginalize Tibetans also created simmering socio-economic issues in Lhasa.[41]Tibetans also complain about social discrimination and unequal pay. The arrests of Tibetan monks, and a report of a killing of a monk, led to the clashes.[42]

Economic issues created by the policy of settling Han Chinese into Lhasa includes marginalizing Tibetan shop owners in favor of Han owners. According to the Tibetan Independence Movement and other sources, Tibetans in Lhasa are also angered by inflation that has caused the prices of food and consumer goods to increase. Prices have also continued to rise in other parts of the country,[43] while Tibetan youth say equal access to jobs and education[44] is another economic issue related to the mass settling of Han Chinese.

Protests in Tibet

Lhasa

Main article: 2008 Lhasa violence
 
Tibet Autonomous Region

Various sources state the demonstrations began on 10 March near midday by a group of 300-400 monks from Drepung monastery marching to Lhasa's center demanding religious freedom and the release of Drepung monks arrested a year earlier. Chinese police blocked their route, and a sitting protest began. The monks were kicked and beaten with batons, and Human Rights Watch (HRW) states 60 monks were arrested.[1][7] Around 5:00 pm, a group of monks from Sera monastery began a protest in front of Jokhang Temple, and reports state nearly all were arrested after electric prods were used.

The next day on 11 March as 300-400 monks from Sera monastery were departing in a line to demand the release of the arrested Sera monks, Chinese police kicked and beat them on their sides, and beat a monk to the ground, all described as "gratuitous violence".[45] Outside the monastery, the monks began a non-violent sitting protest and were surrounded by helmeted riot police and armed military units. A broadcast report by Radio Free Asia said an eyewitness saw tear gas being fired into the crowd.[7][46] The HRW report also states hundreds of monks and nuns from Ganden Monastery and Mani Nunnery respectively also began marching into Lhasa on 11 March before being stopped by police, and returned to their monastic centers which were then cordoned off, according to the participants.

On 14 March, a group of monks preparing to depart from Ramoche Temple in the center of Lhasa to demand the release of monks from Drepung and Sera were barred from leaving by police, and a commotion was reportedly witnessed by neighbors that began congregating outside, before throwing stones at the police and overturning their vehicles.

Crowds swelled as the police withdrew, and the Tibetan's "long simmering resentment", as described by the Dalai Lama,[47] led to ethnic-targeted clashes. Reports state Han Chinese businesses were ransacked and their inventory piled into the streets and burned. Fires were spread to buildings, and Han and Hui Chinese people were beaten, while a fire killed several Han and a Tibetan in the same building.

When Chinese police and military units reentered Lhasa later on the 14th, reports state tear gas canisters were launched and indiscriminate shootings began. Amnesty International reports of evidence machine guns were used.[48] State hospitals were reported by Human Rights Watch as closed to protestors by Chinese authorities, and reports of wounded and killed Tibetans were supressed.[7]

Police cars, fire engines and other official vehicles were reportedly set on fire. Reports also state Tibetans attacked Han and Hui passers-by using stones, and an eyewitness stated from their hotel window, "It seems like it's ethnic – like they want to kill anyone not Tibetan."[49][50] The eyewitness also said a group of 20 men had a couple of guns and were shooting, and they were thought to be the police. Chinese state-controlled media reports non-Tibetan-owned businesses and banks were robbed, houses were attacked and burned down, including governments and schools.[51] Police used tear gas and cattle prods. According to Chinese state media, 18 civilians were killed by rioters.

A crowd tried to storm the Lhasa Great Mosque and succeeded in setting fire to the front gate. Shops and restaurants in the Muslim quarter were destroyed.[52] A Chinese businessman reported that many Hui Muslim beef shops were burnt. Also burnt were stationery shops, banks, and a wholesale market at Tsomtsikhang, one of the most important Tibetan markets, where many shops are owned by Hans and Hui Muslims.[53]

Throughout Lhasa, raids, security sweeps and arrests by Chinese security forces reportedly continued for several days. Tsondru, a monk, is reported to have died after being thrown off a roof while under arrest by Chinese security forces. An early official statement by TAR Chairman Pema Trinley reported, "[o]nly three law-breakers died during the pacification of the Lhasa unrest, No participation from the PLA [People's Liberation Army]" was revised to add that another person "jumped from a building" to avoid arrest.[54]

Amdo/Gansu

 
Gansu Province

The Tibetan protests and demonstrations spread outside of Lhasa, and the boundaries of the Tibet Autonomous Region, but were within the boundaries of Tibet.

On 14 March, 200 Labrang Monastery monks[55] were assaulted by Chinese police when leaving their monastery in Amdo (Gansu), before being surrounded by military units while sitting in non-violent protest outside. Local residents from Xiahe, numbering around 300, were prevented from approaching and roads were blocked by Chinese forces.[56]

The following day on 15 March, 4000 Tibetans gathered near the monastery,[57] and clashes between Tibetans and Chinese forces began.[58] The clashes between Tibetans and Chinese forces centered around the Gelug school's Labrang Monastery, which is one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in Tibet.[58] Demonstrators marched through the streets of Xiahe, a predominantly Tibetan county currently called Gansu, which surrounds the Labrang Monastery in a region known of as Amdo Golog to Tibetans, and to Buddhist scholars and other academics.[59] Lasting for several days, there were reports of government offices being damaged by the protesters, and of police using tear gas and shooting guns to kill the protesters.[58]

The Tibetan government-in-exile states that 19 Tibetans were shot and killed on 18 March. Little is known about Han or Hui deaths.[60]

In Lanzhou, 100 students participated in a sitting protest on 16 March.[61]

In Machu on 16 March, people set a government building on fire, while clashes continued on 18 March.

In Hezou on 19 March, footage emerged showing people tearing apart Chinese flags and raising Tibetan flags in their place.

China's Xinhua News Agency reported the cost of damage in Gansu at an estimated ¥230 million (US$32.7 million).[62]

Amdo/Qinghai

 
Qinghai Province

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 in Qinghai (known to Tibetans as Amdo).[59] Chinese security forces surrounded the Ditsa monastery in Bayan County.[59][dubious – discuss] Qinghai province borders the Tibet Autonomous Region.

In Taktser where the 14th Dalai Lama was born, Chinese forces cordoned off the village as of 19 March.[61]

In Tongren, demonstrations were reported at the Rongwo Monastery between 14 and 16 March.

In the capital city of Xining, reports in Swiss Newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung by a foreign journalist that travelled to the region at the end of March said residents were receiving intimidating calls from the Public Security Bureau (PSB). A call received by a Tibetan professor was reported as, " 'Take good care of yourself,' said the voice on the telephone. It was not well intentioned advice, it was a threat."

Passports belonging to Tibetans were confiscated to prevent returns to India and the delivery of reports on events to Tibetan exiles. Tourists and foreign residents were surveilled and informed about their possible expulsion in case they got involved in Tibetan protests.

During special classes for students in the region, videos of the Lhasa clashes were replayed again and again, but only images of Tibetans demolishing stores and attacking police. The propaganda sessions were reported to not have worked, since Tibetan students at the Medical University of Xining held demonstrations to express their solidarity with the protestors, and a vigil for the victims in Lhasa. A student said, "If the state realizes one thing with these images of propaganda and repression, now there is a bigger unity again among Tibetans. It's the best way to launch a revolt" [63]

Kham & Amdo/Sichuan

Main article: 2008 Sichuan riots
 
Sichuan Province

In an area of Sichuan province incorporating the traditional Tibetan areas Kham and Amdo, Tibetan monks and local residents clashed with police on 16 March in Ngawa county after the monks held a protest. A BBC eyewitness says approximately 17 Tibetans were killed, including a school girl, by 18 March at which date the town was teeming with police and soldiers.[64]

The India-based Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) stated at least seven people were killed with guns.[65] There are other reports that police shot between 13 and 30 protesters after a police station was set on fire, and reports of a killing of at least one policeman, and the setting of fire to three or four police vans. Reports on the exact number of deaths were difficult due to the expelling of journalists[66] while China admitted to shooting, on 20 March, but to only injuring four people.[61]

Also in Ngawa county in Aba Town on Friday 21 March, after days of non-violent protests held by the 3000 monks and 300 nuns, 27 of the nuns at the Kirti monasteries and nunneries were arrested by Chinese police forces at 5am. Photographs of killed protestors near Kirti were circulated.[61]

The Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung stated that phonecalls into the region from Zurich were intercepted, and exiled Tibetans were harassed during the calls. The arrested nuns were not heard from afterwards. During a telephone call, a nun stated she and the other nuns had no regrets, but they understand the road of liberty is long and arduous.[67]

A wave of arrests also occurred in Sertar on 21 March, where police shot and killed a protestor. Chinese army troops also blocked roads in Sertar, a village of 5000 inhabitants, and many Tibetans were arrested. The London-based Free Tibet Campaign reported that troops had been sent to the county after residents blew up a bridge near the village of Gudu.[68][67]

In Kardze, Radio Free Asia reports demonstrations continued on 23 April, and on 11-12 May when 14 of the nuns demanding the release of two arrested in April were beaten and detained. The report states nuns were from nearby nunneries, and armed Chinese forces continued to patrol the area.[69] Other protests were held in Chori.

TCHRD reports that three people were killed by Chinese forces on 15-16 March.

On or before 16 March, 600 monks from Lhasa were flown to Chengdu, by Chinese security forces, as reported by the BBC.[61]

International protests

 
A Free Tibet rally outside the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, California, on March 17, 2008

According to Wen Jiabao, the Premier of the People's Republic of China, 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 and several other ethnic Tibetan areas.[70]

According to an article by Doug Saunders published in The Globe and Mail, 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.[71] However, Doug Saunders further published that the torch-relay protests had no relationship with the riots and uprisings inside Tibet.[72]

International reaction

Main article: International reaction to 2008 Tibetan unrest § International protests

Casualties and fatalities

 

Reports of casualties, deaths and gunfire, on 14 March and afterwards, from independent media sources and from Tibetan sources contradict reports from Chinese government sources.[73]

China's state media Xinhua News Agency reported on early Saturday, 15 March, that 10 people had been burned to death by Tibetans, including two hotel employees and two shop owners.[74] It also reported that the victims were all innocent civilians[75] and that most of them were business people.[76] It again reported on 21 March 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, 14 March. 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.[77]

The Associated Press reported on a press conference from 17 March that China's Tibet Autonomous Region governor Champa Phuntsok announced that 16 had been confirmed dead over the weekend's violence and dozens injured.[78] Other sources published after the same press conference indicate that China put the death toll in Lhasa at 13.[79][80] The Associated Press later reported that the Chinese government's official death toll from the previous week's rioting in Lhasa had risen to 22.[81] Accordingly, the death toll reported by Xinhua had risen to 19.[82]

The Central Tibetan Administration reported by 16 March to have confirmed at least 80 deaths,[83] then increased the death count by Chinese forces to more than 140 people, as reported on 5 April.[84] The Central Tibetan Administration's number of Tibetans killed since increased to 220, including subsequent deaths through to January 2009.

A month after the 10 March uprising anniversary, the Dalai Lama stated that since the beginning of the demonstrations in Tibet at least 400 people had been killed and thousands of others arrested.[85]

Foreign tourists and Chinese eyewitnesses in Lhasa said "they saw and heard repeated gunfire there on Friday", 14 March.[73] Although Phuntsok claimed that Chinese police did not fire their guns or use anti-personnel weapons against the Tibetan protesters, additional reports from BBC, Central Tibetan Administration, Tibetan Review, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International contradict Puncog's claim and state "indiscriminate shootings" by Chinese forces occurred, and that leaked evidence of machine gun use has been documented.[5][86][87][48] Puncog also states Tibetans wounded 61 police officers, including six seriously,[88] and reported that 13 innocent civilians had been killed.[89] According to reporter James Miles, the police fatalities included both Tibetans and the Han Chinese.

A blockade by China of monasteries was reported by an Indian newspaper and Phayul, a news source affiliated with Central Tibetan Administration. The People's Armed Police had blocked off water, electricity, food and health facilities in Sera Monastery, Drepung monastery, Ganden monastery and at other monasteries active in the demonstrations. As a consequence, monks were suffering starvation, and on 25 March one monk died from starvation at Ramoche Temple.[90][91][92]

On 28 March, International Herald Tribune reported 5 shopgirls, Yang Dongmei, 24; He Xinxin, 20; Chen Jia, 19; Liu Yan, 22; Ciren Zhuoga, 21 had been burned alive when Tibetans set fire to the Yishion clothing store where they worked.[93] The IHT article noted Ciren Zhuoga was Tibetan.

In October 2009, four Tibetans were executed in connection with their involvement with the unrest,[94] and as reported by the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy, "The executions were not announced by the Chinese news media, and a woman who answered the phone at the Lhasa Municipal Intermediate People’s Court hung up when asked to confirm the accounts provided by the exile group." Three of the four executed Tibetans were identified as Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak, both men, and a woman Penkyi.

Arrests and Disappearances

 
Tibetan monks arrested in April, 2008

The arrests of monks during non-violent protests began on 10 March, and among those were monks from Drepung Monastery demanding the release of Drepung monks arrested a year earlier. The BBC has sourced[5] information from a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report[7] that includes the statement, "witnesses recounted that monks who initially tried to go through the police lines were thrown to the ground, kicked, and taken away," The later arrest of 15 monks from Sera Monastery was confirmed by state-run China Tibet News, which added 13 of the monks were prosecuted. Their whereabouts were still unknown as of 2010. The HRW report states approximately 60 monks were arrested on 10 March in Lhasa.

The first non-monastic Tibetans were reportedly arrested in Barkhor Square on 11 March.[64]

Accounts from 14-15 March state that Chinese forces in Lhasa began a search and arrest campaign, which continued for days and into the subsequent months in other towns and villages.

In Aba Town, Free Tibet reports on 21 March that dozens of nuns from Mani Nunnery were arrested, while many more Tibetans in the area were reported as missing.[95]

Another report on the Kardze area from Radio Free Asia in May 2008 states at least 200 people were detained after 24 March, while seven nuns were sentenced to prison, two were arrested, and 107 nuns were detained.[69] Three nuns from Dragkar Nunnery detained in Kardze were tortured, as reported by TCHRD, leading to the death and disappearance of one of the nuns.[96]

During a Chinese state sponsored tour for journalists on 7 April, two monks at Labrang Monastery that spoke out to reporters have since disappeared.[97] At Drepung Monastery, 80 monks have disappeared. Numerous monasteries and nunneries were reported as cordoned off by Chinese forces, while reports state these restrictions on movement arrests evolved into full-scale blockades of water, food, medical care and access to communication at several monastic centers.

Amnesty International reported in June 2008 that over 1000 Tibetan protesters detained by Chinese authorities were "unaccounted for",[98] while by September 2008, more than 1000 monks, nuns, students and ordinary citizens have been subject to enforced disappearance.[97][96]

By 5 April, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) stated that the Chinese authorities had arrested over 2300 Tibetans from various parts of Tibet,[99] and reports that "Tibetans are sometimes secretly killed in detention".[100]

Another report from Amnesty International states 5600 Tibetans were arrested through to January 2009.[48]

The TCHRD also reported that a Tibetan woman, 38, who was involved in peaceful protests on 16 and 17 March 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.[101]

According to a 10 October 2009 report by the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China, at least 670 Tibetans had been jailed in 2009 for activities that included peaceful protest or leaking information to the outside world.[94][102]

On 7 November, the state-run Lhasa Evening News reported a retired doctor Yeshe Choedron was sentenced in Lhasa to 15 years imprisonment on espionage charges, for passing information to the Central Tibetan Administration. The sentencing corresponds to the PRC's concealment of hospital records, as HRW reports.

Media coverage

During the protests and demonstrations, Chinese authorities prohibited foreign and Hong Kong media from entering Tibet and expelled those already there.[103][104] Two German reporters, Georg Blume of Die Zeit and Kristin Kupfer of Profil, left Tibet on March 18 due to pressure from the authorities, and James Miles, a correspondent from The Economist said that China, "insisted however that when my permit did expire on the 19th that I had to leave. I asked for an extension and they said decisively no."[105][106] Domestic Chinese media initially downplayed the riots, but this changed relatively quickly as they began to focus on the violence against Han civilians.[107] There was speculation that the violence might affect attendance at the 2008 Olympic Games of Beijing, China[108] particularly amid pressure for leaders to boycott the games,[109] but the calls for boycott went largely unheeded.[110][111]

Correspondent Tania Branigan of The Guardian reported the Chinese government blocked foreign broadcasters and websites, and denied journalists access to protest areas. Video sharing websites like YouTube, the entire The Guardian website, portions of the Yahoo! portal, and sections of The Times website had been restricted.[112]

The Chinese media accused Western media of reporting with inaccuracy and little independent cross-checking. The Chinese newspaper China Daily reported media bias in the western media's coverage of the rioting in Tibet, including deliberate misrepresentation 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 citizens had been angered by what they saw as biased and sometimes dishonest reporting by Western media.[113] There was also criticism of CNN's use of a cropped picture that shows only the military truck but not rioters who were attacking it.[citation needed] John Vause, who reported this story, responded to the criticism saying, "technically it was impossible to include the crashed car on the left".[114] The CNN image was later replaced with one that was cropped differently. On 24 March 2008, the German TV news channel RTL Television disclosed that a photograph depicting rioters had been erroneously captioned. Separately, another German station, n-tv, admitted that it had mistakenly aired footage from Nepal during a story on Chinese riots.[115] The Agence France-Presse reported that Chinese students abroad had set up the website Anti-CNN to collect evidence of "one-sided and untrue" foreign reporting. Media accused of falsified reporting include CNN, Fox News Channel, the Times Online, Sky News, Spiegel Online and the BBC. Spiegel Online has rejected the accusations in an article.[116][117] According to The New York Times, CNN apologized on May 18 over some comments made on April 9.[118]

Riots against non-Tibetans began on Friday, 14 March. Chinese TV channels aired hours of anti-Chinese riots in Lhasa and the aftermath. Employees at the state television service CCTV's English service were instructed to keep broadcasting footage of burned-out shops and Chinese wounded in attacks.[dubious – discuss] As of 18 March 2008, no footage of demonstrators acting peacefully was shown.[119] China's Communist Party newspaper, the People's Daily, called on the government to "resolutely crush the 'Tibet independence' forces' conspiracy and sabotaging activities".[81][120] The People's Daily also accused the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration of orchestrating the protests in its commentary.[81] 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.[121]

After expelling foreign journalists, the Chinese government selected a group of foreign journalists which were given restricted access to the region.[122][123] The Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Deutsche Welle (DW) reported on the decision by the Chinese government which allowed a small group of reporters to tour Tibet, from America's The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, Britain's Financial Times, Japan's Kyodo News Agency, the Korean Broadcasting System of South Korea, and Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera.[124] The Associated Press news agency was also reported as selected to join the tour. The journalists were kept under close control while in Lhasa. The Chinese authorities said the limited number of journalists permitted to attend and the restrictions on their movements were based on logistical considerations.[125]

During the journalist's tour through Lhasa, on 27 March a detained group of monks from Jokhang Monastery disrupted the media tour organised by Chinese authorities.[126] The media reports from Taiwanese journalists also invited on the tour stated that the Jokhang 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. According to China's Central News Agency, the vice-chairman of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, Padma Choling, stated 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.[127][128]

The Tibetan activist group International Campaign for Tibet stated on 28 March 2008, that it feared for the welfare and whereabouts of the monks which spoke out during the tour of journalists, and specifically those monks from Sera Monastery, Drepung Monastery, Ganden Monastery and Ramoche Temple.[129] 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.[130]

Detained monks at Labrang Monastery also reportedly spoke to the journalists on tour, and likewise implored them to report their detainment. Subsequent reports of blockades by Chinese authorities at Sera, Drepung, Ramoche and Labrang monasteries has led to starvation conditions.

On 17 March 2008, the Toronto Star reported the accounts of various Canadian witnesses who were caught up in the violence.[131][132] One Canadian witnessed a possibly fatal attack by a mob on a motorcyclist, others recounted how the violence of the riots forced them to escape with help from taxi drivers and guides, and another described how they intervened to save a Han Chinese man from a violent mob.

People's Republic of China response

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao blamed supporters of the 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.[133] However, the young generation of Tibetans are dissatisfied with the Dalai Lama's insistence on peaceful protest, revealing deep divisions within the Tibetan community.[134] The Dalai Lama denied any involvement in the events,[135]

The Economist reporter James Miles, when asked in an interview if the Dalai Lama 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",[136] and he noted in another report that "[the] rioting seemed to be primarily an eruption of ethnic hatred".[43]

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, denied these allegations, saying "Tibetan exiles are 100 percent committed to nonviolence. There is no question of suicide attacks."[137]

On March 31, 2008, the PRC state-owned news agency Xinhua published what it claimed to be an account of the process by which the 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 intends to conduct an armed guerilla campaign in China.[138]

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.[139][140] Police officers told state television, "they were modified semi-automatic weapons."[139]

Riot actions

China responded by deploying the People's Armed Police. The BBC reported seeing over 400 troop carriers mobilizing into Tibet,[141] which would represent a deployment of up to 4,000 troops. The Chinese authorities ordered all Hong Kong and foreign journalists to leave Lhasa.[142] According to General Yang Deping, regular military troops from the People's Liberation Army were not deployed.[143]

Chinese authorities were also reportedly concerned that the Tibetan protests could "embolden activists in restive Xinjiang province" to organise street protests as well.[59] The Chinese government's People's Daily reported a statement by Gyaincain Norbu, which condemned the unrest, "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."[144]

In addition to sealing off monasteries, an eyewitness at Sera Monastery identified as John claimed, "They were grabbing monks, kicking and beating them".[145] In Ngawa county, Sichuan, 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.[146] 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.[147]

PRC and Dalai Lama dialogues

On March 19, 2008, Premier 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,[148] and if he "recognizes Tibet and Taiwan as inalienable parts of the Chinese territory".[149] 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, Lodi Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. The two sides exchanged views and agreed that a further round of talks should be held at an appropriate time.[150]

Plans for the meeting had been announced by the Xinhua News Agency on April 25, 2008,[151] and was confirmed by the Dalai Lama's spokesman.[152]

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.[153][154]

During the Shenzhen meeting, a second meeting was scheduled for June 11, 2008. However, due to the 2008 Sichuan earthquakes, the two sides agreed to postpone the meeting.[155] The second meeting was held on July 1, 2008.[25]

Aftermath and appraisal

According to the People's Daily, on March 24 order returned to some affected areas in Sichuan Province as schools, shops and restaurants reopened to the public.[156]

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 Socialist 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.[124] 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".[157][158]

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.[159]

Impact on Olympics

 
Sign from 2008 Olympic protests
 
Protest in San Francisco

There were rumors that some athletes were considering boycotting the 2008 Summer Olympics over the Tibetan violence. The vice-president of the International Olympic Committee discouraged this,[160] as well as the European Union and the Olympic Committees of Europe and Australia, who condemned politicizing sport.[161] Even the 14th Dalai Lama reiterated that he was against any boycott.[162]

The attendance of government leaders at the 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony was watched by the media, because some groups called for a boycott of the ceremony on both human rights 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.[111] All but one leader of the countries that did not attend the opening ceremonies emphasized that it was not to boycott the Olympics;[163][164][165][166] one German chancellor said that there was "no link to Tibet".[167] Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk was the one European head of government to boycott the opening ceremonies because of the violence in Tibet.[168]

See also

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