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{{Multiple issues|{{cleanup|date=November 2020|reason=the article uses grammar and terms that do not follow Wikipedia's tone and style; some lines mention sources but lack appropriate citations.}}
{{POV|date=March 2018}}
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{{Short description|Ethnic violence in Tibet}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}
{{2008 Tibetan unrest}}
[[File:2008 China's Tyranny Violence Against Tibetan People and Monks after March Uprising 中國在三月起義抗暴後以極權武力控制西藏-圖博人民與僧侶.jpg|thumb|right|251x251px|Arrested Tibetans and Buddhist monks]]
The
Protests in [[Lhasa]] by monks on 10 March have been viewed as the start of the demonstrations. 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.<ref>''Tibet protests'', (14 March 2008), https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2008/mar/14/1 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321083553/http://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2008/mar/14/1 |date=March 21, 2016 }}</ref> The protests and demonstrations spread spontaneously to a number of monasteries and throughout the Tibetan plateau, including into counties located outside the designated [[Tibet Autonomous Region]].<ref name="TR" /> The arrest of monks at [[Labrang Monastery]] increased the tenseness of the . Violence began when [[Ministry of Public Security (China)|Chinese police]] and [[People's Liberation Army]] units used force on non-violent protests by monks, and spread when protesting Tibetans later clashed with security forces. Clashes also occurred between Tibetans and Chinese [[Han Chinese|Han]] and [[Hui people|Hui]] settlers, resulting in Han and Hui stores and buildings being destroyed and numerous Chinese civilians being injured or killed.<ref name="nyt23">{{cite news|date=March 16, 2008|title=Tibetan riots spread outside region|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/world/asia/16iht-tibet.1.11134870.html|url-status=live|accessdate=January 7, 2011 <!--DASHBot-->|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225070813/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/world/asia/16iht-tibet.1.11134870.html|archive-date=February 25, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2008-04-11|title=Transcript: James Miles interview on Tibet – CNN.com|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/20/tibet.miles.interview/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411130317/http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/20/tibet.miles.interview/|archive-date=2008-04-11|access-date=2018-03-26}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
The use of force by Chinese police and military forces during the demonstrations have been controversial, with some deeming it [[Police brutality|excessive force]]. The demonstrations in Lhasa were met with [[Cattle prod|electric prods]], [[tear gas]], and shootings,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Yardley|first=Jim|date=2008-03-15|title=Violence in Tibet as Monks Clash With the Police|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/world/asia/15tibet.html|url-status=live|access-date=2018-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326202951/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/world/asia/15tibet.html|archive-date=March 26, 2018|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> according to a report by [[Human Rights Watch]] on the use of force by Chinese forces.<ref name="BBC2">BBC News, ''China accused of excessive force over Tibet unrest'', (22 July 2010), https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-10723140 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221012440/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-10723140|date=December 21, 2019}}</ref><ref name="nyt232">{{cite news|date=March 16, 2008|title=Tibetan riots spread outside region|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/world/asia/16iht-tibet.1.11134870.html|url-status=live|accessdate=January 7, 2011 <!--DASHBot-->|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225070813/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/world/asia/16iht-tibet.1.11134870.html|archive-date=February 25, 2020}}</ref><ref name="HRW22">''I saw it with my own eyes: Abuses by Chinese security forces in Tibet, 2008-2010'', (21 July 2010), Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/report/2010/07/21/i-saw-it-my-own-eyes/abuses-chinese-security-forces-tibet-2008-2010 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914080327/https://www.hrw.org/report/2010/07/21/i-saw-it-my-own-eyes/abuses-chinese-security-forces-tibet-2008-2010|date=September 14, 2020}}</ref> The [[International Campaign for Tibet]] estimates a total of 235 protests occurred from 10 March until the end of October 2009.<ref name="ICT" /> The Chinese government's [[Xinhua News Agency]] estimated that 150 protests occurred between 10 March and 25 March.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2008-04-01/233615271300.shtml|title=达赖和"西藏人民大起义运动"脱不了干系_新闻中心_新浪网|website=news.sina.com.cn|access-date=2018-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326202923/http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2008-04-01/233615271300.shtml|archive-date=March 26, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ICT">International Campaign for Tibet, ''2008-2009 Protest Logs'', https://savetibet.org/archived-research/2008-2009-protest-logs/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200912161628/https://savetibet.org/archived-research/2008-2009-protest-logs/ |date=September 12, 2020 }}</ref> 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,<ref name="HRW3233">{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/07/06/china-s-forbidden-zones-0|title=China's Forbidden Zones|date=July 7, 2008|pages=32–33|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302151055/http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/07/06/china-s-forbidden-zones-0|archivedate=March 2, 2010 |url-status=live|accessdate=March 11, 2010}}</ref> 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 1,000 Tibetan protestors remained "unaccounted for" by June 2008,<ref>''Tibetan protestors missing, Amnesty says'', (19 June 2008), CNN,
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/06/19/oly.tibet.torch/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224184740/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/06/19/oly.tibet.torch/ |date=February 24, 2020 }}</ref> while the Central Tibetan Administration reported 5,600 arrests of Tibetans between March 2008 and January 2009, with 1,294 injuries within the same period.
Protests supporting Tibetans were held in cities in [[North America]]
Protesters in Tibet that were arrested and detained
== Background ==
[[File:TAR-TAP-TAC.png|thumb|right|250px|Orange refers to Tibet's original land boundaries, subdivided into provinces by China and designated as [[Tibetan people|Tibetan]] (and other ethnic minorities) [[Autonomous areas of China|autonomous areas]]]]
The protests erupted amid growing frustrations amongst TIbetans concerning [[Antireligious campaigns in China|China's anti-religious campaigns against Tibetan Buddhists]],<ref name="TR" /><ref name="CTA" /><ref name="Dolma">Kelsang Dolma, ''Tibet Was China’s First Laboratory of Repression, Xi Jinping is bringing methods honed in Xinjiang back to the Himalayas'', (31 August 2020)
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/31/tibet-china-repression-xinjiang-sinicization/</ref><ref name="Mass">University of Massachusetts, Paper on Tibet, http://www.umass.edu/rso/fretibet/education.html</ref> which Tibetans assert began after the [[Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China|military annexation in 1950]]. Unresolved situations remained regarding Tibet's three highest spiritual leaders—the [[14th Dalai Lama]] and the [[Orgyen Trinley Dorje|17th Gyalwang Karmapa]] had been in exile in India since 1959, while the [[11th Panchen Lama]]'s location remains unknown since his kidnapping in 1995 by the Chinese government. Photographs of the Dalai Lama remain outlawed, as are Tibetan flags.<ref name="NYT" /> Efforts at brokering agreements on behalf of Tibetans by the Dalai Lama with China had stalled.<ref>Jonathan Watts, ''Protests in Tibet erupt into violence'', (14 March 2008), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/14/tibet.china1</ref>
The [[protests and uprisings in Tibet since 1950]] include earlier mass protests in
Of the 1989 suppression in Lhasa, journalist [[Jim Yardley]] wrote:<blockquote>"In the past China has not hesitated to crush major protests in Tibet or to jail disobedient monks. President [[Hu Jintao]], who is 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 of the Chinese Communist Party|Politburo Standing Committee]] and eventually to China’s top leadership posts."<ref>Jim Yardley,
''Violence in Tibet as Monks Clash With the Police'', (15 March 2008), https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/world/asia/15tibet.html</ref></blockquote>The
As a policy begun by [[Mao Zedong]] in 1950, China promotes settlements of Han Chinese within Tibet, which, according to the Dalai Lama and others, dilutes Tibetan culture and identity.<ref name="Settlers">Julian Borger, ''Tibet could be 'swamped' by mass Chinese settlement after Olympics, says Dalai Lama'', (24 May 2008), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/may/24/tibet.china</ref><ref>International Commission of Jurists, 1997, https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/1997/01/Tibet-human-rights-and-the-rule-of-law-thematic-report-1997-eng.pdf</ref> The Central Tibetan Administration also states:<blockquote>"Under 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."<ref name="Asia" /></blockquote>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.<ref>Ségolène Malterre, ''"Lhasa's Tibetans will soon be nothing but decorations for tourists" '', (21 May 2013),
https://observers.france24.com/en/20130521-lhasa-tibetans-nothing-decorations-tourists</ref><ref>''Destruction of Lhasa revealed in new images'', (20 May 2013), International Campaign for Tibet, https://savetibet.org/destruction-of-lhasa-revealed-in-new-images/</ref><ref name="Asia">''Beijing sends new flood of Han migrants to Lhasa: Tibetans risk disappearing'', (27 January 2015), http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Beijing-sends-a-new-flood-of-Han-migrants-to-Lhasa:-Tibetans-risk-disappearing-33294.html</ref> Nomadic Tibetans are forced to build homes and borrow money for construction costs,<ref>''Is development killing Tibet's way of life?'', (15 July 2010), https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-10638506</ref><ref name="NYT">Edward Wong, ''China's migrants and money pour into Tibet'', (25 July 2010), https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/world/asia/25tibet.html</ref> while their grazing lands are redistributed, as reported by Free Tibet.<ref>''Two Tibetan nomads arrested following their resistance to land ownership confiscations'', (04 September 2020), https://www.freetibet.org/news-media/na/two-tibetan-nomads-arrested-following-their-resistance-land-ownership-confiscations</ref>
Environmental concerns<ref name="Mass" /> also motivated the protests.<ref name="CTA">''Tibetan protests 2008''Central Tibetan Administration, https://tibet.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/tibetprotest2008.pdf</ref> Some of Asia's most important rivers{{Which|date=November 2020}} flow from the Tibetan plateau, and "are being polluted and are, according to the Dalai Lama, "diminished by careless industrialisation and unplanned irrigation".<ref name="Settlers" />
Tibetan disobedience to the [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP), both violent and non-violent, is considered by the Chinese government as a crime of separatism and a threat to China's national security and expansionism. Kelsang Dolma wrote, "when the 2008 Tibet protests erupted, fomented by discontent with decades-long repression, the CCP ruthlessly responded by killing and arbitrarily arresting protesters".<ref name="Dolma" />
China's policies in Tibet also created simmering socio-economic issues in [[Lhasa]].<ref>Hillman, Ben. [http://japanfocus.org/-Ben-Hillman/2773 ''Rethinking China's Tibet Policy''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130413193128/http://japanfocus.org/-Ben-Hillman/2773 |date=April 13, 2013 }} in The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, August 2008</ref> Tibetans have complained about social discrimination and unequal pay. The arrests of [[Tibetan monk]]s, and reports of a monk being killed, are believed to have also led to the clashes.<ref>{{cite news | first =David | last =Barboza | title = Pressed Over Tibet, China Berates Foreign Media | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/world/asia/25tibet.html?fta=y | newspaper = The New York Times | date = March 25, 2008 | accessdate = April 23, 2008 | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20081211083337/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/world/asia/25tibet.html?fta=y| archivedate=December 11, 2008| url-status= live}}</ref>
Economic issues created by the policy of settling Han Chinese into [[Lhasa]] includes the alleged marginalization of Tibetan shop owners in favor of Han owners. According to the [[Tibetan Independence Movement]] and other sources, Tibetans in Lhasa were angered by inflation that caused the prices of food and consumer goods to increase. Prices also continued to rise in other parts of the country,<ref name="refeco">{{cite news
|title=Fire on the roof of the world
|url=http://www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10870258&top_story=1
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|archivedate=May 26, 2009
|url-status=live
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The scheduled [[2008 Olympic Games]] in Beijing was a rallying point before 2008.<ref name="TR" />
== Protests in Tibet ==
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{{Main|2008 Lhasa violence}}
[[File:China-Tibet.png|thumb|right|200px|[[Tibet Autonomous Region]]]]
Various sources{{Which|date=November 2020}} state the demonstrations began on 10 March near midday,
The next day on 11 March as
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
When Chinese police and military units reentered Lhasa on 14 March, reports state tear gas canisters were launched and shootings began. [[Amnesty International]] reports that machine guns were used.<ref name="Amnesty">Shai Jiang, ''Leaked internal document shows China used machine guns to kill Tibetans in March 2008 protest'', (22 Aug 2014), https://www.amnesty.org.uk/blogs/countdown-china/leaked-internal-document-shows-china-used-machine-guns-kill-tibetans-march {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224134808/https://www.amnesty.org.uk/blogs/countdown-china/leaked-internal-document-shows-china-used-machine-guns-kill-tibetans-march |date=February 24, 2020 }}</ref> State hospitals were reported by Human Rights Watch as closed to protestors by Chinese authorities, and reports of wounded and killed Tibetans were suppressed.<ref name="HRW2" />
Police cars, fire engines and other official vehicles were reportedly set on fire. Reports state Tibetans attacked Han and Hui passerby using stones, and an eyewitness stated from their hotel window, "It seems like it's ethnic—like they want to kill anyone not Tibetan." The witness also said he saw a group of 20 armed men firing guns, and that he was unsure if they were police officers or armed rioters.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/15/tibet.china2 Eyewitness account of violence between protesters and police in Tibet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826122807/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/15/tibet.china2 |date=August 26, 2016 }}. The Guardian, 15 March 2008. Retrieved on 4 Aug 2016</ref> Chinese state media reported non-Tibetan-owned businesses and banks were robbed and houses were attacked and burned down, including government buildings and schools. Police used tear gas and cattle prods. According to Chinese state media, 18 civilians were killed by rioters.<ref name=":3">[http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1010/0/1/8/101001887.html?coluid=0&kindid=0&docid=101001887 As long as there are separists, there will be 3-14 event again] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006162042/http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1010/0/1/8/101001887.html?coluid=0&kindid=0&docid=101001887 |date=October 6, 2017 }} (Trad Chinese) China Review News Agency, 22 June 2008</ref>
A crowd tried to storm the [[Lhasa Great Mosque]] and set fire to the front gate. Shops and restaurants in the Muslim quarter were destroyed.<ref>Barbara Demick, [https://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/23/world/fg-muslims23 Tibetan-Muslim tensions roil China] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100622013126/http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/23/world/fg-muslims23 |date=June 22, 2010 }}, ''Los Angeles Times'', June 23, 2008.</ref> A Chinese businessman reported that many Hui Muslim stores were burnt. Also burnt were stationery shops, banks, and a wholesale market at Tsomtsikhang, where many shops are owned by Han Chinese and Hui Muslims.<ref name=":0">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7302319.stm Accounts from Lhasa and beyond] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100730002250/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7302319.stm |date=July 30, 2010 }}, BBC.</ref>
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.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}} An early official statement by Tibet Autonomous Region Chairman Pema Trinley reported, "Only three law-breakers died during the pacification of the Lhasa unrest, no participation from the [[People's Liberation Army|PLA]]" was revised to add that another person "jumped from a building" to avoid arrest.<ref>Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Materials on the March 14 Incident in Tibet (I), Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 2008, p. 32.</ref>
=== Amdo/Gansu ===
[[File:China-Gansu.png|thumb|right|
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 were assaulted by Chinese police when leaving their monastery in [[Amdo]] ([[Gansu]]), before being surrounded by military units while conducting a sitting protest outside.<ref>Jonathan Watts, ''Tibet gripped by violent clashes'', (14 March 2008), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/14/tibet.china3</ref>
|first=Richard
|last=Spencer
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In [[Lanzhou]] on 16 March, 100 students participated in a sitting protest.<ref name="BBClist">''Key places and events in Tibet unrest'', (19 March 2008), http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7305288.stm</ref>
In [[Machu]] on 16 March, rioters set a government building on fire, while clashes continued on 18 March.
In [[Hezou]] on 19 March, footage emerged showing protestors tearing apart Chinese flags and raising Tibetan flags in their place.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}
China's [[Xinhua News Agency]] reported the cost of damage in Gansu at an estimated [[Renminbi|¥]]230 million ([[US$]]32.7 million).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/25/content_7857168.htm|title=Questions, answers about casualties, damages of recent riots|publisher=Xinhua News Agency|date=March 25, 2008|accessdate=March 26, 2008| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080330233716/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/25/content_7857168.htm| archivedate= March 30, 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>
The Tibetan government-in-exile stated that 19 Tibetans were shot and killed on 18 March.<ref>{{cite news|date=March 19, 2008|title=Dalai Lama calls for calm in Tibet|publisher=[[Al Jazeera]]|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2AE64C35-7CD5-4734-938A-82AFF9903485.htm|url-status=live|accessdate=March 19, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080319233435/http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2AE64C35-7CD5-4734-938A-82AFF9903485.htm|archivedate=March 19, 2008}}</ref>
=== Amdo/Qinghai ===
[[File:China-Qinghai.png|thumb|right|
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]]'').<ref name=chicagotribune /> Chinese security forces surrounded the [[Ditsa monastery]] in Bayan County.<ref name=chicagotribune />{{Dubious|date=March 2008}}<!--Bayan County is in Heilongjiang Province, not Qinghai. This is what it says in the source, but it is apparently an error.--> [[Qinghai province]] borders the Tibet Autonomous Region.
In [[Tongren]], demonstrations
In the capital city of [[Xining]],
During special classes for students in the region, videos Tibetans demolishing stores and attacking police were shown. The sessions have been deemed [[Propaganda in China|propaganda]] by some. Tibetan students at the Medical University of Xining held demonstrations to express their solidarity with the protestors, as well as a vigil for killed protestors in Lhasa.<ref>{{cite news|date=March 28, 2008|title="Take Care": Control like in Mao's Days in Tibetan Territory|language=German|url=http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/international/tibet_mao_1.696424.html|url-status=live|accessdate=March 28, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080331230726/http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/international/tibet_mao_1.696424.html|archivedate=March 31, 2008}}</ref>
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.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}
=== Kham & Amdo/Sichuan ===
{{Main|2008 Sichuan riots}}
[[File:China-Sichuan.png|thumb|right|
The India-based [[Tibetan
A wave of arrests
In [[Kardze]], Radio Free Asia
''Tibetan Nuns Jailed, Detained'', (12 May 2008), https://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/tibet_nuns-05122008160846.html?searchterm=None</ref> Other protests were held in Chori.
The TCHRD
==
[[Chinese Premier]] [[Wen Jiabao]] blamed supporters of the Dalai Lama for the recent violence in Tibet, claiming "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."<ref>{{cite news|date=March 19, 2008|title=Report: Over 100 surrender, admit involvement in Tibet clashes|publisher=[[CNN]]|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/18/tibet.unrest/index.html|url-status=dead|accessdate=March 19, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080318082411/http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/18/tibet.unrest/index.html|archivedate=March 18, 2008|df=mdy}}</ref> However, younger and more radical Tibetans were reportedly dissatisfied with the Dalai Lama's nonviolent methods, choosing to riot instead.<ref>{{cite news|last=|first=|date=March 18, 2008|title=Protests expose rifts among Tibetans|work=Phayul.com|publisher=Phayul|url=http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=19823&t=1&c=1|url-status=live|accessdate=October 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019060924/http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=19823&t=1&c=1|archive-date=October 19, 2017}}</ref> The Dalai Lama denied any involvement in organizing or inciting the unrest.<ref>{{cite web|title=Archived copy|url=https://www.dalailama.com/news.220.htm|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080401171102/http://www.dalailama.com/news.220.htm|archivedate=April 1, 2008|accessdate=2008-03-29}} An Appeal to the Chinese People</ref> ''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", opining that "it's more likely that what we saw was 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."<ref name="miles interview">{{cite news|date=March 20, 2008|title=Transcript: James Miles interview on Tibet|work=[[CNN]]|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/20/tibet.miles.interview/|url-status=live|accessdate=April 9, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411130317/http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/20/tibet.miles.interview/|archivedate=April 11, 2008}}</ref> He noted in another report that the rioting "seemed to be primarily an eruption of ethnic hatred".<ref name="refeco" />
On April 1, the Chinese government accused supporters of the Dalai Lama of planning [[Suicide attack|suicide attacks]]. [[Samdhong Rinpoche]], prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, denied these allegations, stating "Tibetan exiles are one-hundred-percent committed to nonviolence. There is no question of suicide attacks."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bodeen|first=Christopher|date=April 1, 2008|title=China Alleges Tibet 'Suicide Squads'|url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h5Z6bJwtN_roGSIUQiQnfbf2NkhgD8VP4ITG0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080412060301/http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h5Z6bJwtN_roGSIUQiQnfbf2NkhgD8VP4ITG0|archive-date=April 12, 2008}}</ref>
On March 31, the PRC state-owned news agency [[Xinhua 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.<ref>{{cite news|date=March 30, 2008|title=Dalai clique's masterminding of Lhasa violence exposed|newspaper=[[China Daily]]|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-03/30/content_6576350.htm|url-status=live|accessdate=March 31, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080403014701/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-03/30/content_6576350.htm|archivedate=April 3, 2008}}</ref>
''The West Australian'' reported that Chinese forces claimed to have found semi-automatic firearms hidden throughout a temple in [[Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture|Ngawa]].<ref name="West">{{cite news|last=|first=|date=April 14, 2008|title=China finds firearms in Tibetan temple|language=|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|publisher=|location=|url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/china-finds-firearms-in-tibetan-temple-20080413-25wz.html|url-status=live|accessdate=October 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019060956/http://www.smh.com.au/world/china-finds-firearms-in-tibetan-temple-20080413-25wz.html|archive-date=October 19, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=|first=|date=April 14, 2008|title=China says firearms found in Tibetan temple|language=|work=Reuters|publisher=Reuters|location=|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-tibet/china-says-firearms-found-in-tibetan-temple-idUSPEK20364920080414|url-status=live|accessdate=October 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019111353/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-tibet/china-says-firearms-found-in-tibetan-temple-idUSPEK20364920080414|archive-date=October 19, 2017}}</ref> Police officers told state television, "they were modified semi-automatic weapons."<ref name="West" />
=== Riot actions ===
China responded by deploying the [[People's Armed Police]]. The BBC reported seeing over 400 troop carriers mobilizing into Tibet,<ref>{{cite news|date=March 20, 2008|title=China steps up Tibetan crackdown|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7306096.stm|url-status=live|accessdate=March 26, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080325042449/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7306096.stm|archivedate=March 25, 2008}}</ref> which would represent a deployment of up to 4,000 troops. The Chinese authorities ordered all Hong Kong and foreign journalists to leave [[Lhasa]].<ref>{{cite news|last=|first=|date=March 19, 2008|title=Tibet media ban damages Beijing's cause|language=|work=[[South China Morning Post]]|location=|url=http://www.scmp.com/article/630480/tibet-media-ban-damages-beijings-cause|url-status=live|accessdate=March 19, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214202455/https://www.scmp.com/article/630480/tibet-media-ban-damages-beijings-cause|archive-date=December 14, 2018}}</ref> According to General Yang Deping, regular military troops from the [[People's Liberation Army]] were not deployed.<ref>{{cite news|last=Yardley|first=Jim|date=March 16, 2008|title=Tibetans Clash With Chinese Police in Second City|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/world/asia/16tibet.html|url-status=live|accessdate=March 19, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411111957/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/world/asia/16tibet.html|archivedate=April 11, 2009}}</ref>
Chinese authorities were also reportedly concerned that the Tibetan protests could "embolden activists in restive [[Xinjiang]] province" to organise street protests as well.<ref name="chicagotribune" /> The Chinese government's ''People's Daily'' reported a statement by [[Gyaincain Norbu]], which condemned the unrest, stating<blockquote>"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."<ref>{{cite news|date=March 16, 2008|title=11th Panchen Lama condemns Lhasa riot|work=[[People's Daily]]|url=http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6374367.html|url-status=live|accessdate=March 19, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080321185020/http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6374367.html|archivedate=March 21, 2008}}</ref></blockquote>In addition to sealing off monasteries, an eyewitness at [[Sera Monastery]] claimed, "they [Chinese authorities] were grabbing monks, kicking and beating them."<ref>{{cite news|date=March 14, 2008|title=Eyewitness: Monk 'kicked to floor'|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7296134.stm|url-status=live|accessdate=March 26, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080318231257/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7296134.stm|archive-date=March 18, 2008}}</ref> In Ngawa, police fired at the crowd after protestors reportedly burned down government buildings including the local police station, destroyed vehicles including police vehicles, stabbed police officers with swords, and attempted to take firearms from the police, during which the police fired warning shots to no avail.<ref name=":2" /> The government claimed that the police acted in self-defense. According to the Chinese government, four protesters were wounded, and 18 civilians, along with a police officer, were killed. The Tibetan government-in-exile claimed there were at least 99 deaths across the region.<ref>Agence France Presse, "Defiant China rejects dialogue, vows to smash Tibetan protests," March 22, 2008</ref>
=== PRC and Dalai Lama dialogues ===
On March 19, Premier [[Wen Jiabao]] condemned the Dalai Lama's alleged role in the riot, but said the possibility for a dialogue remained open if he renounced [[Tibetan independence]], and if he "recognizes Tibet and Taiwan as inalienable parts of the Chinese territory".<ref>{{cite news|date=March 18, 2008|title=Premier: ample facts prove Dalai's role in Lhasa riot, door of dialogue still open|publisher=[[Government of the People's Republic of China]]|url=http://english.gov.cn/2008-03/18/content_923278.htm|url-status=dead|accessdate=March 20, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201173553/http://english.gov.cn/2008-03/18/content_923278.htm|archivedate=December 1, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=March 18, 2008|title=Premier: Door of dialogue still opens to Dalai|publisher=[[Government of the People's Republic of China]]|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/18/content_7813194.htm|url-status=live|accessdate=March 24, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080322090219/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/18/content_7813194.htm|archivedate=March 22, 2008}}</ref> 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, 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.<ref name="xinhuanet1">{{cite news|date=May 4, 2008|title=China's central gov't officials meet with Dalai Lama's private representatives|publisher=[[Xinhua News Agency]]|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/04/content_8104983.htm|url-status=live|accessdate=May 6, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080508180107/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/04/content_8104983.htm|archivedate=May 8, 2008}}</ref>
Plans for the meeting had been announced by the Xinhua News Agency on April 25,<ref>{{cite news|date=April 26, 2008|title=China's decision to meet Dalai's representative receives positive responses|publisher=[[Xinhua News Agency]]|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/25/content_8052398.htm|url-status=live|accessdate=April 26, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501153437/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/25/content_8052398.htm|archivedate=May 1, 2008}}</ref> and was confirmed by the Dalai Lama's spokesman.<ref>{{cite news|date=April 26, 2008|title=China to meet Dalai Lama aides|newspaper=[[Sydney Morning Herald]]|url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/world/china-to-meet-dalai-lama-aides/2008/04/26/1208743292136.html|url-status=live|accessdate=April 26, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080429203339/http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/china-to-meet-dalai-lama-aides/2008/04/26/1208743292136.html|archive-date=April 29, 2008}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite news|date=July 26, 2007|title=China says door 'wide open' on Dalai Lama talks|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/29/1991005.htm|url-status=live|accessdate=May 11, 2009 <!--DASHBot-->|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926145906/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-07-29/china-says-door-wide-open-on-dalai-lama-talks/2516234|archive-date=September 26, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Zacharia|first=Janine|date=April 26, 2008|title=China's Tibet Talks May Skirt Autonomy Demands of Dalai Lama|publisher=[[Bloomberg L.P.]]|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=akPS6Pkzcy90|url-status=live|accessdate=April 26, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926145905/https://www.bloomberg.com/politics?pid=20601087&sid=akPS6Pkzcy90|archive-date=September 26, 2020}}</ref>
A second meeting was scheduled for June 11. However, due to the [[2008 Sichuan earthquake]]s, the two sides agreed to postpone the meeting.<ref name="reuters1">{{cite news|date=June 6, 2008|title=Tibet, China talks postponed after quake – Dalai aide|work=[[Reuters]]|url=http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-33939420080606|url-status=live|accessdate=June 12, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821162854/http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-33939420080606|archive-date=August 21, 2008}}</ref> The second meeting was held on July 1.<ref name="reuters2" />
== Casualties and fatalities ==
Reports of casualties, deaths and gunfire from independent media sources and from Tibetan sources contradict reports from Chinese government sources.<ref name=France>''China denies claims hundreds were killed'', (17 March 2008), https://www.france24.com/en/20080317-china-denies-claims-hundreds-were-killed-china-tibet {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110213214803/http://www.france24.com/en/20080317-china-denies-claims-hundreds-were-killed-china-tibet |date=February 13, 2011 }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite news|title=Chinese security forces swarm Tibet |url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080315/ap_on_re_as/china_tibet |work=[[Yahoo! News]] |date=March 15, 2008 |accessdate=March 19, 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080318181905/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080315/ap_on_re_as/china_tibet |archivedate=March 18, 2008 |url-status=live |df=mdy }}</ref> It also reported that the victims were all innocent civilians<ref>{{cite news | title = The victims are all innocent civilians | url = http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_World&set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=iol1205574933123T130 | work = [[Independent Online (South Africa)|Independent Online]] | date = March 15, 2008 | accessdate = March 19, 2008 }}</ref> and that most of them were business people.<ref>{{cite news | first = | last = | title = Ten people killed in Tibet riots | url = http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/335091/1/.html | publisher = [[Channel NewsAsia]] | location = | date = March 15, 2008 | accessdate = March 19, 2008 | language = <!--DASHBot--> | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080318215647/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/335091/1/.html | archive-date = March 18, 2008 | url-status = live }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news | title = 18 civilians, 1 police officer killed by Lhasa rioters | url = http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/6378824.html | newspaper = [[People's Daily]] | date = March 22, 2008 | accessdate = March 22, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080706222446/http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/6378824.html | archive-date = July 6, 2008 | url-status = live }}</ref>
[[The Associated Press]] reported on a press conference from 17 March that
|title = Tibet governor promises leniency, says death toll is 16 as protests spread
|url = http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080317/world/china_tibet_10
Line 179 ⟶ 181:
The [[Central Tibetan Administration]] reported by 16 March to have confirmed at least 80 deaths,<ref>{{cite news |title=Dalai Lama: China causing 'cultural genocide' |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/16/tibet.unrest/index.html |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=March 17, 2008 |accessdate=March 19, 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080316125250/http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/16/tibet.unrest/index.html |archivedate=March 16, 2008 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> then increased the death count by Chinese forces to more than 140 people, as reported on 5 April.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7330295.stm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080406082850/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7330295.stm |date=April 6, 2008 }} BBC News. Burning debate over relay boycott. April 5, 2008</ref> The Central Tibetan Administration's number of Tibetans killed since increased to 220, including subsequent deaths through to January 2009.
A month after the
Foreign tourists and Chinese eyewitnesses in Lhasa said "they saw and heard repeated gunfire there on Friday", 14 March.<ref name=France/> 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.<ref name=BBC/><ref>Central Tibetan Administration, https://tibet.net/leaked-documents-chinese-security-forces-used-machine-guns-to-kill-tibetans-in-2008-protest/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926145905/https://tibet.net/leaked-documents-chinese-security-forces-used-machine-guns-to-kill-tibetans-in-2008-protest/ |date=September 26, 2020 }}</ref><ref>Tibetan Review, https://www.tibetanreview.net/internal-report-shows-china-used-lethal-force-during-08-lhasa-repression/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420000935/https://www.tibetanreview.net/internal-report-shows-china-used-lethal-force-during-08-lhasa-repression/ |date=April 20, 2020 }}</ref><ref name=Amnesty/> Puncog also states Tibetans wounded 61 police officers, including six seriously,<ref name="edition">{{cite news | title = China's premier blames Dalai Lama 'clique' for violence in Tibet
| url = http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/17/tibet.unrest/index.html | publisher = [[CNN]] | date = March 18, 2008 | accessdate = March 19, 2008 | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080319013851/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/17/tibet.unrest/index.html| archivedate= March 19, 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> and reported that 13 innocent civilians had been killed.<ref>{{cite news | title = UN calls for restraint in Tibet | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7301912.stm | work = [[BBC News]] | date = March 17, 2008 | accessdate = March 19, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080321103740/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7301912.stm | archive-date = March 21, 2008 | url-status = live }}</ref> 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
On 28 March, the [[The New York Times International Edition|''International Herald Tribune'']] reported 5 shopgirls
In October 2009, four Tibetans were executed in connection with their involvement with the unrest
== Arrests and
[[File:Tibetan Monks arrested in 2008 遭逮捕的西藏僧侶.jpg|thumb|right|Arrested Tibetan monks
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
The first non-monastic Tibetans were reportedly arrested in Barkhor Square on 11 March.<ref name=BBCAccounts>''Accounts from Lhasa and beyond'', (19 March 2008), http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7302319.stm</ref>
Accounts from
In [[Ngawa Town|Aba Town]], Free Tibet
Another report on the [[Kardze]] area from Radio Free Asia in May 2008 states at least 200 people were detained after 24 March, while
During a Chinese state sponsored tour for journalists on 7 April, two monks at [[Labrang Monastery]] that spoke out to reporters have since disappeared.<ref name=AsiaP/> 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
By 5 April, the
The TCHRD also reported that a 38-year-old Tibetan woman, who was involved in peaceful protests on 16 and 17 March in Ngaba County, died after reportedly being tortured in a Chinese prison. Following her release, the government hospital had reportedly refused to admit her.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tchrd.org/press/2008/pr20080505.html |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2008-05-05 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513030024/http://www.tchrd.org/press/2008/pr20080505.html |archivedate=May 13, 2008 }} A Tibetan woman succumbs to torture</ref>
According to a 10 October 2009 report by the U.S. [[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.<ref name="Four-Tibetans" /><ref>[http://www.cecc.gov/pages/annualRpt/annualRpt09/CECCannRpt2009.pdf Congressional Executive Commission On China, Annual Report 2009 (October 10, 2009)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091103235417/http://www.cecc.gov/pages/annualRpt/annualRpt09/CECCannRpt2009.pdf |date=November 3, 2009 }}</ref>
On 7 November, the state-run Lhasa Evening News reported a retired doctor 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 Human Rights Watch reported.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}
== Media coverage ==
{{POV section|date=June 2016}}[[File:2008 Olympic Torch Relay in SF - Embarcadero 03.JPG|thumb|Protest in San Francisco|244x244px]]
During the protests and demonstrations, Chinese authorities prohibited foreign and [[Media of Hong Kong|Hong Kong media]] from entering Tibet and expelled those already there.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dw.com/en/china-expels-last-foreign-journalists-from-tibet/a-3205178|title=China Expels Last Foreign Journalists From Tibet {{!}} Germany{{!}} News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond {{!}} DW {{!}} 20.03.2008|last=(www.dw.com)|first=Deutsche Welle|website=DW.COM|language=en|access-date=2018-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326203358/http://www.dw.com/en/china-expels-last-foreign-journalists-from-tibet/a-3205178|archive-date=March 26, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=63248&sid=18107553&con_type=1|title=HK journalists thrown out of Tibet|date=March 18, 2008|work=[[The Standard (Hong Kong)|The Standard]]|accessdate=March 19, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408113253/http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=63248&sid=18107553&con_type=1|archivedate=April 8, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Two German reporters, [[Georg Blume]] of ''[[Die Zeit]]'' and Kristin Kupfer of ''[[Profil (magazine)|Profil]]'', left Tibet on March 18 due to pressure from the authorities, and James Miles, a correspondent from ''[[The Economist]],'' said that China
The Chinese media accused Western media of reporting with inaccuracy and little independent cross-checking. The Chinese state-run newspaper [[China Daily
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 [[
After expelling foreign journalists, the Chinese government selected a group of foreign journalists which were given restricted access to the region.<ref name="afptibet">[https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080326/wl_afp/chinaunresttibetrights_080326103537 Foreign press taken to Tibet, China says 660 surrendered], AFP, March 26, 2007</ref><ref>[http://www.dw-world.de/dw/function/0,,12215_cid_3217478,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf China escorts foreign press to Tibet] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408153302/http://www.dw-world.de/dw/function/0%2C%2C12215_cid_3217478%2C00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf |date=April 8, 2008 }}, [[Deutsche Welle]], March 26, 2007</ref> The [[Agence France-Presse
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}}</ref> The Tibetan activist group [[International Campaign for Tibet]] stated on 28 March that it feared for the welfare and whereabouts of the monks which spoke out during the media tour, specifically those monks from [[Sera Monastery]], [[Drepung Monastery]], [[Ganden Monastery]] and [[Ramoche Temple]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Activists fear for Tibetan monks who protested at media tour |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/27/tibet.china.ap/index.html |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=March 27, 2008 |accessdate=March 28, 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080329130146/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/27/tibet.china.ap/index.html |archivedate=March 29, 2008 |url-status=live |df=mdy }}</ref> The group did not explain why it identified four monasteries when the protest involved only monks from [[Jokhang Monastery|Jokhang]]. Choling later told reporters the monks would not be punished.<ref>{{cite news
|title = Police shut Muslim quarter in Lhasa
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}}</ref> 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 reportedly led to starvation conditions.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}}
On 17 March, the [[Toronto Star|''Toronto Sta''r]] reported the accounts of various Canadian witnesses who were caught up in the violence.<ref>[https://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/346763 "Canadians caught in Tibet's violence"], ''Toronto Star'', World News, March 17, 2008. Accessed 2009-07-17. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080621113054/http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/346763 Archived] 2009-07-23.</ref> One Canadian witnessed an 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 mob.<ref name=":1">[https://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/346769 {{"'}}I can't just let this guy die on the ground{{'"}}] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017080853/http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/346769 |date=October 17, 2012 }}, ''Toronto Star'', World News, March 17, 2008</ref>
== International reaction ==
{{Main|International reaction to 2008 Tibetan unrest#International protests}}
[[File:FreeTibetprotestSanFrancisco2008.jpg|thumb|right|A Free Tibet rally outside the Chinese consulate in [[San Francisco]], [[California]], on March 17, 2008|241x241px]]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.<ref name="Wen">{{cite news|date=March 31, 2008|title=温总促达赖停止西藏暴力 (Premier: ample facts prove Dalai's role in Lhasa riot, door of dialogue still open)|language=Chinese|publisher=Wen Wei Po|location=Hong Kong|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/18/content_7813012.htm|url-status=live|accessdate=March 31, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914125527/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/18/content_7813012.htm|archive-date=September 14, 2008}}</ref>
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 [[Olympic flame]] 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 protestors did not follow this advice.<ref>{{cite news|date=March 29, 2008|title=How three Canadians upstaged Beijing|newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]]|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080328.wtibetcampaign0328/BNStory/International/|url-status=live|accessdate=April 3, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080401231314/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080328.wtibetcampaign0328/BNStory/International/|archivedate=April 1, 2008}}</ref> Doug Saunders further stated that the torch-relay protests had no relationship with the unrest in Tibet.<ref>{{cite news|date=April 19, 2008|title=Beijing has become the guardian of the Chinese brand|newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]]|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080419.wreckoning0419/BNStory/International/?query=|accessdate=April 20, 2008}}</ref>
== Impact on the 2008 Summer Olympics ==
[[File:"OLYMPICS IN CHINA TORTURE IN TIBET" sign detail, Olympics torch protest (2417352003) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Sign from 2008 Olympic protests]]There were rumors that some athletes were considering [[boycotting]] the [[2008 Summer Olympics]] over the unrest. The vice-president of the [[International Olympic Committee]] discouraged this,<ref>{{cite news|date=March 17, 2008|title=Olympic official: athletes mulling Beijing boycott|newspaper=[[The Straits Times]]|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest+News/Sports/STIStory_217583.html|url-status=dead|accessdate=August 6, 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080319014048/http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Sports/STIStory_217583.html|archivedate=March 19, 2008}}</ref> as well as the [[European Union]] and the [[International Olympic Committee|Olympic Committees]] of [[European Olympic Committees|Europe]] and [[Australian Olympic Committee|Australia]], who condemned politicizing sport.<ref name="Malaysia">{{cite news|date=March 18, 2008|title=China vows to protect its territory, blames Dalai Lama for attacks on embassies|work=[[Yahoo! News]]|url=http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/ap/20080318/tap-as-gen-china-tibet-9th-ld-writethru-bb10fb8.html|accessdate=March 19, 2008}}{{dead link|date=April 2019|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> The [[14th Dalai Lama]] also reiterated that he was against any boycott.<ref>{{cite news|last=|first=|date=March 18, 2008|title=Dalai Lama against Olympic boycott|work=ABC News|publisher=ABC News|location=|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-03-18/dalai-lama-against-olympic-boycott/1076948|url-status=live|accessdate=October 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906121518/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-03-18/dalai-lama-against-olympic-boycott/1076948|archive-date=September 6, 2018}}</ref>
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.<ref name="attendance" /> All but one leader of the countries that did not attend the opening ceremonies emphasized that it was not to boycott the Olympics;<ref>{{Cite web|title=Olympic Torch Draws Buenos Aires Protests for Boycott.'' Bloomberg. April 11, 2008|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=akrvDCOedD6U|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926145917/https://www.bloomberg.com/politics?pid=20601080&sid=akrvDCOedD6U|archive-date=September 26, 2020|access-date=March 4, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=April 2, 2008|title=Brazilian president will not attend Olympic ceremony: official|publisher=turkishpress|url=http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=223719|url-status=live|accessdate=April 2, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080405121613/http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=223719|archivedate=April 5, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=April 8, 2008|title=Harper says Olympics boycott would be ineffective: report|publisher=CTV.ca|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080408/torch_relay_080408/20080408?hub=TopStories|url-status=dead|accessdate=April 8, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410101114/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080408/torch_relay_080408/20080408?hub=TopStories|archive-date=April 10, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=April 11, 2008|title=Greens call for Olympic boycott|url=http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/article.aspx?id=83916|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716122528/http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/article.aspx?id=83916|archive-date=July 16, 2011|accessdate=April 12, 2008|publisher=NZCity News}}</ref> one German [[Angela Merkel|chancellor]] said that there was "no link to Tibet".<ref>{{cite news|last=Lungescu|first=Oana|date=March 28, 2008|title=Call for Olympic boycott rejected|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7319147.stm|url-status=live|accessdate=March 29, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080329131446/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7319147.stm|archive-date=March 29, 2008}}</ref> [[Prime Minister of Poland]] [[Donald Tusk]] was the one European [[head of government]] to boycott the opening ceremonies because of the violence in Tibet.<ref>{{cite news|date=March 27, 2008|title=Polish government to boycott opening of Olympics|work=[[Warsaw Business Journal]]|location=Warsaw|url=http://www.wbj.pl/?command=article&id=40560|url-status=live|accessdate=March 27, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080405014900/http://www.wbj.pl/?command=article&id=40560|archive-date=April 5, 2008}}</ref>
On 20 March, the [[United States Department of State|U.S. Department of State]] issued a warning to U.S. citizens attending the [[2008 Summer Olympics|Beijing Olympics]], stating that "Americans' conversations and telephones could be monitored and their rooms could be searched without their knowledge or consent".<ref>{{cite news|last=Berkes|first=Howard|date=March 23, 2008|title=Tibet Activists Plan Olympic-Relay Protests|publisher=[[NPR]]|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88883486&ft=1&f=1001|url-status=live|accessdate=March 26, 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408164923/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88883486&ft=1&f=1001|archivedate=April 8, 2008}}</ref><ref>ABC News: Headed for Olympics? Beware of Big Brother: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=4492008&page=1 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225223813/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=4492008&page=1|date=February 25, 2019}}</ref>
==
According to the [[People's Daily|''People's Daily'']], normalcy returned on 24 March to some affected areas in Sichuan Province, as schools, shops and restaurants reopened to the public.<ref>[http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90785/6379886.html "Schools in SW China ethnic Tibetan area resume classes after riots"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410193219/http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90785/6379886.html |date=April 10, 2008 }}, ''People's Daily Online''</ref>
On March 26, a small group of foreign journalists were 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. The Dalai Lama called the trip "a first step", provided that reporters were given complete freedom.<ref name="Hutlzer" />
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.<ref>Congressional Executive Commission. [http://www.cecc.gov/pages/annualRpt/annualRpt09/CECCannRpt2009.pdf 2009 Annual Report] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091103235417/http://www.cecc.gov/pages/annualRpt/annualRpt09/CECCannRpt2009.pdf |date=November 3, 2009 }}. Oct 10, 2009.</ref>
== See also ==
{{Portal|China|Asia|Society}}
* [[Reactions to Innocence of Muslims|Reactions to ''Innocence of Muslims'']]
* [[Buddhism and violence]]
* [[Oka Crisis]]
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