>From The Times March 19, 2008 Tourists speak of shock and fear at Tibet riots
Western tourists who fled Lhassa said that mobs of Tibetans turned on anyone and anything that looked Chinese Image :1 of 2 Jeremy Page in Kathmandu Western tourists emerging from Tibet yesterday described their shock and fear as they watched a howling mob of Tibetans stoning and beating Chinese passers-by in two days of rioting in Lhasa last week. They said that the crowd turned on anyone and anything that looked Chinese, knocking over motorcyclists, hitting them with metal rods and setting fire to their motorcycles. Their testimony illustrated the ferocity of the riots, which have undermined not only China's claims to have brought peace and prosperity to Tibet but also the Dalai Lama's longstanding creed of non-violent resistance. It's hard to pick a side in what happened, said John Kenwood, a 19-year-old backpacker from Canada who flew into Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital, yesterday after spending ten days in Lhasa. Related Links a.. Dalai Lama threatens to stand down a.. 'Surrender by midnight or pay the penalty' I agree that the Tibetans have their own culture, but I can't agree with what people did. After a while, it was not about Tibetan freedom any more. He said that he was walking along Beijing East Road in the Tibetan quarter in Lhasa when he saw four Chinese military trucks pull up at the intersection with an alley leading to the Ramoche temple. Mr Kenwood said that he saw someone throw a large stone at one of the trucks, smashing its windscreen, and then about 30-40 paramilitary police armed with riot shields and batons jumping out of another truck. They blocked off the entrance to the alleyway, but were soon surrounded by a large crowd of Tibetans who began pelting them with stones, he said. He also said that he saw three boxes of stones but it was not clear who had provided them. After a few minutes two or three of the younger Tibetans rushed at the Chinese police and they fled down the alleyway towards the Ramoche temple, he said. The crowd followed but soon turned back and began attacking Chinese shops and passers-by on Beijing East Road. He said that he saw at least five Chinese people being attacked by the crowd, including a motorcyclist in his 20s who he thought was beaten to death. They got him in the head with a large piece of sidewalk, he said. He was down on the ground and he was not moving. Mr Kenwood added that he spent the weekend confined to the Yak Hotel on Beijing East Road, from where he heard gunfire and teargas canisters and saw armoured personnel carriers moving through the streets. As he left Lhasa yesterday most schools, shops and other businesses had reopened and Tibetans and Chinese were moving around the city, he said. He added that there were very few young Tibetans on the streets after the midnight deadline on Monday for rioters to surrender. The Tibetans weren't smiling any more, he said. There were soldiers everywhere. I saw some older Tibetan ladies but there were fewer young guys wandering around. Claude Balsiger, a 25-year-old backpacker from Switzerland who arrived in Lhasa on March 8 and flew to Kathmandu yesterday gave a similar account of the violence. He described seeing the mob beating an old Chinese man on a bicycle. They were howling like wolves, he said. That's the point when it went insane. They started attacking anything and anyone that looked Chinese. He also described seeing a Canadian tourist step in to rescue a young Chinese man being attacked by the crowd. They were kicking him in the ribs and he was bleeding from the face, he said. But then a white man walked up ... helped him up from the ground. There was a crowd of Tibetans holding stones. He held the Chinese man close, waved his hand at the crowd and they let him lead the man to safety. Mr Balsiger said that Lhasa was very tense and locals were reporting as many as 100 people dead and 1,000 arrested as he left the city on Monday to spend the night at an airport hotel. He said that there were military checkpoints every 10-15 metres, manned by young Chinese soldiers with bayonets fixed on their rifles. They were really young and nervous. They always had their finger on the trigger - that's what made us really nervous. Stephen Thompson, 41, from New Zealand, said that he arrived at the Saikang Hotel just as the riot was starting and saw the mob smash the glass front of the building. We didn't feel in danger but some people in the group were pretty emotional and one person was injured by a rock that hit them on the head, he said. Martin Camps, 55, from Germany, said that he had arrived with his wife on the train from Beijing on Friday, only to be told that he could not leave his hotel and that all attractions were shut. Hotel staff then told him to leave on Sunday, when he was driven to the airport hotel. I think without China it would be much better there, he said. a.. Have your say a.. Have your say It is true that since the Yuan dynasty Tibet has been considered part of China because China was conquered by the Mongol Yuan and Tibet surrendered to them.. The Chinese maintained their claim on Tibet through the Ming and Qing though for most of this period Tibet was govenened by a Tibetan administration in Lhasa. Tibet cut off relations with China after the fall of the Qing and declared independence The idea the Tibet has always a inseperatable part of China govenened directly from Beijing is false. Yes China has spent a lot of money restoring cultural sites in Tibet but it was China who destroyed them in the first place in the aftermouth of the invasion and the horror of the Cultural Revolution which was bad enough in China, in Tibet it must have been horrific as many Han Chinese have a very low opinion of Tibetans anyway. I have no doubt innocent Chinese where killed in current riots but the responsibility for the riots must rest ultimately with the failed repressive policies of the Beijing government. China throws out the western media and censors news coverage in China and them complains that it is unfairly represented in the western press!!! China puts all the blame for the riots on the Dalai and refuses to negotiate with him, hoping I suspect that the Tibet âproblemâ will vanish when he dies. What may well happen is that released from the moderating influence of the Dalai the more violent sections of the Tibetan movement may well instigate a more violent campaign in Tibet Is that really what Beijing wants? Can China not see that itâs hysterical diatribes against the Dalai just look ridiculous to the average western reader and damages its attempts to appear as a responsible major player on the international arena. Finally just look at some of the countries who voice support for Chinaâs policies in Tiber North Korea Russia Enough saidâ¦. Mike, Nottingham, UK To: People love peace, to people love justice I'm a Chinese Phd student, there might be some facts you may not know: Fact one,majority Chinese people including Tibetan people love and enjoy peace. The recent violent crime committed in Larsa in China was organized by a small amount of mobs who tried to split our country, during which, 13 innocent Chinese civilian were killed and burnt, dozens were injured, and many properties were damaged. Although this unrest has already been controlled, we blame those murders and mourn for innocent victims. (There are numerous pictures and videos support what we state above, we pick one video which is recorded by an Australian who was in Larsa during that time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhjCX4KIz4Q Li Zhang, nottingham, UK Fact two, China is a multi-culture nation. The 56 different races in China are united as China, and the people called Chinese. Itâs pretty similar with the UK. Tibet is just a part of China. All the countries in the world accept that Tibet is a part of China at present. Most importantly, Tibet has been a part of China for thousands of years. You can find proof within this book <<THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF CHINA>> written by Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe. Fact three, Tibet is one of the most beautiful places in the world nowadays. Tibetâs temples, religions and culture are being well-protected. According to official figures, in the last few years billions of RMB (Chinese currency) has been spent in protecting Tibetâs religion culture and further more will be put in. All the Chinese people have the right to have religion including Tibetan people. All the Tibetan kids enjoy free education in both Tibetan language and Mandarin language, also have English class. Li Zhang, nottingham, UK I want to tell Mr.Liang Zhang ,Nottingham that terming a highly respected and venerated Dalai Lama as a hypocrite gives the picture that mr. Liang is having the same mindset as those of the 'proletarian' blood thirsty Red chinese. Whom he want to fool around . I just want to tell him whether any citizen in China or in Tibet does have freedom to post opinions freely as done by him in England? He is only repeating the steriotyped propaganda war perpetrated day in and out by the Red clique in Beijing. What sanity and decency for these people who killed as many 8 million of their own countrymen during the infamous cultural revolution not to speak of the latest Tianamen massacre and the 1.2 million Tibetan victims.History tells us Tibetan empire extracted tributes from Chiese and their capital Changan was sacked many times. This is as per chinese chronicles only. Now repressesed Tibetans could attack Beijing and shangai with help from other militantgroups.What would china do now ? Shambala, Bangalore, India to Mike of Nottingham, China didn't vilify dalai lama. Dalai lama vilified himself in 1959 when he betrayed his country by working with CIA to instigate chaos in tibet. ANdy, Binjai, Indonesia As a Chinese, I must tell you guys that DaLai LaMa is a hypocrite. did you notice that the mobs are almost of the same age? They are possibly be hired to set fire, beat people, kill people. What the BBC and CNN reported are all rubish!!! Those are not the truth!! As a Chinese, I'm very disappointed at the unreal report from the western media!!! Please do beleive that without Chinese govenment, most of Tibetans are still slaves for DaLai LaMa now. Liang Zhang, nottingham, UK To Jason of Chicago The Dalai Lama does not demand independence for Tibet only for more autonomy, I canât understand why the Chinese always seek to vilify him in such a ridiculous hysterical manner. After 50 years of propaganda the Tibetans still revere him, does that not tell the Chinese government something? If they continue to ignore him the violent elements among the Tibetans may well gain more and more influence, is that really what the Chinese want? It seems to me the Chinese government is simply incapable of dealing with any form of Dissent in a mature way, all we get is this shrill propaganda followed by foreign journalists being expelled, news blackouts and the troops going in. I perfectly happy to admit that westerners tend to sentimentalize Tibet and that China has poured money into the region to try and improve living standards but obviously many Tibetans still feel as if they are not free in their own country, this canât be resolved without arriving at some sort of settlement with the Dalai Lama. The trouble is China does not know how to talk or compromise only to suppress and stifle. As for Northern Ireland, the British generally donât care if itâs part of the UK or not, the problem lies in the conflict between the two communities within Northern Ireland, itâs not really a valid comparison. Mike, Nottingham, UK After reading some of the personal experiences in all of these. You wonder why the Chinese government is so overconscientious of its image rather than, say, letting the world know the truth of the story. They may be right to say that it was a violent riot rather than anything close to a peaceful demonstration, but CNN, BBC etc. won't believe it if they do not have their journalists experiencing it themselves... Kevin, FL, US To reward such acts of violence will-- 1). Encourage more violence; 2). Undermine Dalai Lama or the non-violence part of him; 3). Make yourself a hypocrite when you condemn Al Qaeda or Hamas 4). Have blood in your conscience as, make no mistake about it, this is the start of another cycle of hatred and killings. The winners will be the radical factions of Tibetans, mostly young, ignorant of history, and never been to Tibet, and the hardliners in the Chinese government. SageGinkgo, SD, US To Mike of Nottingham: Your information may not be complete. In fact, Dalai Lamar's brother had visited Beijing and also Tibet once in the 80s. They however had bet on the wrong side that China will be like Soviet Union soon at some point and hence demanded total independence, which was not acceptable for the Govt -- frankly not for the Chinese people as well. Whatever you preach, the Northern Ireland is still under control of UK, so does Quebec for Canada, and Lakota Indian Reservation for US. Jason, Chicago, USA Recently, I saw the news on BBC, about the activities in Tibet; I became very worry as I have friends in Tibet, both minorities and majorities: Tibetans, Han, Muslim. I rang them, they told me what happened. At first it was a peaceful protest, but suddenly in one day, violence started. Innocent people, both minority and Han being killed by protestors just because they look like Han. Children, women being beaten by the monks who also set fire to the schools, shops, and everything that they see. One girl that my friend knows of has been burned to death, she is only 18, so young, she could have wonderful life had this not happened. Police have been given the order not to use force, so they too are being attacked by the monks. I have to say Chinese police is not as good as the British polices, they don't have much of a body. bea, lodnon, UK After reading all the views i like to ask few questions. 1.Why are the Chinese in Tibet? ---- Tibet is a province of China. So Chinese enter Tibet mostly for economic reason: they can earn money. Just like in US, you move from state to state. Especially nowadays, Tibet is tourist paradise, hence lots of Chinese come to Tibet just for money. In their own country, they are free to go. If the a Tibetan want to open a restaurant in Beijing, yes, you can. In fact, lots of Tibetans moved to the neighbor provinces, like Sichuan, Ganshu, Qinghai. That is part of the reason why Dala lama could not reach agreement with the central government. He claim a 'big' tibet where the Tibetans live, including the neighbor provinces, which is much bigger then just Tibet. Sun, Pocatello, USA I'm shocked what done by these mobs ,not monks. David, D.C., Most of all, everyone should exercise restraints because the violence is absolutely unacceptable! The Dalai lama should prevent the young Tibetans from using violent way. However, it is reported that the young Tibetans are unlikely to support peaceful way. And I'm worried that they are more likely to slip into terrorists in the future! David, D.C., The Chinese should be tourists in Tibet as well, not occupants. Of course occupants are tried to get rid of. O'melly, Vienna, Austria (yet) it is interesting to read your readers viewpoints on tibet. all those readers from countries without a free press and with authoritarian regimes such as china malaysia and singapore favor the chinese action in tibet. overwhelmingly those from the free countries such as japan s.korea india and the west condemn the chinese action in tibet. that speaks for itself. clark, pittsburgh, pa All you have to do is listen to the hysterical vitriolic ravings from the Chinese goverment to feel sorry for the Tibetans. If they have had to listen to language like that for the last 50 years no wonder they are getting violent. Seriously, if the Chinese wanted to avoid this they should have had a dialogue with the Dalai Lama years ago, they ignored his peaceful approach now young Tibetans are getting violent - is it any wonder ? Mike, Nottingham, UK Welsh people,somehow, are also forced to speak english, instead of their own Welsh. "Wales is officially bilingual, with 21.7% of the population able to speak or read Welsh to some degree (based on the 2001 census questionnaire) although only 16% claim to be able to read, write and speak Welsh and a larger proportion having some knowledge of the Welsh language according to a 2004 language survey. " This is actually even worse than the situation in tibet. Shall we also call this cultural genocide? And has Britian ever appologized to the tibetan people for the massacre during the invasion in tibet in 1904? Jan, Eindhoven, NL TIMES ONLINE gave a credible account of invertview with so many eye witnesses - who told us what was really happening in Lhasa, Tibet. The impartiality demonstrated by TIMES ONLINE in face of events makes itself a very credible news page. But I think TIMES ONLINE in citing Martin Camps in sayingâI think without China it would be much better there.â, to the efect of an immediate comment by Gurila Ihasa in saying "tibet belongs to tibetans and china belongs to chinese, so please all you chinese go back to your country, live happily ever after and there will be no problem." a very weak statement and conclusion. It's quite understable for TIMES ONLINE in ending this interview report with Martin Camps - if not doing so, all the other parts of interview report would risk this brave report be I strongly believe Iraq will be much much worse when the 140,000 American soldiers go back home. The riot outbreak is an isolated case. It won't be a good idea if the ethnic Han Chinese go. CJT, SF, US To Scott Hsiao: I am a fan of Bjork. However Bjork was a huge disappointment to me. BTW, Tibetan language is SO well preserved that many young Tibetans don't know how to speak Chinese. This has caused problem for them. They are disadvantaged in job market. And they cannot find job inside China either. Why are some of the young Tibetans angry? Jobless could be one reason. Jeremy, Virginia, USA To those of you shouting "free Tibet". Where are you when US invade Iraq. Where are you when millions African are killed . First of all, Who told you millions Tibetans are killed , I am sure it is from "someone", you can believe what ever you want. The truth is history will tell. Even if billions of Indian are killed in America only hundreds years ago, why you are not sorry for that. I wonder who said dead Indian are good Indian. So think before speak, find the truth before you act. THX frank, vancouver, the whole isssue is about enough is enough, more than 1 million tibetans killed, no problemo....few chinese killed, few properties destroyed big issue... what about invasion of tibet, chinese destroying tibetan culture and tradition, stealing tibetan natural resources, han population transfer in tibet and making tibetans minority in their own land and many more... is it no problemo again? what about more than hundred tibetans killed by chinese in past few days? enough is enough.......... tibet belongs to tibetans and china belongs to chinese so please all you chinese go back to your country, live happily ever after and there will be no problem. Gurila, lhasa, TO Tenzin, Tibet was a part of China for thousand years, I know that the Chinese army killed many tibetans in 1950's,but those people were soldiers, they fight for independece, however, they failed.In eastern culture, people must pay for indepence, you wanna indepence, must accept war. It is like that the American people wanna indepence from British, also many people were killed. heng, Beijing, China I want to cite Björk's "Declare Independence" Protect your language Declare Independence Han people should not invade(Yes, it's invasion) Tibet Free Tibet Scott Hsiao, Taipei, Taiwan There are also many Tibetans live inside China. Can I say Tibetans invade Han Chinese areas too? People are free to live in wherever they like as long as they are law-abiding and have legal documentations. The Communist party killed 10 Billion Han Chinese too. The most important thing is the Communist killed the 5000 years of Chinese civilization. Since then, Chinese will never be the same again. We feel what you Tibetan feel. Eventually, the young Han Chinese will understand and allow you guys to decide your future. John, Los Angeles, CA After reading all the views i like to ask few questions. Why are the Chinese in Tibet? Why did they invade(sorry) go into Tibet and murder thousand of Tibetan(sorry - Chinese Tibetan) in 1959. Any answers. Since 1959 who has suffered more Chinese or Tibetans. People forget since 1959 thousands of tibetans have been murdered by Chinese army. There comes a point where people can take no more. As a tibetan i hate the sight of Tibetans beating up helpless chinese but we should realize that these same tibetans have been brutulized for 50 years. Tenzin, Boston, USA If this riot happened in the US/UK, this would be called TERRORISM. Now, since it was in Tibet and the victims are ethnic Chinese, those Tibetans who killed are heroes and those Han Chinese are deserved to be murder. This is Western idea of democracy! John, Los Angeles, CA i was really surprised to see monks attacking innocent civilians,burning shops and houses.i couldnot believe my eyes.this kind of images made me extremely sad and my sympathy to the so called non-volent tibetans shattered.Even if imy ethnicity in nepal is losely linked to Tibetans,there is no way i support these kind of activities,after all chinese are too human beings and monks attacking civilians???????????????i still cant believe it. surendra gurung, pokhara, nepal this article is the only one in the whole western world telling the truth of the situation, shame on those CNN reporting peter, toronto, These Tibetans have been given higher priority in many areas than the Han people in China. Their young people could get into the universities with far lower scores than the Hans, and they're allowed to have more children as they will while the Hans cannot. Most of the Tibetans were serfs before the communists took over the power in 1950. It's not a surprise at all that the previous masters, who were beaten down or expelled at that time, want their power back and resume their governance in Tibet. If you want to know more about Tibet, here's a good article written by a western scholar http://journeyeast.tripod.com/western_scholars.html Grace, Vancouer, Canada Thank you for reporting the truth of the violence event. I am so pleased to see the fair voice in such an international Media. I need to clarify something: - Chinese Government never force Tibetans learning Mandarin. Actually, most Tibetans in China nowadays can not speak Mandarin at all. - Minority groups in China do enjoy more privileges than Han people do. -Could you ever imagine that a country consist of 56 ethic groups enjoy racial harmony for more than half a centrury . But Chinese people and Chinese government make the miracle come true. - Tibet riots and those unfair reports from BBC and CNN deepen the hatreds between Tibetans and Han in China. Does racialism can be seem as the "benefit" brought by globalization and free speech. Karen XW, Singapore, which side should we believe???????? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSQnK5FcKas SHAME!!!!!!! Christina, Houston, U.S.A. Somebody brought the situation of Northern Ireland. Indeed it is comparable to that of Tibet. A ruling force followed by migration from the ruling country to the host territory. The only difference is that Northern Ireland is further down the line. If Catholics started destroying protestant businesses and burning cars saying its our country so leave, is that a legitimate protest? Of course it isn't. The ordinary Han Chinese are just as oppressed as the Tibetans: the government wouldn't think twice about about shooting Han Chinese unarmed protesters. The Tibetans cause is a worthy one as is the cause of the Catholics in NI but neither should or can be won by violent means raymond, the norf, UK To Gyame Kyakpa So, Winnipeg, Canada you stated following: ---snip Put the story in context. From March 10-13th, the Tibetan monks from Drepung, Sera and others held peaceful protests. They were brutally suppressed. The rumours spread within Lhasa about hundreds being killed. The Chinese government have all the video of that protest... How come that is not available? --end Question: Do the monks have video/images of the 10-13th protests? That may complete the picture, would like to see. Thank you. Phil, PDX, US The western media always like to criticize Chinese government, no matter whether they are wrong or not. The good thing is the more people realized that. Those Tibetan terrorists should get punished! But believe or not, if it's Chinese government try to punish them, the western media will start another round of criticizing on Chinese government. Jason Z., San Diego, USA Thank you for reporting the truth of the violence event. I am so pleased to see the fair voice in such an international Media. I need to clarify something: - Chinese Government never force Tibetans learning Mandarin. Actually, most Tibetans in China nowadays can not speak Mandarin at all. - Minority groups in China do enjoy more privileges than Han people do. -Could you ever imagine that a country consist of 56 ethic groups enjoy racial harmony for more than half a centrury . But Chinese people and Chinese government make the miracle come true. - Tibet riots and those unfair reports from BBC and CNN deepen the hatreds between Tibetans and Han in China. Does racialism can be seem as the "benefit" brought by globalization and free speech. Karen XW, Singapore, Tibetans ant wild or violent,they have similar religions as Buddhism. Everything are done by Dalai Lama and his well trained resistant troop. and i name those violent people Terrorist instead of my beloved Tibetan. J L, Toronto, CA No matter if China has right to claim the sovereignty on Tibet, the violence claiming tens of innocent people's life cannot be tolerated! Similar to what happens in Iraq, no matter if the US and UK troops have good reasons to invade Iraq, suicide bombings can never be tolerated! After reading this article, I am disappointed by the news coverage from the BBC last a few days. Compared to the journalists who are drawing their conclusions far away from Lhasa, these first hand stories from the western tourists who were then in the city are far more trustworthy. If this bloody violent behaviour of Tibetans could gain wide praise in the name of fighting for freedom, why couldn't those violence happening everyday in Iraq nowadays and in the old days in N. Ireland? Aren't all of them in the same name of fighting for freedom? After all, media is just a tool influenced by the government to express its value. It's a shame that BBC has lost his credit of bringing stories from two sides! Clark, Dundee, Scotland I have observed the news and stories for a few days and this article is one of the very few fair report of the western media.I admit that Chinese gvnt has here and there problem, the way they are treating medians are improper, there might be serious conflict between the Tibetans and the local gvnt. But, have you ever thought about follows: -- why did it happen in 2008 before the Olympic games? -- why do the western media have the same tongue against China and Chinese gvnt? -- who will be benefited at all? the way the western media is doing, disappoints Chinese people very very very much. Those morals so called and believed by chinese young generation 'fairness', 'justice','freedom' 'independance' of those western media, are now undressed. why don't you check what the facts are before you hastily make a judgement? Hansen, Hamburg, Finally, I can see some true report from website out of China. I was frustrated by what BBC and CNN said and I must say that Chinese ppl is hurt by those report with prejudical view. Liu Jianpu, Singapore, Not many paper reported this fairly because most have their own cold war agenda. Such agenda are the cause of suffering for hundred of years, including the one in the middle-east now. This suffering will continue unless china is able to use its wisdom to tame this belligerence world. Chinese should be happy because you must remenber that up to 1940 you are still paying war debt to Europe Japan and America for loosing the opium and later boxer rebellion war occured a century ago. Nothing you can do about what immoral people say. But you can work hard to improve your standing and hopefully one day you can help other to ward off suffering like what china faced in the past hundred years. Frank Lau, Penang, Malaysia Afterall, Tibetans are just as capable of heineous crimes as anyone on this planet. They are not the cuddley, peace-loving saints depicted as matter-of-fact incessantly by the Western media. While I do not like the tone of condemnation from the Chinse goverment, but they have demonstrated restraint in their response to the lawlessness of the ethnic rioters. There is a far-cry from the days of the Tiananman. Tibetans have tarnished their image by staging this riot to attract world attention before the Olympic game. The events are quite clearly pre-meditated with boxes of rock to provoke harsh Chinese authority response which, I believe, were calculated to get the world opinion turned against the Chinese. The reaction and rhetoric from the West is as predictable and automatic as always. The rioters are just a small minority of the 6 millions Tibetans in Chna. The majority are just eager to have more dignity and relative prosperity as the rest of their Chinese compatriots. Terry, Toronto, Canada As a chinese, it's really glad to read such a fair report after read so many so-called "true" stories. it seems that many people from other countries always have some prejudices against Chinese gvt. but i believe wise people could understand why the gvt. do these things. Yang Xi, Sichuan, China Dalai Lama is just hypocritical! What they did just proved they're a wild ethnic group and non-education! I'm from Quebec where many Quebecers want Quebec to be independent too, but I don't thnk that Canadian gov would allow Quebecers go on the street to kill innocent people, burn cars and destroy stores like that... but I beleive Quebecers wont do that violence too. After all, one shouldn't do bad things even if one might have a good reason. That's a basic line! Linda, Montreal, Canada The Reason: UK invade china and its tibet twice around the beginning of 1900s. Ignoring the fact the tibet is part of empire China for about 800 years before UK invasion. When UK was kicked out, English media and its historian just claim Chinese invade Tibet, tibet is a independent country. The history? they claim they are some "disputable claims"... This is why you see the CNN, BBC. most westen media and general public jus fellow... Yuansheng Mei, washington, DC Western media and people, please do not look at same kind of things from different perspectives. When US treat mobs in Los Angeles without restraint (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots), did any other country say it is not proper? No, because when police take legally allowed actions against mobs, who are threatening ordinary people's lives, it is just right. So why do western media only care about China government supressing violence as other countries will also do, but not renounce the mobs who burn shops, attack police office and kill people? This is definitely unfair Ying, London, UK Only when the public order and the safety of others is maintained can the freedom to speak and protest be guaranteed. Under no circumstances can anybody be allowed to put the lives of others at risk and force the public to live in terror. Just listen to what the tourists who fortunately got out of Tibet said. What the Tibetans did is to kill innocent and decent people who abide by the laws, which is disgusting. Therefore, the Tibetans do not deseve our support and sympathy. Acutally, the ethinic minorities in China including the Tibetans enjoy more privileges than the Han Chinese. They can have more babies, they can go to university even though they do not qualify the tests, they can claim more benefits than the Han Chinese. This time, the Tibetans just want more money from the government. It's a shame. Do not believe what our journalists wrote. They tend to frame news to serve their interest. They highlight some and ignore others. Tibet is one part of China, we support it. Eric, Newcastle, I think these pro Chinese comments are ill thought out, the Tibetans have, in the past 50 years, had their country invaded, taken over by foreigners, forced to learn a new lanuage and denounce one of the oldest religeons know. What did everyone expect, a thankyou? Funny how people didn't look at the situation in Northern Ireland like this. I don't remember everyone saying how great Britain was for taking it over, and how the Irish should stop protesting and accept their fate of being part of Britain. Stephen Herbert, Manchester, GB Even if Chinese Govt did release stories and pictures of Han Chinese being beaten to death, would people support free Tibet believe it. They just believe whatever stories support their view and demage the image of the Chinese Govt. Some people take it for granted that stories told by the commumites are bound to by propaganda. Kan, London, I suppose when the Jews rioted in the Ghetto world opinion was on the side of the Nazis since the Jews were being violent? Yeah, right. Fred, Pittsburgh, PA, USA "I think without China it would be much better there" This is typical German! She has nothing to say because she didn't know anything. The turth is: What the western people understand about Tibet is only Dalai Lama's smile, now the situation shows Dalai Lama has NO POWER in this young Tibetan generation. Now everyone see the real Tibetan! Willow, Munich, Germany I invite everyone to take a look at the following footage, possibly taken by individuals who happened to be on the scene at the time. Very shuddering footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBmQR-yZyY8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNOCTwm8D7c Rose, NSW, Australia Finally a first-handed report. Thanks. Beijing made the mistake of not allowing western journalists into Tibet and to report what really happened. Dalai is a very cunning politician. He should've won the Academy Award instead of Nobel Peace. But he blew his cover yesterday by telling reporters that the situation in Tibet got out of "his control". Late, but the confession. http://www.iivs.de/~iivs01311/EN/front.html Alex, Frankfurt, Germany He, Frankfurt, Germany BBC claims it is a protest. Looting banks, burning buildings with people inside, buring cars and shops, damaging school properties, stabbing people with swords. This is a protest? Today a BBC reporter said he was not allowed to enter Dalai Lama's home town. He failed to specify the exact name of the place. He said he was stopped by local police. But there was no police ahead of him or behind him. The only one stopping him is himself. Just want to tell BBC, "Please stop making up things yourself." mijit, NEW YORK, USA feel sorry to read what the people think about tibetan. the tibetans start with a peacefully protest than became kos ( war zone) it not tibetans problem is the problem of chinese govt. the reason a peaecfull protest became a war zone is becoz chinese govt pushed us too hard and too long. the same thing happened in 1989 both in lhasa and china. some Western tourists only see what the tibteans did, and they dont know which side to believe. but i can tell you is that dont trust what the CCTV and chinese media report. tashi dhondup tsering, uppland, sweden let truth speak out Lillian Cheng, O'Fallon, MO, USA The Chinese should never have stepped into Tibet, period. It is an invasion of Tibet by China. The older generation of Tibetans is dying off, the younger newer generation has never known a homeland without occupation and oppression. How easily everyone making comments has forgotten video of Chinese border guards shooting and killing a Tibetan without warning as they crossed the snow. All China has succeeded in doing is create an unrestrained generation of freedom fighters who have never had a chance to have been guided by Tibetan authority. They will not listen to the Dalai Lama, they just want their homeland back. They will fight a guerilla war into the heart of China to do it. If China cannot make peace with the Tibetan people it will again face a new civil war. After a number of Tibetan and Chinese massacres the current Chinese leadership will probably be deposed and face the same capital punishments their predecessors did. Calvin Hobbes, Yahoo, TX, Finally fair reporting; not the pro-Dalai Lama kind. These Tibetans buddhists are just thugs bent on violence, killing and destruction of anything Chinese. Barbarians at the gate of heavenly peace. Allan Wong, Singapore, Singapore What is the justice when people cast condemnation upon the victims at the call from the murderer? The Han people are the victim of the unrest! However, they are hurt most not by their compatiot Tibetan, but the misunderstanding and misteaching from the western media. Thanks for the report. David, Beijing, Perhaps you would like to see the images that are posted here of the casualties... I can assure you that they are not Chinese. http://www.tchrd.org/press/2008/pr20080318c.html Put the story in context. From March 10-13th, the Tibetan monks from Drepung, Sera and others held peaceful protests. They were brutally suppressed. The rumours spread within Lhasa about hundreds being killed. The Chinese government have all the video of that protest... How come that is not available? The lay Tibetans got involved only after the fact. The only target they could find are Han in Tibet. Considering how the Han are treated in Xinjiang, I'd say, in perspective, this was not bad. NO CHINESE HAVE BEEN KILLED. If any were killed, you can be sure that the Chinese government would show the body!!! If China and the Chinese are so concerned, they should let independent media and observers enter Tibet. Simple! Why is China so concerned and why would they not allow independent media in Tibet? Gyame Kyakpa So, Winnipeg, Canada Hope everybody can see this objective report! Queena, SF, "I think without China it would be much better there" I guess he did not read history. China dismantled Tibet's slavery system. Jeff Wu, Chicago, good report kevin, Los Angeles, U.S.A. This is objective. Glad to see use the word "violence" here, not as BBC use "peaceful protester" Li Wentao, Nottingham, UK I think without the Free Tibet movement it would be much better there John, New York, Let truth speak out. Lillian Cheng, O'Fallon, MO, USA The Tibetan theocracy was brutal if we'd review history. Professor Parenti get a better summary: http://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html Frank, LA, USA It is very nice and objective article, fair report. Thanks for telling the world the truth, the fact; not like other western media such as:CNN, BBC, didn't report the fact but follow whatever Dalai Lama's one-side story. Danni, Beijing/China, China that telling people truth xinhuang, swansea, uk I read similar thing on Toronto Star. Han Chinese were attacked by Tibetan. Lucy, Hamilton, CANADA As usual, truth is always in the middle. Tony, Stamford, CT What a peaceful protest !!! Chen, Charlottesville, Virginia, US Lama leading the violence in the first picture. Are those the so-called non-violent monks? Peter, NYC, USA When Han chinese were killed, everyone who was brainwashed by media said "save tibet" Why? I do not know, who is the killer? I do not care what is history, I just know Tibet is one province of China now. If somebody want to change it by killing others, I just want to say "God bless you" Martin, laguna hills , Are you sure? I have never seen such kind of report from BBC. Kevin Murnick, Manchester, These acts were committed by "peaceful" Tibetans. I'm sick and tired of our media casting the Dalai Lama and his minions as somehow better than the rest of us. It's so easy to portray the Chinese government as evil. Just say that they're Commies and people will automatically assume that they're the criminals. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFY1j8qs9mk Props to this article BTW Robert Hanson, Dover, UK a.. Read all 76 comments a.. Have your say [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ ** MABINDO - Forum Diskusi Masyarakat Buddhis Indonesia ** ** Kunjungi juga website global Mabindo di http://www.mabindo.org **Yahoo! 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