The increased media focus on what China is doing inside of Tibet and how Tibetans are responding to the crackdown continues to in the New York Times:

The increased forces have been seen in at least four crucial areas of the vast Tibetan region: Lhasa, the capital; Xiahe, a town in Gansu Province that is home to a large and restive monastery; Tongren, a monastery town in Qinghai Province; and Lithang, a town in Sichuan Province that has been locked down this week. …
On Tuesday, the government ordered shops and hotels to shut down for three days, several residents said by telephone. A young woman, who asked not to be named for her safety, said, “Shops have all closed, and people do not dare to go out.”

Local security officers declined to comment when asked about the episode over the telephone.

The campaign for the boycott of Losar, the Tibetan New Year, has spread via text and e-mail messages and fliers. The holiday begins next Wednesday.

Last March, Tibetans angry over China’s policies in Tibet and the suppression of peaceful protests rioted in Lhasa, leading to widespread damage and the deaths of at least 18 civilians and one police officer, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Protests flared up in other regions, and exile groups said hundreds of Tibetans were killed in the ensuing crackdown.

The call for a boycott began several months ago and has gained traction among younger Tibetans as well as intellectuals and dissidents. It has been endorsed by overseas Tibetans, including the government in exile in Dharamsala, India.

“It’s deeply connected with Tibetan culture, the idea that after such a horrible year filled with death, how can we celebrate?” Woeser, a popular Tibetan blogger, said in an interview. “Instead, it should be a memorial.”

The Times goes on to report on how last spring’s national uprising is continuing to reverberate in Tibet. Recent reports from inside Tibet say that contrary to reports from China and the Tibetan Government in Exile, thousands of Tibetans were murdered by Chinese forces during the exile. Additionally thousands more languish in jail and other thousands have simply disappeared.  Those who have been released from prison are barred from returning to monasteries (if they were monks) and their is intense surveillance on Tibetans by the Chinese government.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said last week that “the situation in Tibet is stable.” But a monk from Lhasa, reached by phone, said, “There are a lot of soldiers and People’s Armed Police in the streets,” referring to China’s main paramilitary force. Like almost all the people interviewed for this article, the monk agreed to speak only on the condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.

The monk said he, like thousands of other monks, had not been allowed to return to his monastery after being imprisoned for several months last year after the March uprising. Many of the main monasteries are being emptied out, he said. There are only about 400 monks now in the Drepung Monastery in Lhasa, he said, a small fraction of the number before the uprising.

The monks are still being forced to take “patriotic education” classes that have been going on in many monasteries since the March protests, he added. As a result, the monks study Chinese law rather than Buddhist scriptures and are told to denounce the Dalai Lama.

Monks no longer in the monasteries are barred from wearing their robes in public, the monk said, and the police check on the monks at home, at times hauling some off to prison. The monk said Tibetan policemen came to his home three times a month.

“They ask, ‘Where have you been?’ ” he said. “ ‘Have you been out? What are Tibetans talking about in the society? Have you met with friends who are in prison?’ ”

The monk said many Tibetans in Lhasa were talking of joining the boycott. But he said that Chinese officials were urging the Tibetans to carry on with festivities and were even offering them money to do so.

This is a truly chilling report. China is cracking down not only on Tibetans who have spoken out for independence, but the entire populace. Towns and cities are turned to prisons, as the ramped up Chinese military presence has created a climate of fear. Chinese forces are trying to buy cooperation from Tibetans, yet the desire for freedom remains unabated in Tibet.
Generally speaking I don’t like to simply quote long passages from news stories. Or at least, it’s not my preferred style of blogging. But it’s incredibly important that the few pieces of journalism about what is going on inside Tibet are shared and amplified so more people see the truth about China’s ongoing military occupation of Tibet and the continue Tibetan spirit of defiance in the face of Chinese brutality.