Ann Applebaum has a great piece in Slate on the uprising in Tibet. While emphasizing the important role cell phones have played in distributing information about the protests, she moves on to a serious discussion of China’s repressive policies towards Tibet and how the current communist party leadership of Hu Jintao has aggravated Sino-Tibetan relations by prioritizing the repression of Tibet. Of note:

And like all its predecessors, the Chinese imperial class cares deeply about the pacification of the imperial periphery, more so than one might think.

For proof that this is so, look no further than the biography of Hu Jintao, the current Chinese president—and also the former Communist Party boss of Tibet. In 1988 and 1989, at the time of the last major riots, Hu was responsible both for the brutal repression of dissident Tibetan monks and dissidents and for what the Dalai Lama has subsequently called China’s policy of “cultural genocide“: the importation of thousands of ethnic Han Chinese into Tibet’s cities in order to dilute and eventually outbreed the ethnic Tibetan population.

Clearly, the repression of Tibet matters enormously to the members of China’s ruling clique, or they would not have promoted Hu, its mastermind, so far. The pacification of Tibet must also be considered a major political and propaganda success, or it would not have been copied by the Chinese-backed Burmese regime last year and repeated by the Chinese themselves in Tibet last week. Tibet is to China what Algeria once was to France, what India once was to imperial Britain, what Poland was to czarist Russia: the most unreliable, the most intransigent, and at the same time the most symbolically significant province of the empire.

Keep that in mind, over the next few days and months, as China tries once again to belittle Tibet, to explain away a nationalist uprising as a bit of vandalism. The last week’s riots began as a religious protest: Tibet’s monks were demonstrating against laws that, among other things, require them to renounce the dalai lama. The monks’ marches then escalated into generalized, unplanned, anti-Chinese violence, culminating in attacks on Han Chinese shops and businesses, among them—as you can see on the cell-phone videos—the Lhasa branch of the Bank of China.

However the official version evolves, in other words, make no mistake about it: This was not merely vandalism, it could not have been solely organized by outsiders, it was not only about the Olympics, and it was not the work of a tiny minority. It was a significant political event, proof that the Tibetans still identify themselves as Tibetan, not Chinese.

Tibet Will Be Free reports:

At 4pm today GMT (midnight in Tibet) the Chinese Government’s deadline for the cessation of protests in Tibet expires. The government has threatened “harsher treatment” for Tibetans who continue to challenge the government. With at least 30 protesters already dead we’re fearing what harsher means. Tibetans and Tibet supporters around the world are gearing up to make sure the eyes of the world remain on Tibet to protect the Tibetans risking their lives in protest.

The Dalai Lama spoke out strongly yesterday, saying that Chinese authorities “simply rely on using force in order to simulate peace, a peace brought by force using a rule of terror.”

See incredible video footage of protests in Labrang HERE
And photos from Amdo and other protests HERE

Lhasa Rising makes a great point on the essential ineffectiveness of Chinese efforts to break Tibetans’ will for independence.

Tibet will be free, and here is why. As the Guardian (UK) wrote, “Beijing can be benevolent or brutal, but it will find that national identity lies at the heart of Tibetan demands for self-determination.”

…

Against Tibet, China has tried repression, it has tried genocide, it has tried communist revolution, it has tried capitalist consumerism, and it has tried demographic assault. Nothing has worked. Tibetans refuse to be brought to their knees. To the Chinese government, I say this: You have failed. Tibet will never be a part of China. Tibet will be an independent country once again, and the sooner you accept that, the better it will be for China, Tibet, and the world. Tibet will be free.

China has been trying to get Tibetans to forget their claims to independence and stop yearning for freedom for over 50 years. No matter what they’ve done, they have failed to make Tibetans drop their desire for freedom. They will continue to fail and, as Lhasa Rising says, Tibet will be free.

Update:

The NY Times reports on the Dalai Lama’s response to China’s deadline:

The Dalai Lama accused China on Sunday of waging “cultural genocide” against his followers in Tibet and called for an international inquiry into the suppression of protests there, his strongest defense to date of Tibetan Buddhists who have staged an uprising against Chinese rule.

Speaking at the headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile, the Dalai Lama endorsed the right of his people to press grievances peacefully against the Chinese authorities, and said he would not ask Tibetans to surrender to Chinese military police by midnight on Monday, as Beijing has demanded. He said that he had no moral authority to do so and that Tibetans had beseeched him not to capitulate to that demand.

“Whether the Chinese government admits it or not, a nation with an ancient cultural heritage is actually facing serious dangers,” the Dalai Lama told reporters during an emotionally charged news conference here. “Whether intentionally or unintentionally, some kind of cultural genocide is taking place.”

His comments reflected the inflamed passions among Tibetans abroad, who view the revolts, the largest since the late 1980s, as a watershed moment.

China has blocked access to YouTube, as reported by the China Media Blog and Shanghaist. Buckaroo Bonzai at Tibet Will Be Free notes:

While there have been previous incidents of blockage and filtering behind the Great Firewall, this is an extremely blatant and obvious case that is tied directly to the large number of clips on YouTube which show protests both inside Tibet and around the world.

Speaking of access to information in China, CNN Beijing Bureau Chief Jaime FlorCruz says that the network has been given permission to enter Tibet only twice in the last ten years.

Also at Tibet Will Be Free, Lhasa Rising points out that the Bush administration had removed China from America’s human rights black list three days before the PRC started their violent response to peaceful protests in Tibet. The Bush administration had previously refused to explain why China was removed from the black list in a Q&A with the AFP:

Q: Why was China removed from the worst offenders? They were on the list last year, but they’re not there this year.

A: I think if you look at the introduction to the report, the — describes China — that its human rights record remain poor.

The Bush administration and the State Department must reevaluate their previous assessment. A minimal response would be to put China back on the black list for their abuses in Tibet.

Radio Free Asia is reporting from sources in Lhasa and around Tibet that protests are spreading to other cities and monasteries around Tibet. Demonstrations have taken place around Kham, Amdo, and elsewhere. RFA reports over 100 dead Tibetans in Lhasa from the Chinese military response to the protests.

Radio Free Asia reports that 80 Tibetans have been killed  and Lhasa has been put under marshal law, though the number of dead is unclear. Tanks or armored personnel carriers have been deployed and China continues to respond with violence to Tibetan protests.

“We saw two dead at Ramoche temple, two in the garden, two at the Ganden printing house, and those Tibetans who went to take food to prisoners in Drapchi prison saw 26 Tibetans shot after they were brought in on a black vehicle,” one Tibetan witness said. “There could be about 80 dead, or more, but there is too much commotion here to give an exact number.”

RFA has also reported that four Tibetan monks from Ganden Monastery have self-immolated. Outside of Lhasa, in Gansu Province, at least 1,000 monks held a protest at Labrang Monastery.

“The Chinese authorities deployed all military in the Lhasa area and sent tanks. There could be several hundred tanks and they were shooting into the crowds,” one witness told RFA’s Tibetan service. “They also fired several rounds of tear-gas.”

The spread of protests outside of Lhasa, China’s use of the military to put down the protests, and the institution of marshal law are all signs of the scale and significance of these protests. China appears to be showing no restraint in their response, despite loud cries from the rest of the world.

CNN reports: 

Another Lhasa resident, who also withheld his name, said his electricity and telephone service had been cut off. He spoke to CNN on his cell phone.

 

China continues to impose reporting restrictions in Tibet and the neighboring province of Xinjiang. CNN sought permission to enter Tibet on Friday morning Beijing time. So far, this perrmission has not been granted. CNN reporting on Tibet was being blacked out Friday in mainland China.

 

CNN also quoted a Han Chinese tourist as saying that China has shut down trains out of Tibet.  

The major news is that there have been massive protests in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, throughout the week that have been met by a violent response by Chinese security forces. I’ve been watching CNN Europe and the BBC all morning and this has been the top story.

The protests are the largest Lhasa has seen since the 1989 uprising. Reports coming out are limited because China has refused entry to Tibet to major media outlets. CNN has repeatedly mentioned that their network has asked permission from China to enter Tibet to cover the protests and they have been refused. Think on that for a second – one of the largest media outlets in the world is being repeatedly refused entry to Tibet by the Chinese government.

From reports, peaceful protests were organized by monks and nuns in Lhasa since Monday, March 10th as part of remembrance of the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising. These protests by monks and nuns were met by a crackdown by the Chinese security forces. Drepung, Sera, and Ganden monasteries – the three largest in Lhasa – have been locked down and surrounded by Chinese forces.

The organized, peaceful protests by monks and nuns were joined by major unrest among Shops owned by Chinese settlers have been burned. The response by Chinese police has been to use violence, including tear gas, on the protestors. There have also been reports of shootings.

The the New York Times:

Violent protests erupted Friday in a busy market area of Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, as Buddhist monks and other ethnic Tibetans clashed with Chinese security forces. Witnesses say the protesters burned shops, cars, military vehicles and at least one tourist bus.

By Friday night, Chinese authorities had placed much of the central part of the city under a curfew[…]. Military police were blocking roads in some ethnic Tibetan neighborhoods, several Lhasa residents said.

[…] The [American] embassy said it had “received firsthand reports from American citizens in the city who report gunfire and other indications of violence.”

Xinhua, the Chinese government’s official news agency, issued a two-sentence bulletin, in English, confirming that shops in Lhasa had been set on fire and that other stores had closed because of violence on the streets. But the protests were otherwise censored in the Chinese press.

In India, the 100 return marchers and 2 organizers who were arrested earlier this week have been sentenced to 14 days in jail. They received this sentence because they refused to sign a bond that said they would not protest again for the next six months, ie, untli after the Beijing Olympics.

Thirty-one Tibetan protestors who were arrested in Delhi continue to be held in Indian jail. The protestors have gone on hunger strike to draw attention to India’s complete subordination to Chinese interests and crackdown on Tibetans on behalf of the Chinese government. Organizations representing the Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement issued the following statement on the protests in Lhasa:

Last night, the 100 Core Marchers and 2 organizers of the March to Tibet were sentenced to 14 days in judicial custody after appearing before the Senior Divisional Magistrate in Dehra. As the heads of the Organizing Committee of the Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement and March to Tibet, we condemn this decision by the Indian authorities to treat these peaceful Tibetan marchers as criminals.

The March to Tibet illustrates the aspirations of Tibetans all over the world for human rights and freedom. This past March 10th, the 49th anniversary of the 1959 national uprising, we saw the largest and most widespread protests in and outside of Tibet. Most importantly, in the past 4 days, protests have been spreading like wildfire inside Tibet, the likes of which have not been seen since 1987. The actions taken by the courageous Tibetans inside Tibet, in the face of terrible consequences, are an inspiration to us all. At this critical time, when our brothers and sisters inside Tibet are fighting for freedom, we too must persevere with our efforts, no matter what the consequences.

The March to Tibet is a purely non-violent initiative of Tibetans living in exile who long to return to our homeland. While the Tibetan people are infinitely grateful for the hospitality of the Indian people and government, the time has come to take our exile struggle home to the land of our ancestors.

In light of the critical situation inside Tibet, and considering that the March to Tibet is a nonviolent campaign modeled after the actions of India’s own Mahatma Gandhi, we call on the Indian government to immediately and unconditionally release all of the marchers being held at Yatri Niwas and allow the March to Tibet to continue un-abetted. We call on the freedom-loving people of India to request the central government to remove all obstacles to the continued journey of these 100 determined and peaceful Tibetans. And finally, we call on the international community to support the brave Tibetans inside Tibet by bringing scrutiny and pressure on the Chinese government and, at the same time, help the Tibetan marchers being held in detention by contacting the Indian government and calling for the marchers to be released and allowed to continue on their courageous journey home.

Students for a Free Tibet has put together an action alert in support of the return marchers in India. You can take action here.

Quite simply, this is a momentous time for Tibet. Tibetans inside Tibet are speaking out for independence and freedom from Chinese oppresive rule. Tibetan exiles and refugees efforts to peacefully speak out for their country are being swiftly shut down by the pliant Indian government. The whole world is watching the most visible Tibetan protests in 20 years. There can be no doubt what Tibetans inside and outside Tibet want: freedom. Those that stand in the way are clearly standing in opposition to self-determination, human rights, and religious tolerance. China is, as always, revealing itself as a totalitarian country that cannot tolerate dissent, let alone Tibetans’aspirations for the freedom they so rightly deserve.

I’ll try to update again on this tomorrow, but Tibet Will Be Free is the best place for news coming in from Tibet and India.

Kate at Tibet Will Be Free reports:

On orders from the Central Government, at around 6:30am, Indian police blocked the March to Tibet and forcibly removed all Marchers from the road at Dehra bridge, 50 kilometers from Dharamshala. The police first detained Tenzin Tsundue, carrying him away as he shouted “Bhoe Gyalo, Victory to Tibet.” The 100 Tibetan marchers then sat down on the road, linking arms and chanting Tibetan Buddhist prayers and “Free Tibet”. Indian police broke up the crowd, carrying each marcher away and loading them into 5 police buses. The marchers are now being held at Jawalaji police station and Tsundue is being kept separate from the rest of the group. To read more, go to: www.tibetanuprising.org

CNN has been playing this on repeat here in Europe, with  new updates and deep analysis of Sino-Tibetan issues and history.

The BBC and Reuters have good articles on the Indian government’s Chinese-ordered crack down on peaceful Tibetan marchers.

According to The Observer, Tibet Will Be Free, the official blog of Students for a Free Tibet, is the 21st most powerful blog in the world. The Observer is the Sunday sister paper to The Guardian. The determination is part of a ranking of the 50 most powerful blogs in the world. Here’s what The Observer says:

#21: Taking the protest online, Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) is a global, grassroots network of students campaigning to free Tibet, which has been occupied by China since 1950. Students in Tibet face arrest for posting on the site, but many escape to blog about their experiences in exile. With a history of direct action, the group is now uniting worldwide members through the web, blogging to spread word of news and protests, and using sites like Facebook to raise funds. The organisation, which was founded in 1994 in New York, spans more than 35 countries and gets up to 100,000 hits a month. In 2006, SFT used a satellite link at Mount Everest base camp to stream live footage on to YouTube of a demonstration against Chinese Olympic athletes practising carrying the torch there. Later this year the web will be a critical tool in organising and reporting protests during the games. ‘SFT plans to stage protests in Beijing during the games and post blogs as events unfold,’ says Iain Thom, the SFT UK national co-ordinator. ‘But for security reasons we can’t reveal details of how or where yet.’ Similarly, a massive protest in London on 10 March will be the subject of intense cyber comment. In response, the site has fallen victim to increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. Investigations have traced the sources back to China, leading to speculation that the Chinese authorities are trying to sabotage the site to stop online critics.

Wow, this is an incredible recognition of how effectively Students for a Free Tibet has melded non-violent direct action, new media promotion strategies, and innovative uses of technology to push for Tibetan independence. I was an author at Tibet Will Be Free while I worked for SFT (from 2005-2007), though to be honest many of the most impressive tech developments cited by The Observer have happened since I left SFT. Looking at what was done yesterday for M10 Live, it’s very exciting to thing about what other cool tech and social networking developments will take place at Tibet Will Be Free in coming months.

Hat tip to Buckaroo Bonzai at TWBF.

The New York Times reports on how Beijing’s pollution cost a top event one of the top athletes in the world.

Pollution in Beijing will deprive the Summer Olympics of an international star in one of the Games’ marquee events.

Haile Gebrselassie, the world-record holder in the marathon and perhaps distance running’s biggest name, said Monday that he would not compete in the marathon at the Olympics in August because of concerns about the effects of the city’s pollution, heat and humidity. He said he still hoped to run in Beijing in the 10,000 meters.

“The pollution in China is a threat to my health and it would be difficult for me to run 42 kilometers in my current condition,” he said in a telephone interview with Reuters.

When China was granted the Olympics by the I.O.C., they committed to stopping pollution and maintaining a certain number of blue sky days in the lead-up to the Games. As you can tell from that picture, taken last July, Beijing still has major air problems. And remember, that picture is eight months old and now a top marathoner is withdrawing, suggesting that the air quality is still unquestionably bad in Beijing. You would think that losing an athlete of Gebrselassie’s profile would cause the I.O.C. to respond. Athletes don’t think they’re safe to compete in Beijing. The I.O.C. should do something about it immediately – move the Games to a part of the world that can and should accommodate them.