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TIBET AT A TURNING POINT: THE SPRING UPRISING AND CHINA’S NEW CRACKDOWN
died as a result of the repression of dissent in other Tibetan areas. Some of the names
of those who died, either by being shot, tortured, or committing suicide, are provided
with this report. The names of all of those who died are not known due to the harsh
repression in Tibet and attempts by the Chinese authorities to impose an information
blackout. Wherever possible, the authorities attempted to hide evidence of the
killings by taking bodies away from families, or removing them from the scene of the
deaths. The names given in this report are only available thanks to the courage and determination
of Tibetans in communicating with the outside world at tremendous
risk to their own safety.
In order to hide its violent repression in Tibet, particularly as it seeks to project an
image of stability and unity in the build-up to the Olympics, China has sealed off virtually
the entire plateau — despite promising increasing openness prior to the Games
in August. Although the Tibet Autonomous Region [TAR] opened up to foreign tour
groups on June 25, according to an announcement in the official media, tourism is
not in any way back to normal, despite official reports. It is still highly restricted and
monasteries are still closed. 2
The scale of these protests across the entire Tibetan plateau far exceeds the three years
of pro-independence demonstrations in Lhasa and beyond in the late 1980s, culminating
in the imposition of martial law by the then Party Secretary of the TAR,
Hu Jintao, now Party chief and President of China. The protests from 1987–89 were
also taking place following a period of relative political liberalization after the Cultural
Revolution, compared to today’s protests, which happened in an atmosphere of
already intense political repression.
This report includes vivid eyewitness detail from inside Tibet of the uprising and its
suppression as well as providing the first analysis of the scale and scope of the protests
against Chinese rule. According to numerous reports received by ICT, Tibetans fear the
crackdown could worsen still further after the Olympics, once the global focus is no
longer on China. They are concerned — and in some cases, have been warned by Chinese
security personnel — that more reprisals may follow the Olympics, with people
who are now being monitored being taken into custody later.
While demonstrators in the late 1980s were primarily monks and some nuns, although
many protests were joined by laypeople too, unrest since the spring has involved
farmers, nomads, university students, school children, laborers, and
intellectuals as well as monks and nuns, expressing a unified nationalistic sentiment
and a wish for the Dalai Lama to return home. There have been many instances of
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