China and Tibet - the recent problems

A bunch of Tibetans have been demonstrating against the Chinese occupation. The Chinese media have been studiously ignoring this but cell-phone camera video's smuggled out show the repression that the Tibetan's are suffering. Now China is doing what they do very well -- playing the bully. From the Washington Post:

China sets deadline for Tibet rioters to surrender
China set a "surrender deadline," announced deaths and showed the first extensive television footage of rioting in Lhasa on Saturday, launching a crackdown after the worst unrest in Tibet for two decades.

The response came following torrid protests on Friday which flew in the face of official claims the region was immune from unrest as Beijing readies to hold the Olympic Games in August.

Xinhua news agency said 10 "innocent civilians" burnt to death in fires that accompanied bitter street clashes in the remote, mountain capital on Friday. It said no foreigners died but gave few other details, and the report could not be verified.

Tibetan law-and-order departments offered leniency for participants who turn themselves in by Monday midnight.

"Criminals who do not surrender themselves by the deadline will be sternly punished according to the law," stated the notice on the Tibetan government Web site (www.tibet.gov.cn). It added that those who "harbor or hide" them also face harsh treatment.

The government offered rewards and protection for informers.

A bit more:

But a source close to the self-proclaimed Tibetan government-in-exile suggested China's death toll of 10 was not the full story. He said at least five Tibetan protesters were shot dead by troops. Other groups supporting Tibetan independence have claimed many more may have died.

The Olympic torch arrives in Lhasa in a matter of weeks.

China has accused followers of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, of masterminding the rioting, which has scarred its image of national harmony in the build-up to the Beijing Olympics.

What better time to renew the push for autonomy than when the world is watching. Tibet was historically an independent nation and was never a part of China. China is trying to do a land grab on an area that doesn't have much commercial value but what has tremendous historical value. It is trying to buy legitimacy for its corrupt communist government and in so doing, showing the world its true nature. China was very quiet for years after Tiananmen Square. Are we in line for another one?