Violence in Tibet

[Please note: Click the "Read more" link below for updates to this article.] Chinese troops sealed off three of Lhasa's largest monasteries after protests in the Tibetan capital grew violent. Bloomberg news reports that shops and police cars were set ablaze in the biggest protests in Lhasa in nearly 20 years.

The Times of London reports that gunfire was heard in the streets by American tourists, who reported it to the U.S. Embassy.

The most serious violence was touched off about 11 am today, Lhasa time, when monks from the Ramoche monastery prepared to stage a demonstration. According to Jane Macartney of the Times of London, police tried to stop the monks from entering the streets. Then a police car parked outside the monastery gate was set on fire as hundreds of Tibetans rallied around the monks.

The protesters are demanding greater freedom of religion before the Beijing Olympic Games. The BBC says that the protests began earlier this week, "when a number of monks were reportedly arrested after a march marking the 49th anniversary of a Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule." Hundreds of monks filled the streets to demand the release of the marchers. Reports say tear gas was used to disperse them.

I will be updating this blog post throughout the day as I learn more.

Update (11:30 EST): Jim Yardley of the New York Times reports that His Holiness the Dalai Lama has issued a statement "saying he was concerned about the situation and appealing to the Chinese leadership to 'stop using force and address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people'."

As of now -- Friday night in Tibet -- Chinese authorities have placed much of Lhasa, particularly neighborhoods near monasteries, under curfew. Chinese military police are blocking roads into and out of some ethnic Tibetan neighborhoods, according to Yardley of the Times.

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing is telling Americans to stay away from Lhasa.

Update (11:50 EST): Agence France-Presse (AFP) is reporting "Several people lost their lives and many others were injured in Lhasa on Friday." Radio Free Asia reports that at least two people have been killed by Chinese bullets. AFP also says the demonstrations have spread outside Lhasa, with "monks leading a rally of up to 300 people in Xiahe, Gansu province, the site of one of Tibetan Buddhism's most important monasteries."

Update (1:10 EST): The BBC has photographs of turmoil in the streets of Lhasa.

Update (1:50 EST): Atlantic Monthly correspondent James Fallows, who has been reporting on China in recent issues, writes that "No one outside Tibet knows exactly what is going on there right now... .... or at least I don't, but in case observers outside China are in any doubt: This is potentially big, big, very consequential news."

Fallows says it would be out of character for the Chinese government not to respond with great force to the demonstrations in Lhasa. Also, he writes, "this will certainly change the tone of international discussion about the Olympics."

Update (1:55 EST): CNN has a timeline of events leading up to today's violence in Lhasa.

Update (2:55 EST): Protests are spreading outside Tibet. The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy has posted mobile phone pictures of demonstrations in the Kanlho "Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture" of Gansu Province, China The area is traditionally known to Tibetans as Amdo Labrang.

The Associated Press reports that a dozen Buddhist monks were injured today in scuffles with police in Katmandu, Nepal.

Noisy demonstrations are going on right now outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

About 80 Tibetans protesting outside the Chinese Embassy in New Dehli were arrested by Indian police.

Update (6:50 EST): A blogger calling himself Kenspeckle arrived in Lhasa on Thursday and posted what he saw of the Friday protests, with pictures.

Update (8:20 pm EST): James Miles of The Economist is in Lhasa, and he writes that the violence of the past several hours may be the worst in 50 years, never mind 20.

At Newsweek, Melinda Liu writes that Chinese authorities are "freaking out." The Chinese are banking heavily on this summer's Beijing Olympics to showcase China as a modern, forward-thinking nation. Ironically, they believe they must brutally clamp down on signs of dissension to do this. "If they have to lock down the entire country in order to hold a protest-free Olympics, will Chinese authorities declare success?" Liu asks.

Update, Saturday, March 15: I have published a new blog post on the situation in Tibet, here Further updates will be added to the new post.

Photo Caption: A monk of Sera Monastery, Lhasa

Photo Credit: China Photos/Getty Images