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Protest in Tibet: Understanding the Current Crisis

Type: Speakers/Conferences/Lectures/Seminars
Description: On 10 March 2008, hundreds of berobed Tibetan Buddhist monks attempted to stage a political protest in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People’s Republic of China. Protest soon spread to other Tibetan areas in Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan provinces. Participants include all sectors of Tibetan society – monks, nuns, urban residents, farmers and pastoralists, and students, who have also staged protests in the cities of Beijing, Chengdu and Lanzhou. While most protests have been peaceful, some incidents turned violent, resulting in at least 22 deaths caused by Tibetan rioters, according to official Chinese sources, and as many as 140 Tibetan deaths, mostly shot dead by security personnel, according to unofficial sources. The number of officially acknowledged detentions has surpassed 1,000, and unofficial estimates add more than 1,000 to that.

Chinese security forces have responded by suppressing protests, detaining large numbers of protesters, and implementing localised security measures. Authorities have blocked foreign news reporters and tourists from Tibetan areas and expelled those already there, preventing independent verification of events.

Tibetan and Chinese views of the protests and their causes contrast dramatically. The Chinese have accused the Dalai Lama and his supporters of meticulously planning and coordinating the entire chain of events. Critics charge that the failure of Chinese policies brought on the crisis. This discussion considers the background to the conflict, and the main issues involved in the current crisis from both sides.

Dr Susette Cooke is Lecturer in China Studies at the Institute for International Studies, and a member of the China Research Centre at the University of Technology Sydney. She has travelled and researched extensively in Tibetan areas within the PRC and studied in Beijing and Xian.
Date: 9 Apr 2008
Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Drinks from 5.30pm, lecture from 6pm
Audience: All Welcome
Campus: Blackfriars
Building: CC05
China Research Centre, Level 2
Organiser: Institute for International Studies
Contact Details:
Email: michael.prince@uts.edu.au
Cost: Free
More Information: RSVP