Well, I'm also on Tibet and I was in the middle of the riots.
I was there when they started and there was no attempt to make any peaceful demonstration. Iron bars, gasoline cannisters, rocks, knives etc were unpacked from backpacks and then it all went crazy from one second to the next.
If you think the Chinese government was in this you're as naive as a person can get. No need to comment that at all.
As far as I saw during the long time I was in the battle zone I saw NO monks.
funclimb wrote:3 Chinese soldiers were killed by a Tibetan who was being harassed at a checkpoint. And a bomb in the west side of Lhasa went off - but no injuries.
Bullshit!
Answer this: Why isn't this widely broadcasted then?
Wouldn't that be perfect evidence for the Chinese to show how the aggressive Tibetans attack the peace keepers?
More of those idiotic rumors around. Snipers killing innocents all over the place etc.
Get a grip.
funclimb wrote:Chinese news CCTV9 (in English for international audience) is really painting a rosy picture of Chinese efforts -- how they used GREAT restraint, how they RESCUED people especially older folks and children, and how this whole violent riot was fueled by The Dalai Lama, etc. It's all propaganda, but anyone who's been in China for some time would know that this is typical Chinese news -- propaganda. Everything is "harmonious" in China.
The Chinese army showed great restraint.
Period.
I was out watching triple rows of fully geared battle police, paramilitaries and elite soldiers blocking off the riot zones, not interfering at all. They waited, contained the situation in the already affected areas.
As for rescuing people from the over lit houses and from the mob on the street, anyone with a normal set of mind (regardless of ethnicity or background) helped out with this. The Han Chinese were the targets for the mob, but it all went completely out of hand and "the demonstration" became nothing but a "burn-and-destroy-anything-in-your-way-raid".
I saw Tibetan shop keepers desperately trying to defend themselves against the looting party and Chinese and Tibetans helping each other to survive fleeing over the roof tops and over fences being chased by fire and people with intents to harm anyone in their way.
The DL link is absurd of course.
I was never told to leave Lhasa. I talked to the authorities about this and they had received no order of that sort. What I did see was that Swiss and German news agencies for days spewed out this info.
The situation is basically back to normal now. The military presence will drop gradually.
I'm not pro-Chinese. Just reporting what I saw. I also have to add that I'm very disappointed of the western media. It gave a very lop sided picture of the whole event. Many blame the Xinhua, CCTV etc of being partial, with all right of course, but this time I'd say they are closest to the truth, or at least from what I saw.
Western media wants China bashing, stories that sell. I denied talking to any of them as they already knew what to write before they even talked to me.
Naive westerns, pro-Dharamsala propagandists are as blind or/and biased as the apparatus in Beijing.
Had enough of rumors, mis-directed frustration, actions that make a cause worse, lies, military, burnt out houses, people which wants opinions about all and everything.
Off to the mountains for some fresh air again.