抗議打壓
達賴喇嘛自1959年因中國血腥鎮壓而被迫逃離西藏並組成流亡政府後，多年來一直採用和平方式爭取解決西藏問題的機會，卻仍不斷遭到中國當局的抹黑與打壓。此次西藏所爆發近20年來最嚴重的武裝暴力衝突，顯示藏人欲藉由北京奧運的機會發出聲音，爭取更多的權利與尊嚴。 


中國軍隊已包圍西藏拉薩三大寺廟，情勢緊張。圖為昨天甘肅夏河拉卜楞寺藏人從佛寺典禮中離開。法新社

當局輕忽西藏妥協
印度主流媒體《印度快報》社論稱，近來在西藏首府拉薩市和鄰近地區發生的一連串藏人示威活動，打破了近20年來「西藏與中國」之間的寧靜狀態，即便中國政府有意淡化事件的嚴重狀態，並聲稱這只是「少數份子」的破壞活動，但實際上，西藏地區所有的主要寺廟都參與了這次抗爭活動。
在過去5年中，達賴喇嘛先後表達了多次軟化和妥協的立場，包括明確表明藏人尋求的是自治而非獨立，並承諾西藏未來仍是屬於中國的一部分。但中國當局的輕忽表現，並拒絕回應達賴喇嘛表現的誠意，已讓大部分藏人放棄對西藏問題能有合理解決的希望。在別無選擇之下，藏人惟有利用稍縱即逝的短暫時機，在8月北京奧運之前，發出他們的聲音，爭取國際社會的關注。
大陸中心


CNN   March 17, 2008 -- Updated 2305 GMT (0705 HKT)

American film crew kept from China protests

(CNN) -- Chinese authorities sequestered an American film crew in their hotel rooms so they would not see anti-government protests outside a Buddhist temple last week, a member of the crew said.

Spence Palermo, an American working on a freelance documentary about how China is changing, said his crew was prevented from returning to the centuries-old Labrang Monastery in Xiahe, China, after spending several days filming inside the complex.

Newsweek magazine reported Monday that as many as 4,000 monks and laypersons clashed with police near the monastery Friday and Saturday. The report said they marched to Xiahe "where they pelted government offices and police vehicles with rocks and debris."

The Xiahe protests were part of a wave of anti-Chinese protests centered in nearby Tibet, an autonomous province of China taken over by the Communist government in Beijing almost 60 years ago.

According to the U.S. State Department, Beijing's "repressive social and political controls continued to limit the fundamental freedoms of Tibetans and risked undermining Tibet's unique cultural, religious, and linguistic heritage."

The Labrang Monastery is one of six important to the Yellow Hat Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, according to the China Tibet Information Center.

Palermo, from Eugene, Oregon, said Chinese officials prevented his group from returning to the Labrang Monastery on Friday, sending them instead to another monastery 40 miles away.

When they returned to Xiahe Friday evening, he said, they were confined to their hotel, watched over constantly, and denied Internet access.

But what troubled Palermo the most, he said, was "not knowing what was happening to the wonderful monks who had welcomed us so heartily into their incredible world and with whom we had bonded with over the last couple of days."

The worry was compounded on Saturday morning, he said, when he looked outside his hotel room and saw a column of Chinese military vehicles heading toward the monastery.

"All of the trucks were filled with soldiers in riot gear," Palermo said.

The sight of the military column, which he estimated contained 400 soldiers, gave him a "feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach," he said.

"Suddenly there was a pounding on the [hotel room] door and a very irate and panicky official started grabbing my gear and hustling me down to the lobby, saying that we had to leave immediately," Palermo said.

As they were taken to another temple 40 miles away, the film crew learned through cell phone calls and messages about the anti-government protests in Tibet and nearby areas, like Xiahe, in China's Gansu province.

Later, their Chinese government minders told them they could not return to their Xiahe hotel and that all their belongings would be gathered and brought to them in Lanzhou, about a five-hour drive away.

"Apparently the protests had spread through the whole town and our hotel -- state-run of course -- had been targeted, all of the windows smashed out and fires burning on the street," Palermo said.

As they were being driven away from the Xiahe area, Palermo said, they encountered a convoy of 20 Chinese military trucks headed toward Xiahe.

"Most of them were loaded with Chinese soldiers, but ... about half of the trucks were empty," he said. "All I could think of was that they would soon be filled with the amazing, wonderful, kind and happy [Labrang Monastery] monks who would most likely be taken away to who knows where." 


Monks and protesters face off with police in a street in Xiahe, China, on Friday.


Spence Palermo and a monk at the Labrang Monastery talk last week.