On March 10, 2008 hundreds of Tibetans in Lhasa began protesting on the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Beijing rule. Police arrested protesters, and violence in the streets has escalated in the following days. Bloggers across the region have responded.
Personal accounts of protests in Tibet are being censored on the Chinese internet. Global Voices authors and others have managed to rescue some first hand accounts of what happened on the frontline.
Global Voices Timeline
March 24 – China: Bloggers declare war on Western media’s Tibet coverage
March 22 – India: Between Tibet and China
March 21 – China: Commons in violence and conflict
March 20 – Korea: Independence Movements in Tibet and in Korea
March 19 – China: Patriotism triggered, though under censorship
March 17 – Japan: Support for Tibet
March 16 – China: YouTube blocked yet again
March 14 – China: Fire on the streets of Lhasa, Tibet
Related posts from around the Web:
March 27
The Taelspin on Tibet: The Chinese Response to foreign media coverage of the 3.14 unrest, The China Beat
I’m a historian by training, and as I’ve written elsewhere, history is a slippery ally in contemporary political disputes and I’m frustrated by the extent to which the historical record has been twisted and warped by both Chinese state media and the free Tibet crowd.
History Textbooks in China, EastSouthWestNorth
If the subject of this NYT article is the twistings and omissions in Chinese history textbooks, then the reporter is no less guilty himself. The two references to China-Tibet are made from the viewpoint of someone who knows the absolute historical truth (that is, the People’s Liberation Army invaded an independent Tibet in 1950) and therefore the failure to publish that particular line is either ‘twisting’ or ‘omitting.’ I submit that it is debatable whether this is the whole and only truth of the matter.
A Little Understanding, Please, TIME China blog
This post is supposed to be about the riots in Tibet, and so far I have scarcely mentioned the Tibetans. In fact, there are surprisingly few Tibetan voices being heard. What perspectives do Tibetan websites and blogs have on the riots and the “western bias.” Perhaps someone could set up a website translating Tibetan Internet comments—it would be certainly be a novelty since so many others are translating TV news screen shots from English, German and French.
March 26
Chinese Netizens versus Western Media, EastSouthWestNorth
I support the idea of a western media watchdog such as Anti-CNN.com. This is not an attack on western media as a whole, but a watchdog project to keep them honest. If the western media knew that the egregious mistakes here will be in the public limelight, they would be less adventuresome and/or sloppy. This is not a question about forcing them to censor themselves, because this is about not using Katmandu (Nepal) photos to stand in for Tibet, for example. Is that too much to ask?
Anti-CNN and the Tibet information war, RConversation
Perhaps the Chinese government is feeling a little less worried lately about losing public support? Perhaps they are less worried that people will turn against the Communist Party after reading something in the Western media, now that it is no longer fashionable in many circles to believe what the Western media reports?
How Can I Forget Tibet, March 14?, EastSouthWestNorth
The macroscopic information would confirm those suppositions. Thus, the Chinese government said intiailly that 13 Han civilians and 1 armed police officer died (or something like that). But no Tibetan deaths? Meanwhile, the Tibetan exile government claimed at least 99 Tibetans dead. But no Hans? What was I supposed to do? Take the average of the two sets of numbers? I decline to play this game. Those big government-funded entities can slug it out among themselves.
Instead, I focused on two aspects. First, I translated the most popular Chinese blog posts into English. But wasn’t all discussions of Tibet banned? Well, I don’t know where you got that idea because the stuff is all over the place and quite popular. Maybe, but are Chinese blogs trustworthy?
March 25
A Test of the Internet’s Free Speech Promise: China and Tibet, Victoria Stodden
The interesting question is whether perspectives other than the official view are getting through to discussions inside China.
Attacks on CNN: motivated by Chinese netizens or human spambots?, JOTMAN
To attack the integrity of CNN under these difficult circumstances seems unfair. And if China wants better, more “accurate,” reporting from CNN and other news agencies, the government of China should:
1. Release those Chinese journalists, activists, and bloggers it has imprisoned;
2. Allow foreign and local journalists to travel around the country freely;
3. Stop censoring the Internet and tear down the Great Firewall.
Why are Nuns and Monks in the Streets? (Parts I & II)
Of the various policies implemented by Chinese governmental agencies in recent years two have been the greatest source of friction between the clergy and the government. The control of the number of monks and nuns in monastic institutions, and the implementation of “patriotic re-education.” Since it is largely these policies that have brought the clergy into the streets in the recent protests, let me touch briefly on each of these now.
åšäººä¸èƒ½å¤ªCNN: a person should not be too CNN, EastSouthWestNorth
CNN’s bureau in Beijing has been deluged in recent days by a barrage of harassing phone calls and faxes that accuse the organization of unfair coverage.
Youtube propaganda war, Danwei
Although there are many clips from Western and Japanese TV news programs on Youtube, as far as the user generated propaganda wars, it seems the pro-China side is winning. At least when it comes to quantity.
The Olympics were already political, Richard Spencer’s Telegraph blog
It is ironic to see the Chinese government decry attempts to “politicise” this event. This is not because (or at least only because) of its broader use to legitimise its rule, its claims to Tibet, its glorious management of China’s rise, or whatever people choose to target. It is because under the Communist Party system, politicising all of society is the name of the game.
How to Resolve Tibetan Incommensurabilities: The Need for Information and Dialogue, Civic China
In our quest for facts, we tried as hard as we could to avoid being taken in by distorted or speculative ‘reporting’, particularly ‘reporting’ done by people with hidden agendas or by those wearing ideological blinders.
March 24
RTL Apologizes, EastSouthWestNorth
In the reports on Tibet, I did not find the right proportions in the reporting. called the rioters rioters, and they were the only one. That is why many westerners (if not the majority) will get the impression from their media that “a group of peaceful demonstrators were mercilessly mowed down by the the Chinese government.”
Anti-CNN.com, EastSouthWestNorth
Of course, CNN has to stumble from one problem to crash into another with this statement. Chinese netizens are saying that CNN should have said: “the rioters are throwing rocks against the military vehicles …” This is a case of “when helping becomes hurting.” The subtle difference is that the characterization is “rioter” than “Tibetan” as the Tibetan people/religion/culture should not be made equivalent to the mayhem. If they must, they can even use “Tibetan rioter.”
March 23
MSM biase in the West – and the cnn refutal, Sun Bin
Lie cannot be covered by another new lie. While cnn could have just admitted to being insensitive and being lazy in picking one random pictures from the several crops AFP/Getty provided, it chose to deny and degenerated itself into the same class as the propaganda machine of the C-C.P.
Tibet: Her Pain, My Shame, China Digital Times
Not long ago, I read some posts by some radical Tibetans on an online forum about Tibet. These posts were roughly saying: “We do not believe in Buddhism, we do not believe in karma. But we have not forgotten that we are Tibetan. We have not forgotten our homeland. Now we believe the philosophy of you Han Chinese: Power comes out of the barrel of a gun! Why did you Han Chinese come to Tibet? Tibet belongs to Tibetans. Get out of Tibet!”
How Can I Forget Lhasa, March 14?, EastSouthWestNorth
Later, after her other Tibetan friends, I went to drink tea with her. But before I even took a sip, she uttered a slur about the Han people. I was so angry that I imitated her friend: I stood up and walked out.
Youtube’s Not Blocked. See?, CNET Asia
I’m not sure if the timeout is because of keyword searches for Tibet or Lhasa or what the heck is going on. I’m done trying to figure out the censors.
Comments on China Vows to crush Tibet’s independence movement, reddit.com
March 22
More musings on Tibet propaganda drive, Beijing Newspeak
It’s still going to be a few days yet before it feels acceptable to write about anything non-Tibet related.
Most Wanted In Tibet, EastSouthWestNorth
At what point does one concede that there is a legitimate criminal case (e.g. ripping the gate off a Bank of China office; randomly attacking a bicyclist with a rock or stick; setting the first that caused the deaths of the five shop attendants, four Chinese and one Tibetan; etc)? Or does one always hold the line that these people are freedom fighters? I think that most people will ask to see the evidence first. What do you think after watching this 2-minute video from Euronews? Would you publish the screen captures (such as the one for the person wielding the big knife)?
Phoenix TV Reporter In Lhasa, EastSouthWestNorth
A taxi driver told us that when the disturbances began on the afternoon of March 14, the students were just getting out of school. The rioters cut off the ear of a Hui child and set it on fire right there. A Tibetan citizen implored the rioters to stop but they threatened to kill him with a knife. So the Tibetan citizen had to abandon the child to a cruel fate …
Squeezing the balls of the Olympics, Danwei
It concerns Westerners protesting against China by burning Chinese flags and attaching protest signs to Terracotta Warriors in an exhibition in London.
France24 catches Yahoo and MSN (briefly) aiding Chinese police hunt for Tibetans, RConversation
I wouldn’t be surprised if the local editors just automatically ran it because everybody else in China was running it, then got over-ridden by management in the U.S. who realized how badly this would play outside of China… Such is the disconnect between China and the West on the Tibet issue.
Why Tibet is Boiling Over (Updated), China Digital Times
Behind the unrest in Tibet, Peking Duck
If China delays the new generation that does not heed the Lama’s calls for peace will take control. Then China would have to offer a lot more for a peaceful solution. Sadly I think that, as usual, China will stick its head into the sand and only pull it out when the opportunity to negotiate through the Dalai Lama has gone.
When Helping Becomes Hurting, EastSouthWestNorth
The westerners have harbored prejudices against the Chinese people. We often hear them say: The Chinese have been brainwashed because they can no longer tell the truth about something. In their view, all Chinese are ignorant, undeveloped and close-minded. They have no idea that many Chinese people know as much as they do and in fact visited a lot more websites than they have. The westerner stoops down condescendingly to stretch out a helping hand to the wretched little yellow men so as to educate and instruct them. They are totally oblivious to the possibility that they are dealing with live human beings who are thoughtful and sentient. In the absence of respect and equality, what is the point of dealing with the westerners? Presently, the westerners must be wondering about the reaction of the Chinese people to the current events.
The Five Dead Girls of Lhasa, EastSouthWestNorth
Do you know why Hecaitou appears to be angry in the entry above this one?
Internet Wars Over Tibet, EastSouthWestNorth
March 21
Tibet, video and Human Rights, 40Brown
The Chinese government has reportedly placed restrictions on international media coverage in Tibet, blocking or filtering websites like Yahoo! and YouTube and censoring the local feeds of news agencies including the BBC and CNN. However, eyewitness accounts, photos, and videos (mostly from cellphones) are making their way out — and onto the Hub.
Root causes in Tibet, TIME China Blog
Tibetan writer Woeser and husband under house arrest in Beijing, China Digital Times
Lian Yue on Tîbet and information supression, Danwei
4. A power that tries to distort and withhold information should be responsible for the consequences.
Right Time, Right Place, Wrong Reporter?, EastSouthWestNorth
Tibet WAS,IS,and ALWAYS WILL BE a part of China, YouTube
March 20
The gulf between foreign and Chinese expectations of the Olympics, Imagethief
This extremely gloomy scenario made me think a little about the vast gulf between foreign and Chinese expectations for what the Beijing Olympics would accomplish. The Chinese expected the Olympics to change foreign perceptions of China for the better. Foreigners expected the Olympics to change China for the better.
March 19
Tibet and the trouble with unassailable national myths, Imagethief
China has invested so much in its narrative of Tibetan development and growth that it is reluctant take any actions that undermine this story. This prevents them from communicating internationally in a way that foreign audiences will be receptive to, and it stores up serious ethnic problems for the future….Unfortunately, another problem with defending the myth at all costs is that this approach seems calculated to inflame ethnic tensions rather than dispel them. Coverage of the riots suggests that much of the violence was Tibetans taking out their frustrations on Han who simply had the bad luck to be in Lhasa.
March 18
Who Lie about Xizang (Tibet) Violence and How!, NewsChecker
The terror event caused a lot life and property lose for China. But China gained alot.
Wikileaks releases over 120 censored videos and photos of the Tibet uprising
Media Cheat on Tibet Riot, FridayInLove
One can only believe that:
1) Either these media don’t have a qualified internal examination/inspection system,
2) Or, they were deliberately lying, trying to fool their audiences.
a letter from North India, Knitting And
Okay, so from the phone call our family member got this morning, ALL the deaths have been Tibetan (or maybe a few Chinese.)
Tibetan Intifada?, China Matters
The question that is roiling the Chinese government and, perhaps, the Dalai Lama’s government in exile in Dharmsala, is whether this represents a change in tactics, a new upsurge in militancy, and/or a challenge to the leadership of the Dalai Lama in Tibetan affairs.
March 17
Black Days for the Dalai Lama, China Matters
The most immediate result of Tibetan militancy will be to unite the Chinese and isolate the moderates on the Tibetan side, while undermining the political standing of Tibet’s most effective political figure, the Dalai Lama, as spokesman for a unified, internationally popular political and diplomatic movement.
That’s bad politics and dumb tactics…and it’s exactly what the Chinese have been trying to accomplish for the last five decades.
March 15
SchizOlympics: Chinese and English Tibet Tweets, Mutant Palm
As news of the turmoil in Tibet reaches Chinese netizens, reactions on Chinese Twitter-clones Fanfou.com and Jiwai.de are mostly of astonishment according to a search on Twifan. Meanwhile, on Twitter, whose users are mostly from other countries, reactions are less surprised, according to Tweet Scan.
March 14, 2008, Lhasa, EastSouthWestNorth
By this time, the SMS’s came one by one to warn me about paying attention to personal safety. A businessman called me and wanted to know how long the disturbance will last. If it lasts too long, he is not going to do business in Lhasa.
On the major roads of eastern Lhasa, there are many Lhasa government and party offices. Black smoke was rising from that direction.