Martial law in Tibet
50 years after revolt, clampdown on Tibetans
MAQU, China: Enraged nomads swooped into this windswept town on the Tibetan plateau a year ago this month, storming a Chinese police compound, setting fire to police cars and forcing security forces to flee. To the north, Tibetans on horseback galloped into a schoolyard, ripped down a Chinese flag and hoisted a Tibetan one, shouting “Free Tibet!”
Now, the authorities have imposed an unofficial state of martial law on the vast highlands where ethnic Tibetans live, with thousands of troops occupying areas they fear could erupt in renewed rioting on a momentous anniversary next week. And Beijing is determined to keep foreigners from seeing the mass deployment.
In monasteries and nomad tents, villages and grasslands, the fury of Tibetans against Chinese rule has raged continuously since last year’s riots and the violent repression that followed. March 10 marks the 50th anniversary of a failed revolt against Chinese rule that led to the Dalai Lama’s flight into exile in India.</em>
