The cycle of revolt and repression in Tibet has begun again. In the almost 30 years since the aborted uprising of 1959 left the communist Chinese in control of their country, Tibetans have revolted against that occupation 50 times. Although the rioting of late September and early October does not hold the record for severity - that goes to the 1972 rebellion, which, according to the Indian press, affected two-thirds of Tibet and claimed the lives of 12,000 Tibetans - it does merit an equally important distinction: This, the 51st revolt, finally made the front pages of American newspapers for almost a week. Ironically, this record was attained through China's recent open-door policy. This may account for renewed Western interest in Tibet and the uncharacteristically political pronouncements of the Dalai Lama, Budhist leader and exiled head of state of Tibet, during his recent U.S. tour.
However, two weeks after the anti-Chinese rioting in Lhasa, Tibet's capital city, the last news of Tibet, at least for some time, leaked past Chinese censorship. It depicted truckloads of Chinese military police, bearing AK47 assault rifles and machine guns, sweeping through the streets of Lhasa. This display of force was meant to emphasize Chinese demands that "separatists" involved in the demonstration surrender themselves or face severe punishment. And it is this ultimatum that has caused serious concern in the West, since the People's Republic of China (PRC) has, step by step, reinsulated Tibet, which was opened to independent travelers only three years ago. Soon after the second wave of demonstrations on October 1, China's national day, telecommunications in Tibet were cut. Later, the foreign press was expelled and new restrictions placed on tourism. (Some 40,000 tourists were expected to earn the region up to $20 million in 1987.) In the latest move, the Chinese airline CAAC canceled its weekly flight from Lhasa to Katmandu, Nepal, the only international flight out of Tibet.
Media ousted
The expulsion of journalists and the closing of Tibet are seen by Tinley Nyandak, press attache with the exile government's office in New York, as "very dangerous," calculated to blunt public awareness just long enough for the PRC to regain rigid control of the region. Still, Nyandak is satisfied that press reports have finally "proved to the world that Tibetans are not happy and that they want an independent and free Tibet. That message got across very clearly." Beyond that basic point, he feels that the coverage was far from detailed. "Most of the papers are reporting this as the first sign of unrest," Nyandak says. "But it's not the first - it is only the first time that journalists were able to report on what was happening. In the past, Tibet was completely closed to the outside world. So whatever the Chinese did never made headlines."
What the Chinese have done in Tibet is the subject of continued controversy. From the interpretation of the recent demonstrations to every detail of the last 30 years, the Tibetan government-in-exile and the PRC are at odds. The Chinese claim that the recent riots were "staged by a handful of persons in support of the splittist activities carried out by the Dalai clique abroad." Nyandak, on the other hand, labels the demonstrations "a direct reaction" to the public execution of three Tibetan nationalists on September 24 and 25. These executions, he says, climaxed a massive, forcefully staged political rally denouncing the Dalai Lama and his newly announced five-point peace plan.
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