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China

Tibet: At the Crossroads of Ethnic Nationalism and Geopolitical Rivalry

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Fixing Fractured Nations

Part of the book series: Critical Studies of the Asia Pacific Series ((CSAP))

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Abstract

On 10 March 2008, some 300 Tibetan monks marched from Drepung monastery to the centre of Lhasa to observe the 49th anniversary of the uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.2 Three days later, hundreds of monks began a hunger strike, and at least two attempted suicide. Thousands of Chinese soldiers and police reacted to the incidents by sealing off Lhasa’s three largest monasteries.3 From 14 March, the protests began to be violent, ‘with shops and vehicles torched and gunshots echoing through the streets of Lhasa’.4

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Notes

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© 2010 Paul J. Smith

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Smith, P.J. (2010). China. In: Wirsing, R.G., Ahrari, E. (eds) Fixing Fractured Nations. Critical Studies of the Asia Pacific Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230281271_10

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