Tensions continue in Tibet

These businessmen take a pause when asked if they’ve heard about the events in Tibet in recent days. This man says he doesn’t really understand the situation, and his friend says politics is not my business. This young woman, a shopper, says she hasn’t heard anything about protests and doesn’t understand why Tibetans are unhappy. She says she’s heard that Tibetans are poor and don’t wash themselves. She understands they might want more freedom but still thinks Tibet being part of China is better for them. That’s a fairly typical way for Chinese to think about Tibet because that’s what they’re taught in school and hear on state run media. What’s curious is how little coverage the protests are getting, perhaps because the state run media is unsure on whether they should play this up or play it down. Today’s evening news included just a brief mention at the end of the newscast. Only one person out of a dozen or so had heard anything about the Tibetan situation, that I asked, an elderly bicycle repairman. His opinion is that the Dalai Lama is trying to play tricks, and that’s what the Chinese government likes to hear because it’s the message they’ve been putting out, that the Dalai Lama planned all this to split the country. He seems genuinely surprised by reports of brutality and deaths.