Since 1950 Tibet has been under Chinese control, largely against its wishes, and this year marks 49 years since the first major uprising which lead the Dalai Lama (the head of the Tibetan state) to be exiled to India after a long and bloody struggle. This year, the Olympics are being held in Beijing. The Tibetan people, as well as allies across the world, have taken this as a prime oppertunity to re-ignite their struggle, at a time when all the world is watching.
However, since the uprising started in Lhasa about 2 weeks ago, the Chinese authorities have thoroughly censored all footage and news reports of what's going on over there. News websites, blogs, and video streaming databases are among the websites which the authorities have blocked for domestic access. In addition news teams from across the world have had great difficulty in getting into the problem areas to see what's really happening.
Guardian video journal
Despite these difficulties, news has got out of Tibet and China in small chunks. Wikileaks (jah bless the freedom of information act) is hosting over a hundred photographs and over 30 videos of events over the last fortnight.
Please be advised, some of these photographs are of a graphic and disturbing nature. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Photo gallery with Captions
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