Large parts of the Tibetan plateau today have been turned into militarized zones and made off-limits to foreigners. De facto martial law prevails on much of the plateau after the largest troop deployment since the March 2008 Tibetan upheaval.
Yet the more ruthless China is, the more resilient (and innovative) the Tibetan resistance to Chinese rule becomes.
The latest Chinese clampdown began in response to a grassroots Tibetan campaign to boycott celebrations of Losar, the Tibetan New Year, and to use the holiday period from Feb. 25 instead to mourn Tibetans who were killed by troops last March and express concern for those arrested or tortured. That a refusal to celebrate a joyous Tibetan event can become a tool of mass protest rattled the autocrats in Beijing, who responded by pouring in troops.