China's Far West provinces (inc. Tibet)
Moderator's Note: This thread is supported by the smaller, main thread on China proper, entitled 'China's internal troubles (not the Far West)':http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=14737
Yet another potential front in the "global Islamic insurgency"?
China's far west
It's only an insurgency if images are available
I am sure that the presence of Western tourists, with camera phones and internet / phone access is the only reason anyone knows quickly of the rioting. Whether the Chinese will review tourist access to Tibet is a moot point. Shutting down internet and phone access I fear would be relatively easy.
Secondly there has been reporting that the native Tibetans are being outnumbered by the incoming Han Chinese. I recall Tibetans may already be in a minority.
Third, any insurgency needs weapons, preferably firearms and I doubt if Tibetans have access to them.
Once the tourists are gone we will rely on press reporting (unlikely) and those who exit carrying stories.
Sadly Tibet is a lost cause and I've not even thought about power politics, Olympics etc.
Back to some specifics for a moment...
Savage Minds has an interesting story about the Tibet Resistance.
Quote:
For five decades, the People’s Republic of China has been proclaiming the death of the Tibetan resistance. In the 1950-60s, they discursively denied the existence of the Tibetan resistance army by referring to them as “high class separatists” and “rebel bandits.” Since then, they have attempted to curb any resistance by immediately putting down protests through arrests, beatings, imprisonments, disappearances (
remember the 11th Panchen Lama?), and deaths. The PRC has done everything they can to give the impression that resistance in Tibet—armed or peaceful, coordinated or everyday—is a rare and unwise exception to their benevolent rule, is conducted only by monks or members of the “Dalai clique,” and is not representative of the majority of the Tibetan people who love the Chinese motherland.
Much more at the link.