2008: China Hoped Only For Olympic Glory; Wound Up with Chaos in Tibet, Earthquake, Troubles

The year 2008 promised China just one big event, but instead of one, the country got four.

2008 was meant to be all about the Beijing Olympics – the giant sports day that this country had been planning for more than a decade.

But in March came big event number one, and it had nothing to do with sport.

By James Reynolds
BBC News, Beijing

In the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, Tibetan monks demonstrated on the anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s escape into exile in 1959.

These protests escalated into the biggest disturbances in Tibet for more than 20 years.

The demonstrations brought into relief the profoundly different ways in which Tibet is seen by China and the West.

For China, Tibet is an inalienable part of the Chinese motherland which has been transformed from a medieval, feudal backwater into a more equal society.

For many in the West, the people of Tibet are occupied and oppressed by a hostile country which denies Tibetans the freedom of worship.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7795109.stm