This is a really good article in the New York Review of Books on the recent ‘celebration’ of the 60th Anniversary of the Liberation of Tibet by the People’s Republic of China.
Its written by Robbie Barnett, a friend of mine who is a lecturer in Tibetan from the States.
His political stance is well know, but few will not be shocked by what he recalls from the same ceremony in 2005: “what had not been visible on the television screen: hundreds of armed troops followed by armored personnel carriers, riot control vehicles, water-cannon trucks, barbed-wire laying machines, vehicles with gun turrets and other forms of military hardware.”
The footage of the ceremony is also well worth watching, but probably not the full 149 minutes of it! He draws attention to the selective nature of the ‘crowds’ of Tibetans that were there to take part in the event; broadcast live on Chinese TV.
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2011/aug/22/chinas-liberation-tibet-rules-game/
Tim Myatt 