Monks' March Sparks Riots in Tibet

March 14, 2008 — -- The Tibetan capital of Lhasa was thrown into chaos today by anti-China protests and the government's swift response to quell them.

An eyewitness, who did not wish to be named, told ABC News that "gunshots were fired" and that the main square has been barricaded by hundreds of police. Emerging reports describe a city under lockdown, and many fear Beijing could soon enforce martial law.

Plumes of dark smoke covered downtown Lhasa after the protesters, led by Buddhist monks, set alight shops and cars. Reports indicate that the shops targeted were Chinese-owned.

"My Tibetan friends are all scared. They are telling me to stay indoors and not to go out," the eyewitness in Lhasa said. "The situation is very tense."

The protests began peacefully Monday when a group of monks marched to Lhasa demanding more religious freedom. This call was matched by Tibetan exiles around the world as they marked the 49th anniversary of Tibet's 1959 uprising against China. The 1959 rebellion resulted in the Dalai Lama's self-imposed exile in India.

The three great monasteries -- Sera, Drepung and Ganden -- are all now surrounded by phalanxes of Chinese troops.

"The Sera monastery is surrounded by Chinese soldiers or police," the same eyewitness told ABC News. "I went yesterday to an area nearby to meet a Tibetan friend, and I saw the monastery surrounded by them."

Reports of protests in other parts of Tibet are slowly coming out despite restricted media access to the region.

"There has been for years now a deep-seated resentment brought on by the intensification of China's policy toward Tibet," Matt Whitticase, of the Free Tibet Campaign, said.

The protesters have decided "now is the time" to draw attention to their unhappiness with China's hegemony because the upcoming Olympics has focused the international media's attention on Beijing.

China's rule of Tibet has led to a marginalization of locals and deep concerns that Tibet's culture may soon be eroded by China's influence, Whitticase says.