The New York Times' City Room blog reports a strange spectacle from 6th Ave. July 17:

As thousands of people, mostly of Tibetan and Nepalese ancestry, streamed out of Radio City Music Hall on Thursday afternoon, where they had gone to hear the Dalai Lama give a lecture on the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, they found themselves in a chaotic scene on the Avenue of the Americas.

Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have executed two Uighurs and sentenced 15 others accused of terrorist ties. The Kashgar Intermediate Court sentenced to death two men, identified as Mukhtar Setiwaldi and Abduweli Imi, and immediately executed them July 9. Most of the rest received prison terms ranging from 10 years to life. All were charged with being members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). (Radio Free Asia, July 12)

While the world media have moved on, Tibetans continue to defy authorities by launching protests in their homeland. According to "confirmed information" received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), several local Tibetans have been severely beaten and detained by the Chinese security forces for staging peaceful protests in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, in recent days.

Mongolia imposed a four-day state of emergency in the capital, Ulan Bator, after the opposition Democratic Party claimed fraud in last weekend's elections and violent protests broke out. Military vehicles patrolled the streets, five people were killed, and the headquarters of the "victorious" Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) was ransacked and torched. Clashes also took place in the country's second city, Darkhan. (DPA, July 1) The Wall Street Journal fears the unrest "could slow the country's economic transformation and delay investment plans of Western mining companies that have been waiting to push through deals."

Police in Tibet arrested 16 Buddhist monks and accused them of involvement in bombings on April 5, 8 and 15 in villages near Qamdo. All three bombings involved homemade explosives and caused only property damage, authorities said. (NYT, June 6) While the claims were picked up by the NY Times, ongoing harsh repression in Tibet is noted only by the India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). On May 30, Chinese security forces arrested twelve monks of Dingri Shelkar Choedhe Monastery during a night raid for resisting the "patriotic re-education" campaign—meaning they had refused to denounce the Dalai Lama. (TCHRD, May 31)

Our May issue featured William Wharton's book review of A Tibetan Revolutionary, memoirs of Bapa Phuntso Wangye—a Chinese Communist Party militant who became a dissident and advocate of autonomy for his native Tibet. Our May Exit Poll was: "Will Tibet explode again during the Beijing Olympics? Is there potential for an alliance between the Tibetans and Han Chinese workers and peasants against the Beijing bureaucracy? How about between the Tibetans and the Palestinians?" We received the following response:

Tashi YangtsoFrom the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, May 21:

Three Tibetan nuns from Tehor Nyagay Nunnery, in Kardze County were arrested by the County Chinese security forces for staging a peaceful protest, according to reliable sources within Tibet.

The Chinese government is refusing to issue visas to thousands of Hindus seeking to make the traditional summer pilgrimage to a Tibetan mountain said to be the home of Lord Shiva. The Indian foreign ministry, which is working with Chinese authorities to make arrangements for almost 1,000 pilgrims selected by lottery, said Beijing had informed New Delhi it was not ready for the visitors—presumably due to the ongoing unrest.