On a day to day basis nobody knows for certain what to expect to see as tensions continue to grow between the Tibetans and the Chinese government. Upon receiving news that Tibetans in a community in southwestern China have held up a portrait of the Dalai Lama in an act of defiance Buddhists in Syracuse are joining in prayers that China will not hit them back in retaliation.
Louise Watt has reported for The Tibet Sun "Tibetans gather with picture of Dalai Lama in Serthar." Reports have leaked out of China that dozens of Tibetans, including monks, have held up a portrait of the Dalai Lama in Serthar, China in an act of defiance. The police in in Serthar county have said on Tuesday that officers dealt with the gathering, however they declined to say whether any of the Tibetans were arrested in the incident Monday.
There is a great deal of sensitivity in China to protests by Tibetans because they threaten its control over its western region and could set off protests in other parts of China by people who may have grievances against the government. In the past year at least 16 Buddhist monks, nuns and other Tibetans are believed to have set themselves on fire in acts of protest against what they feel is repressive Chinese rule.
The protesting Tibetans have chanted for Tibetan freedom and the return of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who fled to India amidst an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. China sees the Dalai Lama as a trouble maker and has been trying to get monks to denounce him in political education programmes held in religious institutions in Tibetan areas.
