Chinese leaders who had their power reinforced, albeit perfunctorily, by the ongoing 11th National People's Congress are determined to quell the uprisings in Tibet. The use of military force just a few weeks before the commencement of celebrations for the Olympic Games in Beijing is a sad state of affairs. Beijing authorities claim that those who died were victims of the riots, including attacks on Chinese businesses, but is disturbing to reflect on how much blood has been and will be spilled as the security forces suppress the unrest --described as the most significant in two decades.

Many suspect that the protests were carefully prepared by Tibetan dissidents who aim to exploit the international attention on the Beijing Olympics, accompanied as it is by some scrutiny of China's human rights situation. But there are signs that the Chinese rule in the territory has become increasingly ruthless in recent years, and that the grievances of the people there just reached a boiling point.

The outside world has been fed Chinese propaganda videos and other material showing the improved conditions in Tibet, especially with the opening of a new rail line linking Beijing to Lhasa in June 2006. But the Sinification policy represented by that train service has ignored the indigenous culture and religion; officials from Beijing have not been noted for their sensitivity to Tibetan culture. The party secretary for Tibet was quoted as saying: "The Communist Party is Buddha, not the Dalai Lama." Now, only 13 Buddhist temples remain where once there were 6,500.

The Dalai Lama has called for an international investigation into China's crackdown against protesters in Tibet, which he said is facing a "cultural genocide." Peace-loving people of the world do not want to have Tibet turn into another Kosovo or Chechnya, or see a Tibetan version of the Palestinian intifada. The best solution is for the Chinese government to allow self-rule in Tibet, and, more fundamentally, to grant basic freedoms and rights throughout the nation.