Fifty years have passed since the Tibetan national uprising against Chinese rule. The Chinese military's crushing of the March 1959 rebellion led the then 24-year-old Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetans, to flee across the Himalayas to India. One year also has passed since the large-scale protests in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, and other areas inhabited by Tibetans.
The situation that Tibetans now find themselves in is a far cry from what they want and their resentment at Chinese rule is strong. Fearing a recurrence of last year's protests and eager to prevent it, Chinese authorities have put the autonomous region and Tibetan-inhabited areas in Qinghai and Sichuan provinces under virtual martial law.
On March 10, the 50th anniversary of the rebellion, the Dalai Lama, in Dharamsala, India, severely criticized Chinese rule in Tibet. He said, "Today, the religion, culture, language and identity, which successive generations of Tibetans have considered more precious than their lives, are nearing extinction." But he reaffirmed his pursuit of the "middle way" in seeking a high degree of autonomy for the Tibetan regions, not independence, through a dialogue with Chinese authorities.