What’s happening in Tibet?

Annexed by China in 1951, this area of Asia is currently an autonomous region of China:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibet

Many, including the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, wish Tibet to be a free and independent country once again and accuse the Chinese occupiers of widespread brutality and oppression of human rights:

http://www.freetibet.org/

 More recent protests have been met with the same sort of uncompromising force that have characterised the Chinese government’s treatment of protest and dissent in the communist era:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/asia_pacific/2008/tibet_tensions/default.stm