CHINA:A GROUP of 30 Tibetan Buddhist monks defied Beijing's efforts to control the spin on this month's riots in Lhasa and other Tibetan areas when the lamas stormed a carefully stage-managed news briefing in Lhasa's Jokang temple for foreign journalists, shouting "Tibet is not free! Tibet is not free!"
The incident is a dramatic reversal for the Chinese government's attempts to show calm has been restored to Lhasa. The monks were well aware their action would lead to their arrest but were willing to accept the consequences as the price of making their bold statement.
Speaking in Mandarin so the journalists would understand them, the monks complained there was no religious freedom in Tibet and insisted the Dalai Lama was not to blame for recent violence, which saw buildings torched and attacks on Han Chinese. The monks said they wanted permission to leave the temple.
Associated Press correspondent Charles Hutzler, who is among the small detachment of foreign press allowed to travel to the city, told of how government handlers shouted at journalists to leave the scene of the protest and even tried to pull the reporters away.
First reports from the Tibetan capital are of a "visible but not overbearing" security presence in the newer part of town and of a heavy security presence around the Jokang temple itself.
The area around Jokang has been sealed off and reporters have not been allowed to visit "potential hotspots" such as Ramoche monastery, which was the scene of serious violence on March 14th.
Aware of the significance of the event, the incident was quickly reported on the official Chinese news agency Xinhua, which said the tour would resume soon.
"More than a dozen lamas stormed into a briefing by a temple administrator to cause chaos," said Xinhua, before reiterating the government line that order had been restored after the riots, which began on March 10th with demonstrations by monks in Lhasa and spread to ethnic Tibetan areas all over China.
"Lhasa is now returning to normal after the riot that was organised, premeditated and masterminded by the Dalai Lama clique. The Dalai clique has never stopped secessionist activities since Dalai went into exile in 1959," Xinhua said, citing Gesang Yexe, a research fellow with the Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences.
"In addition, there were many signs that the clique was behind the crimes that aimed to sabotage China's stability and unity."
The Dalai Lama said the press trip was "a first step", which he hoped would take place with complete freedom.
Matt Whitticase of Free Tibet Campaign said the protest on a carefully planned state-managed visit showed "the Chinese government is powerless to prevent the protests that are still being staged all over Tibet".