What does Tibetan unrest mean for China and the world?

Over 50 years ago, China rolled into Tibet, and occupied the country. Sometimes the Chinese have been brutal. Over 1,400,000 Tibetans have been killed, imprisoned, or simply disappeared at the hands of the Chinese.

Over 30,000 religious monuments, churches, Temples, or holy places have been destroyed or desecrated by the Chinese. The Dalai Lama as a young boy, escaped Chinese control, by leaving Tibet at night, making the hard climb over the Himalaya's into India. There, he found thousands of Tibetans, with no food, jobs or housing. He has given his life to helping his people. And they love him for it.

Now, Tibetans are fighting, just to gain some semblance of respect. Perhaps now is their chance. Both the U.S.A. and Great Britain have demanded that China meet with the Dalai Lama.

I know, first hand, what it is like in Tibet. I went there personally to document the situation with film and recordings, and saw the ruins, the destruction, and the historic places of prayer and worship that the Chinese have destroyed.

I have seen agents of the Chinese approach young Tibetan women and demand sex as bribes for survival. While in Lhasa, Tibet at a street bus stop, a young Tibetan woman was dragged off of the bus, thrown to the ground and beaten with a rifle butt, because she wouldn't let the Chinese soldier "touch" her. I have personally experienced the limits of China when they told me that "If you as much as speak to a Tibetan, or if a Tibetan speaks to an American", they (the Tibetans) will be put in jail.

I have, at gunpoint, had my luggage searched and my personal belongings pawed over by Chinese men seizing photos that document exactly what has happened there. I know this is an authoritarian regime that can be mean and dangerous.

I have seen Tibetans live in fear of Chinese soldiers and seen them eliminated from good jobs and forced to live on meager diets because the Chinese government systematically fills all positions of desirability with Chinese citizens.

And what do Tibetan's want?

• First and formost, they want to be able to see their beloved Dalai Lama return to Tibet.
• They want freedom to worship, sing and pray and have dialogue and contact with their religious head, the Dalai Lama.
• They want to know that their culture will survive, and offer a "Tibetan Future" of a good life for their families and children.
• They want the Chinese soldiers, who have occupied their land for over 50 years to leave.
• They want their towns, villages, and cities, to be administered by Tibetans, not "foreigners".
• They want the natural resources of Tibet (the timber, silver, gold, and even water) to benefit Tibet, not be raped and taken to China.
• They want a truly "autonomous" state within the borders of China, since they seem to have no hope of being a true free nation again.
• They want freedom and respect as a culture and as a people.
• They want their sacred "Potala" that was the Dalai Lama's home, and the center of government and culture, to not be a "run down Chinese museum" but a place of renewed vigor and glory.

China, is now one of the most powerful nations on earth. It has made an effort, spending billions of dollars to promote it's image, using, by one method the upcoming Olympics and a promise of "human rights". But, as we watch reports of people being killed and trampled by Chinese soldiers we see what "human rights" means to the Chinese. And we see the weak underbelly of the Chinese leadership. This leadership is afraid of the Dalai Lama, because they know, that Tibetan Buddist will follow him.