Protesters set shops and police vehicles on fire in Lhasa, state media and witnesses said. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing warned Americans to stay away, saying it had "received firsthand reports from American citizens in the city who report gunfire and other indications of violence."
The protests are the largest and most sustained in Lhasa since Beijing crushed a wave of pro-independence demonstrations in 1989. Since then, China has invested in the region, vilified the Dalai Lama and tried to weed out his supporters among the influential Buddhist clergy.
Tibet is one of the Hollywoods' crowd favorite rallying cries, well Tibet and Che Guevara. Kind of opposite ends of the spectrum don't you think, but then consistency is not a word I would use for folks in the entertainment community.
Note to Code Pink this is what an occupying force looks like.
"The Red Army is downtown. It's not safe to walk around. All the major monasteries are closed," said the tourist, who refused to give her name or her nationality. "Tourists don't feel comfortable walking around because police are all over."
Add this to the rumblings coming out of the Muslim community in China and you have what is shaping up to be a very volatile environment for the Olympics.
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