Why are people in Tibet protesting against the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

Question

How is stopping the Olympics gonna help their country?

Its not the Olympics they have to be protesting against its the government.

Answer 1

Yes, it is because they are using this chance to show the ugliness of the government. Here's the chance, and they seize it.

And of course the Tibetans themselves are unhappy. They're not protesting because they do not dare to under the glare of the regime. The whole incident with the monks crying out for help (despite God knows how much they must have been threatened to be quiet) just passed over people's heads, eh? Not to mention the historical events of the communist government corrupting most of the Tibetan culture (and the Chinese culture). Modern isnt always better.  

Answer 2

Because Olympics is thing which is watched by entire world and Tibetans have used this as a tool to show world how cruel Chinese government is.

Answer 3

There is NO one in Tibet protesting.  It's the Tibetans in Nepal and overseas that is protesting. Many Tibetans outside of Tibet (many left in 1959 because of the occupation by the Chinese Military) wants Tibet to be free, but these people haven't been back to Tibet for at least 50 years, and most of them were part of the aristocracy lived in Tibet before 1959. These people of course are pursuing the freedom of Tibet.

The Tibetans living inside Tibet may feel different, I say may because we don't really know how they think of the changes the Chinese brought them in the last 50 years, this include modernization, many infrastructures, and others.

Gaining independence is not an easy task since many practical factors are involved such as the distribution of electricity, tourism, etc. Do Tibetans really want to go back to the way they were before 1959? After a taste of modernization and elimination of hierarchy within the Tibetan society? I don't know, but I am sure that not all Tibetans want Tibet to go free.

Answer 4

I recently spoke with some friends of mine living in Lhasa, and yes, it is true that at the moment no one there is actually protesting--there is too much of a military presence in the streets. No one would dare for fear of being shot.

Also, while it is also true that the Olympics are primarily about the way in which athletes from around the world can compete peacefully together, it is a representation of the world working in friendly competition with each other. Unfortunately, though, Tibetans are mistreated in their own land, forced to follow rules they did not choose for themselves. They are being strongly affected by the Olympics in ways most foreigners would not know.

For example: this is prime tourist season. There are many, many Tibetans whose sole income for the year is the tourism industry, such as guides, merchants, hotel and restaurant owners. There is almost no tourism in Tibet this year, in part because of the protests that took place earlier this year, and in part because the Chinese are paranoid about foreigners seeing their build up of military force there. Come winter, many of these people, and their families, will be tightening their belts because they cannot afford to eat and huddling a little closer together because they cannot afford to heat their homes.

Additionally, Tibetans as a group, were not allowed to journey to the mainland to see the Olympics, nor are they allowed to take part in them. China may be their country, but they are treated like the dirty-secret, ugly stepchild of China, kept in the background and almost constantly abused, in many ways.

That is not to say that many good things have not come out of China's interaction with Tibet--greater infrastructure, a faster assimilation of technologies, etc. But that is not the point here. The point is that while the Olympics are good for China as a whole, we hope, they directly and negatively affect the Tibetans living in China. And they represent, from the Tibetan perspective, the rest of the world turning their backs on the mistreatment of a major population group in China.