Others

Self-determination is defined as free choice of one’s own acts without external compulsion; and especially as the freedom of the people of a given territory to determine their own political status.

There is something deeply unpleasant about the way China is conducting its foreign policy. After centuries of slumbering, the world’s Rip Van Winkle has awoken, discovered its strength, and is now throwing it around.

On the station platform a group of retirees are posing for photos, pumping their fists and shouting “Lhasa” with every snap of the shutter. “Lhasa, Lhasa, Lhasa,” they chant.

“From a moral point of view, I believe that these refugees should stay only on a temporary basis. The goal should be for them to return and help rebuild their own countries.”

There have been only a handful of government tours organised in the past decade, all closely controlled.

China blames the spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama for all these uprisings and has described these uprisings as "violent behaviour whose aim is to create an atmosphere of terror".