Protests in Tibet started on March 10, 2008, during which Tibetan Buddhist monks marched on the capital, Lhasa. Protesters in Lhasa attacked numerous Chinese businesses and residences. Sources reported that as many as 80 people were killed. By the time Chinese police arrived and secured the capital on March 16, protests had spread to ethnic Tibetan communities in neighboring Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu provinces.

The Dalai Lama decried Chinese policy for perpetrating "cultural genocide," while maintaining that the 2008 Beijing Olympics would take place as planned.

On April 4, 2008, violence in Tibet began again when Chinese officials clashed with monks and protesters during a search for Dalai Lama pictures. The incident took place in Sichuan Province.

Upon the start of the Olympic games on August 8, 2008, more demonstrations were held in London, Hong Kong, Kathmandu and Delhi. The Guardian reported that independent radio station Reporters Without Borders broadcast an unauthorized transmission from Beijing that demanded the Chinese government respect freedom of the press.

1. Deep background: Most Tibetans view the province as a sovereign nation to be ruled by the Dalai Lama
2. China asserts its historical right to the area, which it officially annexed in 1951
3. 1959: Armed rebellion erupted, leading to a period of decades in which Tibetan culture and Buddhist religion were suppressed by China, sometimes violently
4. Chinese government policy has been to settle the area with ethnic Chinese, thus reducing Tibetan influence on public life and private institutions
5. March 10, 2008: Monks defy Chinese authorities and march into Tibet's capital, Lhasa
6. The March 10 march marked the 49th anniversary of the 1959 rebellion
7. 2008: China hosts the Olympics, which Tibetans have used to raise the profile of Tibetan independence