ABSTRACT
The violent resistance offered by Tibetans against the Chinese has often been overlooked, particularly by Westerners who are attracted by the non-violent, or ‘Shangri-la-ist’, image of the Tibetan movement.2 This image has been perpetuated by the Tibetan government in exile, who are aware that a nonviolent struggle lends itself to more favourable public relations. For example, at the end of 1996 in the aftermath of bomb explosions in Lhasa, Kalon (the Tibetan equivalent of a cabinet minister) Tashi Wangdi declared that the deed must have been carried out by the Chinese to discredit the Tibetans, despite there being little evidence to suggest that this was the case.3 The Tibetan government has been consistent in its policy of distancing itself from acts of violence in the name of the independence struggle, from the guerrilla campaigns described in this chapter to the more recent suspected terrorist activity.4
