With the evolving international situation since the late 1970s, the Dalai group's use of violence was steadily losing public support. It turned to a new dual strategy: constantly provoking incidents of violence to keep up the pressure on the central government, while publicly proclaiming non-violence to deceive his international audience. In the 1980s, a succession of violent incidents took place, planned or instigated by the Dalai party. On September 21, 1987, the 14th Dalai Lama made a speech to the US congress, calling for independence. On September 27, in the square of Jokhang Temple, a group of lamas shouted separatist slogans, attacked police, and injured many civilians. On October 1, a small gang of rioters raided the police station on Barkhor Street in Lhasa and burned seven cars, leaving dozens of policemen injured. The rioters proclaimed that the Dalai Lama was fighting for Tibetan independence. They demanded the support of bystanders and the general public, and threatened personal retaliation on those who failed to join them. On March 5, 1988, during the Monlam Prayer Festival, a gang of rioters stormed into local Party and government offices and police stations around the Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Street, smashing and burning cars and shops, leading to 299 police and civilian casualties. From March 5 to 7 of 1989, Lhasa witnessed another riot in which one policeman was shot dead and 40 others were injured, and 107 shops and 24 government offices, primary schools and neighborhood committees destroyed. On March 11, 1992, nine Tibetan separatists attacked the Chinese embassy in India with fire bombs.
A much more serious riot took place on March 14, 2008. That day, a mob congregated in the downtown area of Lhasa, assaulting innocent passers-by with weapons including rocks, daggers and clubs, smashing and looting vehicles, shops, banks, the Telecom business offices, and government properties, severely disrupting social order, and causing heavy losses of life and property. During the incident, there were over 300 cases of arson, while 908 shops, seven schools, 120 houses, and five hospitals were damaged. Ten bank branches were looted, at least 20 buildings were burnt to the ground, and 84 vehicles were torched. Most seriously, a total of 18 people were burnt or hacked to death, and 382 people were injured - 58 of them seriously. There is ample evidence that the March 14 riot was organized, masterminded and instigated by the Dalai group. After the incident, the 14th Dalai Lama himself released a statement through his personal secretariat, describing the riots as "peaceful protests." On March 16, he said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that he would not ask the rioters to stop because their demands came from the Tibetan people, and he had to respect their will. In the meantime, the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), very much under the influence of the Dalai, passed a resolution to "immediately organize guerrillas to infiltrate China for armed struggle." The head of the TYC claimed that they were ready to sacrifice another 100 Tibetans to win complete victory. ( - The separatists' attempts to disrupt the Olympic Games expose their hypocrisy.
The Olympic Games are a symbol of peace, friendship and progress, which is welcomed and cherished by all peoples. The Tibetan separatists' disruption of the Beijing Olympic Games exposed their hollow image of "non-violence."
In May 2007, the Tibetan independence forces and the international anti-China forces held the Fifth International Campaign for Tibet in Brussels. It was attended by Samten, leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile. At this meeting, a strategic plan was agreed to launch a campaign to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Later, the Tibet independence organizations in the US put forward proposals for a "Tibetan people's uprising." Believing the 2008 Olympic Games represented the last opportunity to achieve the Tibetan independence, they decided to take advantage of this "opportunity" while China was the focus of international attention before the Olympic Games. Their goal was to "instigate and coordinate activities within Tibet to create crisis for China."
Towards the end of 2007, radical groups, such as the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) and the Tibetan Women's Association (TWA), held meetings in India, announcing plans to launch a People's Uprising in Tibet. On January 4 and January 25, 2008, seven Tibetan independence organizations held a press conference in New Delhi, India, releasing proposals for this uprising, spreading the news on more than 100 websites, and threatening to instigate constant large-scale uprisings from March 10, 2008. On March 10, the 14th Dalai made a speech, urging his followers within Chinese territory to engage in violence. On the same day, the TYC made a statement, claiming that it would "now seize a most important opportunity never before seen in our struggle for independence - the upcoming Olympic Games," and that it would "spare neither blood nor life for Tibetan independence."
Masterminded and instigated by the Dalai group, the Tibetan independence forces engaged in a series of sabotage activities against the Beijing Olympic Games. They interfered with important ceremonies, including disrupting the torch-lighting ceremony in Greece and attempting to grab the Olympic torch during the torch relay in various countries, provoking a strong reaction from the international community.
- The 14th Dalai Lama encourages deluded lamas and lay followers to engage in self-immolation.
In August 2011, the new leader of the so-called Tibetan government-in-exile announced a new commitment to non-violence. Subsequently, the Dalai group leadership began to incite Tibetan lamas and lay followers inside China to engage in acts of self-immolation, leading to a series of such incidents in a number of regions. On May 29, 2012, at a TYC candlelight rally to commemorate Tibetans who had conducted self-immolation, its head claimed, "Tibetan independence will neither fall from the sky nor grow from the earth; rather it relies on our efforts and action and needs sacrifice." From September 25 to 28, 2012, the Dalai group convened the Second Special Meeting of Tibetans in Exile, describing self-immolation as the highest form of non-violence, hailing its unfortunate victims as "national heroes," building memorials and raising special funds for them. For a period that ensued, the Dalai group vigorously preached that "self-immolation does not go against Buddhist doctrine" and that "self-immolation is martyrdom and Bodhisattva deeds," duping Buddhist believers in Tibet - and particularly innocent young people - and setting them on a path of ruin. The inevitable result was a sudden increase in self-immolations.
Investigations by China's public security organs into incidents of self-immolation revealed clearly that they are being manipulated and instigated at the highest level by the Dalai group. Kirti Gompa in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture is where the greatest number of self-immolation incidents have taken place; it has been proved that these incidents have close links with the Dalai group.
The Dalai group has four ways to instigate self-immolation: first, planning incidents from abroad through a so-called "press liaison group" based in Kirti Gompa in Sichuan and the Kirti Monastery in India; second, sending TYC members into Tibet to incite self-immolation; third, mobilizing people returning from overseas to abet self-immolation; and fourth, using the Internet and "Tibetan independence" media to hype up self-immolation.
