Photos of Buddhist monks debating at Sera Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet from June 2007. According to recent news (March 14, 2008) the Chinese military are laying siege to Sera Monastery this week. Protests early this week, sparked by the anniversary of the failed 1959 uprising against China's invasion of Tibet, turned violent.

Excerpt from The Globe and Mail: One tourist, who returned from Lhasa this week, documented the second day of the protests this week at the Sera monastery on the outskirts of Lhasa. Her bus, filled with Buddhist pilgrims, was ordered to turn away from the monastery, she said. “Seconds after we were asked to turn around, Chinese police began to gather at the gate and a stream of Tibetan monks came running down the road from the monastery,” she recalled in a comment posted on The Globe and Mail's website yesterday.

“The Chinese police officers, right in front of our bus, began grabbing passing monks at random and clubbing, hitting and kicking them … We were then told to close the curtains of the bus, and our Chinese tour guide, looking terrified, told us to not take any photos and under no circumstance even say the words ‘Dalai Lama.' ”

While waiting at the monastery gate, the tourist said she saw Chinese army personnel entering the monastery gate. “The members that got inside reported that the only thing the monks had done was to shout. As we were taken to our hotel, we saw Chinese troops heading in the direction of the monastery. When we visited the Potala Palace, there were Chinese military all over the place.”

From the BBC: