2008 Lhasa riots

Tibetan rioters appeared to be targeting shops and vehicles owned by Han Chinese, the predominant ethnic group in China, and Hui, who are a Muslim minority.

James Miles reported seeing a Han Chinese teenage boy plead to a monk to help him hide because of the violence around the city.

[10] According to the London-based Free Tibet Campaign, an eyewitness in Lhasa saw rioters set a mosque on fire late on Friday night and throw stones at people who appeared to be Hui.

Some claimed that they had seen non-Tibetan Chinese, including the elderly, being beaten and stoned to death by groups of Tibetans, supported by the crowd.

[16] Tensions in Lhasa increased as the city's three biggest monasteries were sealed off by thousands of soldiers and armed police amid the largest protests in nearly two decades.

Chinese authorities reportedly fired warning shots and used tear gas and electric prods to disperse hundreds of protesters, in addition to detaining up to 50 monks.

[20][21][22] According to Xinhua, local police have "confirmed" the identities of 14 out of the 18 "innocent civilians" killed in the riots, including one "eight-month-old infant" and one "ethnic Tibetan woman" in a fire, set by "arson".

[23] Radio Free Asia and the International Campaign for Tibet reported that fresh protests broke out at the Ramoche Temple, situated in the northwest of Lhasa, March 29, 2008, as a 15-member group of diplomats from the United States, Japan and Europe returned to Beijing after a two-day visit to the Tibetan capital.