[3] The protests and demonstrations spread spontaneously to a number of monasteries and throughout the Tibetan plateau, including into counties located outside the designated Tibet Autonomous Region.

[25] The Dalai Lama denied the accusation and said that the situation was caused by "deep seated disillusionment and despair" in Tibet, and invited Chinese officials to come to India with its evidence.

Of the 1989 bloody suppression in Lhasa, journalist Jim Yardley wrote:"In the past China has not hesitated to crush major protests in Tibet or to jail disobedient monks.

His support for the bloody suppression of unrest that year earned him the good will of Deng Xiaoping, then the paramount leader, and led directly to his elevation to the Politburo Standing Committee and eventually to China’s top leadership posts.

"[34]The Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) proposed the Middle Way Approach to address the government of China's policies in Tibet.

[29] As a policy begun by Chairman Mao in 1950, Beijing promotes settlements of Han Chinese within Tibet, which dilute Tibetan culture and identity, as the Dalai Lama and others have stated.

[40][41][39] Nomadic Tibetans are forced to build homes and borrow money for construction costs,[42][30] while their grazing lands are redistributed, as reported by Free Tibet.

[43] China's policies which the Dalai Lama describes as "cultural genocide"[44] marginalize Tibetans and create simmering socio-economic issues in Lhasa.

[28] Some of Asia's most important rivers flow from the Tibetan plateau, and "are being polluted and diminished by careless industrialisation and unplanned irrigation" as stated by the Dalai Lama.

[46] Prices also continued to rise in other parts of the country,[47] while Tibetan youth stated that equal access to jobs and education is another economic issue related to the mass settling of Han Chinese.

An eyewitness told the BBC that around 300 monks from Sera monastery moved onto the street and were kicked and beat by 10 to 15 plainclothes Chinese police officers in what he described as "gratuitous violence".

[54] When Chinese police and military units reentered Lhasa on 14 March, reports state tear gas canisters were launched and shootings began.

[56] Chinese state media reported non-Tibetan-owned businesses and banks were robbed and houses were attacked and burned down, including government buildings and schools.

An early official statement by Tibet Autonomous Region Chairman Pema Trinley reported, "Only three law-breakers died during the pacification of the Lhasa unrest, no participation from the PLA" was revised to add that another person "jumped from a building" to avoid arrest.

In the capital city of Xining, a journalist with Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported that residents were receiving intimidating calls from the Public Security Bureau.

[63] Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao blamed the Dalai Lama's supporters for the recent violence in Tibet, and asserted that security forces exercised restraint in their response.

[34] The Dalai Lama has also stated that Tibetans are treated by China as second-class citizens in their own land,[74] which has caused simmering resentment, and has repeatedly denied any involvement in organizing or inciting the unrest,[75] and proposed to resign as the political leader if the violence continued.

[44] A reporter for The Economist, James Miles, when asked in an interview if the Dalai Lama was responsible for the riots, responded that he "didn't see any evidence of any organized activity", opining that "it's more likely that what we saw was inspired by a general desire of Tibetans both inside Tibet and among the Dalai Lama's followers, to take advantage of this Olympic year, but also inspired simply by all these festering grievances on the ground in Lhasa.

[47] On 1 April, rhetoric increased when the Chinese Public Security Ministry alleged that Tibet's supporters were planning suicide attacks, stating that searches of monasteries had turned up 176 guns, 13,013 bullets, 19,000 sticks of dynamite, 7,725 pounds of unspecified explosives, two hand grenades, and 350 knives.

[85] On March 19, Premier Wen Jiabao condemned the Dalai Lama's alleged role in the riot, but said the possibility for a dialogue remained open if he renounced Tibetan independence, and if he "recognizes Tibet and Taiwan as inalienable parts of the Chinese territory".

[27] China's state media Xinhua News Agency reported on early Saturday, 15 March, that 10 people had been burned to death by Tibetans, including two hotel employees and two shop owners.

[97] On 17 March, Tibet Autonomous Region governor Champa Phuntsok announced that 16 had been confirmed dead over the weekend's violence and dozens injured.

[110][111][112] On 28 March, the International Herald Tribune reported 5 female retail workers had been burned alive when Tibetan rioters set fire to the Yishion clothing store where they worked.

[117] Amnesty International reported in June 2008 that over 1,000 Tibetan protesters detained by Chinese authorities were "unaccounted for",[118] while more than 1,000 monks, nuns, students and citizens had disappeared by 2008.

[123][124] Two German reporters, Georg Blume of Die Zeit and Kristin Kupfer of Profil, left Tibet on March 18 due to pressure from the authorities, and James Miles, a correspondent from The Economist, said that China "insisted however that when my permit did expire on the 19th that I had to leave.

[130][131] Tania Branigan of The Guardian reported the Chinese government blocked foreign broadcasters and websites, and denied journalists access to protest areas.

[138] China's Communist Party newspaper, the People's Daily, called on the government to "resolutely crush the 'Tibet independence' forces' conspiracy and sabotaging activities".

The journalists allowed to tour Tibet included those from The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Financial Times, Kyodo News Agency, the Korean Broadcasting System, Al-Jazeera, and the Associated Press.

[162][163] According to the People's Daily, normalcy returned on 24 March to some affected areas in Sichuan Province, as schools, shops and restaurants reopened to the public.

[164] The Open Constitution Initiative (OCI), operated by several Weiquan lawyers and intellectuals, issued a paper in May 2009 challenging the official narrative and suggesting that the protests were a response to economic inequities, Han Chinese migration, and religious sentiments.