“China and the 2008 Riots in Tibet: What Happened, and How Do We Know?” with Prof. Zheng

UCSB’s Professor Xiaowei Zheng (November 20 at 4:30PM at the Goleta Public Library) will discuss the difficulties in assessing the 2008 riots in Tibet. The rioting that began on March 14 in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, spread quickly to other Tibetan cities. In Lhasa, rioters targeted Han Chinese merchants who suffered injuries, casualties, and massive property damage. In the crackdown that followed, the authorities arrested over a thousand Tibetans. Controversy quickly emerged over allegations that there had been serious inaccuracies and biases in reports about the coverage of the riots in the international media. Zheng will analyze the coverage, drawing upon video images and press accounts. The media stories shaped people’s understanding of the events, demonstrating how challenging it can be even to know the very recent past.