China has stepped up security in Tibet as the Himalayan region marks the sensitive anniversaries of the failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 and bloody riots two years ago.
In the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, on Wednesday residents reported an upsurge in armed police guarding intersections and checking ID cards, with uniformed and plainclothes security out in force.
The failure of the 1959 uprising led the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, to flee across the Himalayas into exile in India.
In 2008 protests marking the anniversary of that uprising spread into deadly rioting in Lhasa and in Tibetan areas elsewhere in China, in what was the most serious anti-Chinese unrest seen in decades.
China has said 21 people were killed by "rioters", with one other "insurgent" killed by security forces.
But the Tibetan government-in-exile says more than 200 people were killed in the 2008 protests, with at least 1,000 others injured in the unrest and subsequent crackdown.
Security has been tight in Tibet ever since, although residents say that in the run-up to Wednesday's anniversary it has been stepped up even more.
Foreign reporters are barred from travelling to the region except for on occasional tours organised by the Chinese government.
'Re-education'
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