China Moves to Tighten Control Over Religion in Tibet

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Protests Erupt in Support for Tibet

In countries all over the world, protesters take to the streets to oppose Chinese rule of Tibet after demonstrations in the province turned violent. [Editor's note: The caption for an earlier version of this slideshow was incorrectly associated with a photo from Nepal. This version has been corrected.]

» LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

In Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, state prosecutors on Tuesday charged 13 people with "illegal assembly." They were among the 15 people originally detained for protesting in front of the Tsuklakhang Temple on March 10, the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese communist rule.

The protesters shouted anti-government slogans and held up illegal, homemade Tibetan flags, symbols of independence. They made their way to the Jokhang Temple, using their slogans and flags "to gather a crowd and stir up trouble," the Tibet Daily said.

Fear over the crisis in Tibet has extended to Beijing. More than a week after students at the Central University of Nationalities held a candlelight vigil to commemorate the dead in Lhasa, a heavy contingent of security guards patrolled the campus, which remains closed to outsiders.

Tibetan students said they had all been forced to attend a meeting the day after the vigil. They were told not to speak to outsiders and banned from assemblies of any kind.

"I'm so afraid that they will stop me from getting a job or prevent me from graduating," said a Tibetan computer science student.

At the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, one expert would speak only on condition of anonymity.

"If you want to listen to the government's voice, I can recommend a lot of people," the academic said. "But if you want to listen to the truth, it is really too sensitive for many academics to speak right now."

Correspondent Molly Moore in Paris and researcher Zhang Jie in Beijing contributed to this report.