When I visited Tibet in 2006, I was surprised by the relaxed atmosphere and the few policemen in Lhasa. All that I had seen were Tibetans. The atmosphere was remarkably peaceful and gave a picture of general well-being of the people.
The people in Lhasa were friendly and wanted to speak to me. Unfortunately, I could not speak Mandarin or Tibetan. But some of them spoke to me with a little English. Their wish for contact was just out of normal curiosity about the foreigners.
I felt strange while the Western media reported that Tibet was full of Han people, because most people I saw and met were Tibetans. Were the Han people hiding all the time?
The Western media alleged that China had censored all information about the riots, and e-mails about the incidents could not be sent abroad.
I got mad about all the apparently incorrect information and sent three e-mails smoothly to three Western newspapers to air my opinion.
However, only the third one agreed to publish my article as a short "letter to the editor". Maybe what I wrote was too friendly to China for the "free press" which was hungry only for the Dalai Lama's voices.
The author is a Finn museum expert currently living in China
(China Daily April 15, 2008)