BEIJING — Protesters in Chinese-controlled Tibet were arrested during a riot that erupted after two Buddhist monks were taken into police custody, according to the government's news agency.
The monks were arrested after a dispute with a shopkeeper, and the subsequent unrest triggered a crackdown, according to the New China News Agency.
The incident occurred in mid-November but was only recently reported in China. The news agency gave no reason for the delay but stressed that "the local social order is stable," citing statements by local government officials.
Activists say the incident signals an upsurge in protests by the Tibetan majority against the Chinese military's presence in the Himalayan region.
"It doesn't take much to spark things right now," said Brad Adams, the Asia director for Human Rights Watch. "There's a sense that the Chinese are being heavy-handed on a whole range of issues."
Adams said it was unclear whether there was an increase in civil disobedience in Tibet or whether efforts to get news of such events to the outside world were more successful. "Even the people who know the most about Tibet aren't sure," he said.
Tibetans in exile with ties to the Dalai Lama say China is trying to keep Tibet under tight control in the months leading up to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
"If they want to improve their image for the Olympics, they can allow free media access," said Tsering Tashi, a London-based representative of the Dalai Lama at the Office of Tibet, a group that considers itself the government in exile.
A group called Friends of Tibet said the Chinese had recently restricted travel among Tibetans in response to the protests.
"The Chinese government is restraining travel because they fear Tibetans will spread the message of these protests to different places," said Tenzin Tsundue, a Tibetan writer and member of Friends of Tibet who lives in India.
Tibetans have demanded more human rights as well as the return of the Dalai Lama, their spiritual leader, who fled into exile 48 years ago after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
Tibet had de facto independence from the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911 until the arrival of Chinese communist troops in 1951.
A Tibetan exile in India with family near the remote village of Paingar -- pronounced Palkar by Tibetans -- said that the two monks, both about 16, quarreled with the Chinese shopkeeper Nov. 19 and were beaten by the merchant. They were later arrested.
