Tibetan uprising: Fearing an abduction attempt by China, thousands of Tibetans surround the Dalai Lama's palace to prevent his removal.
The 1959 Tibetan uprising or the 1959 Tibetan rebellion began on 10 March 1959, when a revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which had been under the effective control of the People's Republic of China since the Seventeen Point Agreement was reached in 1951. The initial uprising occurred amid general Chinese-Tibetan tensions and in a context of confusion, as Tibetan protestors feared that the Chinese government might arrest the 14th Dalai Lama. The protests were also fuelled by anti-Chinese sentiment and separatism. At first, the uprising consisted of mostly peaceful protests, but clashes quickly erupted and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) eventually used force to put down the protestors, some of whom had captured arms. The last stages of the uprising included heavy fighting, with high civilian and military losses. The 14th Dalai Lama escaped from Lhasa, while the city was fully retaken by Chinese security forces on 23 March 1959. Thousands were killed during the 1959 uprising, although the exact number is disputed.
Earlier in 1956, armed conflict between Tibetan guerillas and the PLA started in the Kham and Amdo regions, which had been subjected to socialist reform. The guerrilla warfare later spread to other areas of Tibet and lasted through 1962. Some regard the Xunhua Incident in 1958 as a precursor of the Tibetan uprising.The annual 10 March anniversary of the uprising is observed by exiled Tibetans as Tibetan Uprising Day and Women's Uprising Day. On 19 January 2009, The PRC-controlled legislature in the Tibetan Autonomous Region chose 28 March as the national anniversary of Serfs Emancipation Day. According to Warren W. Smith, this move was a "counter-propaganda" celebration following the 10 March 2008 unrest in Tibet.