The Economist Beijing correspondent has found himself the only western reporter in Llasa. This sober report is able to both capture the gritty details of the rioting, as well as macro analysis of China's Tibet platform. As with many Economist pieces, it lacks a balance and clear identification of sources.

a good eye-witness article which also includes enough recent history of china in tibet to convey to the rest of us a real sense of what's happened. the chinese authorities' restraint here is attributed to the up-coming olympics in beijing. the descriptions remind me of the riots after the rodney king verdict in l.a.. there is nothing here of the chinese points of view however. i hope the author is wrong and that these events encourage rather than discourage further talks between tibet leaders and china.