Beijing has depicted the violent protests in Tibet over the past week as the product of a dark conspiracy, led by the Dalai Lama, and abetted by foreign forces which want to “split” China and sabotage the 2008 Olympics. 

In truth, the demonstrations reflect a convergence of factors, some fundamental, longstanding grievances, and other more temporal issues, ranging from the proximity of the Olympics to recent tensions over Tibetan cultural practices.