On March 27, when the foreign journalists arrived for their tour, Potala Square, which for days had been bleak and barren, suddenly teemed with Tibetans saying their ritual prayers. The journalists could not have known that government officials had gone to Tibetan neighborhoods the day before with orders that people go say prayers at Potala Square and that they provided "reimbursements" of 200 yuan apiece for those who complied. In normal times the people of Lhasa might have found this charade to be funny, but now the whole thing was laced with the sharp edge of fear.

Another small riot broke out on March 29. It was said that three people were beaten to death, but I cannot confirm that. I can say, though, that I saw all the shops on Beijing Road close up within half an hour. The residents of Lhasa had become much more sensitive and quick to react than they had been on March 14. Other than that, I can say only that extra police were visible on the streets. Very quickly, there was no sign that any riot had taken place; the government's reaction this time was entirely different from what it had been on March 14.

In early April there were still more police than usual patrolling the streets of Lhasa. No one knows when martial law will be entirely removed. Tibetans have long had to carry identifications card when they go out of their homes; now, in addition, they have had to carry temporary residence cards that the government has required them obtain in the wake of "March 14." Tibetans outside of Lhasa cannot visit the city's temples now, and do not know when they will next be allowed to do so.

One of the chants that Tibetans used during the protests between March 10 and 13 was: “We are the spirits of the people you killed 49 years ago! We are not afraid of death! If you kill us again, we will only come back again!” To Tibetans, it is not only the living Buddha who can be reincarnated. Any soul who draws strength from a sacred cause can do this. For them, the sacred cause is freedom.