The Chinese Government is doing itself no favours with its

censorship and denial over Tibet.

Foreign media has been accused of bias against China in reporting the protests that began in Lhasa on March 10 and degenerated into a violent riot on March 14 that saw large swathes of the Tibetan capital burnt and at least 22 dead, including a group of five women - four Han Chinese and one Tibetan - burnt to death in the clothes shop in which they worked.

I don't believe that any of the foreign media - or Tibetans - condone mob violence, but the relentless propaganda campaign by the Chinese authorities to present a version of events that acknowledges not one death of a protester since March 10 - while systematically refusing to allow journalists or other observers into Tibetan areas to investigate - is breathtaking in its hypocrisy and counterproductive. We are here to try and understand each other but prevented from hearing the other side, one proceeds with extreme caution.