SHANGHAI — Tibetan monks shouting pro-independence slogans caught Chinese officials by surprise on Thursday during a highly scripted tour for Western journalists in Lhasa’s central Buddhist temple. The protest disrupted China’s effort to portray the recent Tibetan rioting as the work of violent thugs and separatists.

“Tibet is not free! Tibet is not free!” yelled one young Buddhist monk, who then started crying, according to an Associated Press correspondent in the tour.

Government handlers shouted for the journalists to leave and tried to pull them away during the 15-minute protest by about 30 monks at the Jokhang Temple in central Lhasa. It was unclear whether the protesting monks were arrested.

Monks Protest During Press Tour of China – New York Times