InterContinental Hotels' presence in Tibet legitimises China's occupation of Tibet and sends a message to the world that the situation inside Tibet is normal. But the situation is far from normal:

- The streets of Lhasa are heavily militarised. Military road-blocks and armed personnel stationed on rooftops including at holy sites give the city the outward appearance of a conflict-zone, far from “one of the happiest cities in China” as state-owned ChinaDaily calls it (May 2011).

- Journalists and tourists visiting Lhasa often report how frightened people are to speak openly – BBC journalist Damian Grammaticas said on his last trip to Lhasa (15 July 2010) “most Tibetans are too frightened to voice any criticism of China openly”.

- Temples, monasteries, nuns and monks, Buddhist rituals and festivals are all outward signs of an apparently thriving religion. But China’s overarching concern is ensuring that religion “safeguards the motherland”, a requirement which renders freedom of religion in Tibet illusory.

- Surveillance cameras are positioned on street corners, in places of higher education and in monasteries across Lhasa to monitor the day-to-day activities of ordinary Tibetans; there are no cameras in the so called 'new town' the predominantly Chinese area of Lhasa.

- In its most recent report on China, the United Nations concluded that torture is widespread and routine in Tibet and China. Torture is used by the state as a weapon to supress ordinary Tibetans and to deepen the climate of fear and intimidation.

- Tibetans are not able to communicate freely with the outside world – the internet is heavily censored, Tibetans must give their identification details to use internet cafes, and there can be heavy penalties for those who do send information about Tibet to the outside world. Wangdu, an NGO worker was sentenced to life imprisonment after sharing information by email about the situation inside Lhasa in 2008.

- Tibetans can be charged with “splittism” – an undefined crime in Chinese law - for acts as simple as flying the banned Tibetan flag.