James had a visit today from the foreign affairs bureau of Lhasa and the police, and they insisted he move out of his hotel in the Tibetan quarter of Lhasa. The riots are over, the streets are filled with troops, and the Chinese government says it hasn't used any lethal force to suppress the violence. Officially, the army hasn't taken part in the crackdown. But what's the difference between a member of the Armed Police holding an AK47 and a soldier holding an AK47? It's almost impossible to know what the truth is. James has been the only foreign journalist in Lhasa for the last week, and although he's ranged far and wide both during the riots and after the security forces took over, he can have seen only a fraction of all that's taken place. He has heard sporadic gunfire. He says that some of the Armed Police forces are wearing what he thinks are army belts, and that they are driving around with their number plates covered – you can tell by looking at a number plate whether the vehicle belongs to the People's Armed Police, or to the Army. His reports, and some of his photographs, are on www.Economist.com . He's busy penning a three-page section on Lhasa for this week's edition of the magazine. But back to Lhasa – last night was the deadline for rioters to hand themselves in if they wanted 'leniency' (one can't help but wonder what that might consist of). And I guess that today they start mass arrests of anyone who took part – that, I speculate, is why they want James out of the way. It is to the authorities' credit that they have not come in with guns blazing as they did in 1989 – but I predict that life is now going to get extremely grim for Tibetans, and those who took part in riots will face ruthless retribution. The government has been self-controlled enough not to massacre people in the streets. It must have been very tempting, not only to restore control, but to restore the fear the Party needs to nourish in order to stay in power. They know, however, that there are other ways of imposing fear. Unless the authorities allow Chinese and foreign journalists in to Tibet now to observe what happens in the next few weeks and months, the world will imagine the worst.