Beijing marks 50 years since end of 'feudalism' in Tibet

China has inaugurated a new national holiday, Serf Liberation Day, to mark the 50th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. Beijing claims today marks the end of feudalism under Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.Chinese authorities on Saturday launched a new national holiday, "Serfs' Liberation Day," to mark the 50th anniversary of a failed Tibet uprising that forced the Dalai Lama into exile. The Chinese flag was raised in front of the Potala Palace in Tibet's capital Lhasa where more than 13,000 people, most wearing Tibetan traditional dress, stood for the national anthem in a ceremony broadcast on state television.The government has said the holiday, which coincides with the quelling of an anti-Chinese uprising in the Himalayan region 50 years ago, marks the end "feudalism" in Tibet.China has ruled Tibet since 1951, after sending in troops to "liberate" the Himalayan region the previous year, and Beijing has long maintained that its rule ended a Buddhist theocracy that enslaved all but the religious elite.Speakers including a soldier, a self-described former serf and the region's top Communist official told the crowd in Lhasa that the region's past poverty was due to a system of exploitation overseen by the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader.