Why is China afraid of the Dalai Lama?

On the 6th July, Chinese police shot at and injured a dozen or so Tibetan Monks, as they were trying to celebrate the birthday of the Dalai Lama in Sichuan province, China. News reports indicated that two monks were shot in the head and many more were injured by scuffles with the police and army.

This incident is just one of the many that have taken place over the past decades since China's invasion of Tibet in the 1950’s, and forced the Dalai Lama into exile in India. The last major crackdown on Tibetan monks protesting against Chinese rule was in 2008, when many were killed in clashes with Chinese security forces.

The Chinese have brutally ruled over the Tibetan people ever since the invasion in 1950, banning them from openly worshipping the Dalai Lama, and repressing their religious and political freedoms.

China has claimed that they have helped develop and modernise Tibet, even gave them an autonomous region status, but most of the development has been in favour of the Han Chinese immigrants, not the native Tibetans.

The Dalai Lama has in recent years acknowledged that China will probably never grant independence to Tibet, but he has called for more autonomy to the Tibetan people; however this seems to have fallen on deaf ears back in Beijing. The Tibetans are still treated like second class citizens with no rights for choices over their lives. Only a couple of weeks ago there were reports that the Chinese authorities in Tibet have forced hundreds of thousands of Tibetans from their nomadic lives, and moved them into newly built housing complexes, where they had to pay for half the construction costs. Majority of Tibetans are poor farmers, and by this action alone they have become indebted to the Chinese state.

I think that although the Dalai Lama as the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people has a point that China is unlikely to grant independence to Tibet, especially since millions of Han Chinese have migrated to the region and billions of dollars have been spent on infrastructure projects, the Chinese authorities should relax their repressive policies, and allow more autonomy for the Tibetan people.

I have been to Tibet, although many years ago, and I noticed that at every monastery and on the streets of the capital, Lhasa, the Chinese have uniformed and undercover security personnel everywhere, spying on the activities of the Tibetans.

From my personal experience, the Tibetan, like all those who are spiritually connected to their religions (and their connection to their religion not associated with political and economic powers) are peaceful and accommodating of others. Hence I do not understand why the Chinese are so threatened by the Dalai Lama, a man who promotes peace among his supporters rather then violence. 

I also can not understand why the Chinese do not allow the Tibetans to practice their Buddhist faith openly, without repression from the authorities.

I think that the Tibetans, whose faith teaches peace and harmony, are unlikely to take up arms and begin a violent revolution any time soon. Like all others who feel desperate for freedom, it is their last resort. All they would probably wish for is just some basic human rights and freedom to practice their faith.