(CNN) -- Tibetans have long occupied a special place in the heart of the West. But that has not done them very much good. Over the past year, as the world focused on the Arab uprisings, and as China's growth shadowed over a weak global economy, the Tibetan struggle for autonomy entered a disturbing phase. From a distance, it might have looked as if China thoroughly succeeded in crushing Tibet's hope. But at home, in a western part of China, Tibetans are giving notice that their struggle is not over. Chinese authorities would do well to reconsider their strong-arm approach, because with or without Western attention, the Tibetans will continue their fight.
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Since March 2011, 30 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in protest of China
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Frida Ghitis: Beijing blames the horrific practice on the Dalai Lama, but he urges nonviolence
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Ghitis: Dalai Lama is popular in the West, but heads of state can't do much to help Tibet
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Ghitis: Unless China changes its polices toward Tibetans, it will only see more unrest
Since then, some 30 other Tibetans, mostly monks, have doused themselves with fuel and lit the spark that turned them into human torches, shouting cries for freedom and for the return of the @placeholder to his homeland, before collapsing and writhing in pain.