The arrests in the Dza Wonpo township of Sershul (in Chinese, Shiqu) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture followed a wave of earlier detentions in late August that saw over 100 township residents also taken into custody, sources said in earlier reports.

On Sept. 3, police took six monks from the township’s Dza Wonpo monastery into custody, escorting them under heavy guard to their quarters for inspection of their belongings, a Tibetan living in India told RFA on Tuesday, citing contacts in the region.

“They were then brought to the Sershul county seat, where they are now being held,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Two women [from the town] have now also been detained,” he added.

The identities of those being held and details of any charges made against them were not immediately available, owing to strict clampdowns by Chinese police on communications in Tibetan areas.

Many of the Tibetans arrested in earlier raids in the area beginning Aug. 25 were members of a local group promoting the use and preservation of the Tibetan language, now being replaced under government orders by Chinese as the sole medium for classroom instruction in local schools, the source said.

“This education policy that the Chinese government is now aggressively implementing could be one of the reasons for this string of arrests in the region, where they are rounding up Tibetans who simply advocate for the protection of the Tibetan language,” he said.

Ban on photos

The ongoing wave of arrests in Dza Wonpo shows that the Chinese government ”can’t tolerate evidence of [Tibetans’] loyalty to any force other than itself,” said Sophie Richardson, China Director at New York-based Human Rights Watch.

“There is no law against possessing pictures of the Dalai Lama that are consistent with Chinese and international human rights law, and anyone who’s been detained on that basis should be immediately released,” she said.

Considered a separatist by Chinese leaders, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet into exile in India in the midst of a failed 1959 national uprising against rule by China, which marched into the formerly Himalayan country and annexed it by force in 1950.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, including the right to be educated in their own language.

Politically sensitive region

The Dza Wonpo area has seen many protests against Chinese policies and rule since widespread protests swept Tibetan regions of China in 2008, said Nyima Woeser, a researcher at the Dharamsala, India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.

“So the Chinese government regards Dza Wonpo as a politically sensitive region, and it remains under tight scrutiny,” he said.

“With these latest arrests, there have now been almost 121 Tibetans arrested since August, and what we have learned is that most of these detained Tibetans were members of a social group that aims to protect the Tibetan language and initiates language workshops.”

“It is evident that the Chinese government has been aggressively implementing its education policy in recent years leading to the gradual replacement of Tibetan, and all of this is related to what’s happening in Dza Wonpo,” he said.

Speaking to RFA on background on Tuesday, a State Department spokesperson said, “The United States stands with the many Tibetans oppressed and imprisoned by the [People’s Republic of China] for the exercise of their human rights.”

“We urge PRC authorities to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of religion or belief, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

“Tibet remains a priority for this Administration. We will consider the use of all appropriate tools to promote accountability for PRC officials responsible for human rights abuses in Tibet," the State Department said.

Reported by Pema Ngodup and Tashi Wangchuk for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Thursday marked the 61^st anniversary of the seating of Tibet’s first India-based parliament-in-exile, a first step in the political development of the Tibetan diaspora community that now includes the election by popular vote of their political leader, or Sikyong.

Nepalese authorities concerned that Tibetan residents might stage protests outside Nepal’s Chinese consulate deployed large numbers of police to guard the building, Sangpo Lama—program coordinator for the Human Rights Organization of Nepal (HURON)—told RFA’s Tibetan Service.

“One could also see many police officers both in uniform and in plain clothes stationed around the Boudhanath Stupa and other Tibetan settlements,” Lama said, referring to a large religious structure central to the social and commercial life of the Tibetan community in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu.

Around 20 officers were also deployed, and a police truck stationed, outside the Jawalakhel Tibetan settlement, also in Kathmandu, he said.

“The Jawalakhel Handicraft Center office hosted the [Democracy Day] observance within its own premises, offering prayers and reading a statement from the Kashag,” the cabinet of the Central Tibetan Administration, Tibet’s India-based exile government, Lama said.

“It has been hard for Tibetans to do anything freely [in Nepal],” Lama said. No arrests or disruptions by police of community events on Thursday were reported, though, he added.

Courage, determination

In its Sept. 2 statement, Tibet’s India-based Kashag sent greetings and messages of support to Tibetans still living in the formerly independent Tibet, which was invaded and forcibly annexed by China in 1950.

“Tibetans inside Tibet have maintained indomitable courage and determination in the face of China’s continued policy to exterminate the Tibetan identity, and they have been making all-round efforts to protect Tibet’s religion, culture, language and tradition, for which we remain deeply grateful,” the Kashag said.

“It is this strength that unites the Tibetans in exile and keeps alive the freedom struggle. It is the common wish in our heart to reunite in Tibet, and we would like to appeal to our brethren in Tibet not to lose their determination.”

Nepal, which shares a long border with Tibet, is home to at least 20,000 exiles who began arriving in 1959 when a failed uprising against Chinese rule forced Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to take refuge in India’s Himalayan foothills.

Nepal is seen by China as a partner in its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to boost global trade through infrastructure investment, and Nepal's government has cited promises of millions of dollars of Chinese investment in restricting Tibetan activities in the country.

Nepal’s close political ties with China have left Tibetan refugees in the Himalayan country uncertain of their status, vulnerable to abuses of their rights, and restricted in their freedoms of movement and expression, rights groups say.

Reported by Lhuboom for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.

The arrests in the Dza Wonpo township of Sershul (in Chinese, Shiqu) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture follows the arrests earlier this month of at least 60 other township residents, bringing to over 100 the total number taken into custody during the campaign.

Following a first raid on Aug. 25, Chinese authorities swept through the town, searching every house, a Tibetan living in India told RFA, citing sources in the region.

“They were looking for pictures of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and for any messages that may have been shared on their cell phones with people outside Tibet,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“And from Aug. 25 to Aug. 29, 53 more Tibetans were arrested,” he said.

Almost all of the Tibetans taken into custody in the recent raids were arrested for possessing photos of the Dalai Lama or for sharing messages and information with contacts outside Chinese-controlled areas, while others were arrested for “discussing social issues in the community,” he said.

Four Tibetans—two laymen, a monk, and a woman—arrested in the first raid were released on Tuesday, but their names and other details about them are still unknown, he said.

Monks from Dza Wonpo’s local monastery over the age 18 are now being summoned in batches of 20 each day to report to police authorities to affirm they have never taken part in political activities and will not do so in the future, the source said. Two members of the monastery’s staff have been assigned to check for compliance, the source added.

“Chinese authorities have been harassing and threatening Tibetans, not just in Dza Wonpo but in many other parts of Tibet,” the source said. “And the only reason they do this is to oppress Tibetans and eventually keep the younger Tibetans unaware of their own religious faith, culture, and identity.

'A real concern'

“The increasing numbers of arrests in Dza Wonpo are a real concern, and it shocked us today to learn that at least another 50 Tibetans were arrested because they have images of the Dalai Lama, “ said John Jones, Campaigns, Policy and Research Manager at London-based Free Tibet.

“It is not the Chinese Communist Party’s business what Tibetans have on their phones or in their homes,” he said. “The CCP should have learned a long time ago that it’s not going to bully Tibetans either into renouncing their loyalty to the Dalai Lama or into giving up their freedom.”

In January, a Dza Wonpo monk named Tenzin Nyima died of injuries inflicted on him by police while he was being held in custody, Jones said, adding, “We don’t want to see that happen again.”

“We want to see a resolution of these confrontations, and that means the CCP really just has to take a step back and listen to what Tibetans want rather than forcing them to come around to its own point of view.”

Already tightly restricted following widespread protests in Tibetan regions in 2008, Dza Wonpo monastery drew increased police scrutiny in 2012 when monks refused to hoist Chinese national flags on the monastery’s roofs, sources told RFA in earlier reports.

Considered a separatist by Chinese leaders, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet into exile in India in the midst of a failed 1959 national uprising against rule by China, which marched into the formerly independent Himalayan country and annexed it by force in 1950.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Reported by Pema Ngodup for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickey. Written in English by Richard Finney.

In Tibetan areas of China, at least 40 cases of enforced disappearance have been recorded during the last three years, said Dharamsala, India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) in a statement on Aug. 30, the 38^th annual International Day of the Disappeared.

Victims have included monks and nuns, writers and artists, farmers and community leaders, and students and other intellectuals, TCHRD said in its report, adding that the majority of those disappeared were described by authorities as suspects in cases of “endangering state security” or “disclosing state secrets.”

In one recent case, two residents of the Tachu township in the Nagchu (in Chinese, Naqu) municipality of the Tibet Autonomous Prefecture were detained in 2019 for resisting forced patriotic education during the run-up to the 70^th founding anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, TCHRD said.

Norsang, 36, one of those detained, was taken into custody in September, and another man, Lhadar, 37, was detained a month later.

“In May 2021, it was learned that Norsang had died in custody a week after his detention in 2019,” TCHRD said, citing a source who informed the rights group that the man had been subjected to severe beatings and torture, leading to his death.

News of detentions and of disappearances and deaths in custody is frequently delayed from reaching outside contacts because of strict communications clampdowns imposed by Chinese authorities in Tibetan areas.

“[But] Tibetans continue to disappear every year, crippling family life and community cohesion,” TCHRD added, calling on China to ratify the United Nations’ Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearances.

“There are so many Tibetans who are arrested by the Chinese government, yet their whereabouts and the reasons for their arrests remain unknown for a very long time,” Pema Gyal, a researcher at the London-based rights group Tibet Watch, told RFA’s Tibetan Service.

“Some even die, but the information about them remains unknown.”

“The Chinese government enforces its control on Tibetans by means of political threats and punishments, so Tibetans have no political or civil rights or the right to freedom of expression,” Gyal said, adding that China claims to be a country that respects the law and that it will become a "rule-of-law" nation by 2035.

“However, we know that there are no human rights or freedom for Tibetans living in Tibet, so the claim they are a law-abiding nation is a complete lie,” he said.

'Dark deeds'

Also on Monday, the Washington-based Campaign for Uyghurs said that China has now become “a primary perpetrator of force disappearances,” adding that China’s ruling Communist Party has moved over a million Uyghurs into internment camps and prison cells, targeting the mostly Muslim ethnic group because of its religion and national identity.

“Their dark deeds are performed with the full knowledge of the existence of the United Nations and international governments, and yet the Chinese government is still being given every opportunity to shine on the world stage,” the Campaign said in its statement.

Beijing will soon be hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics while engaged in the forced disappearance of Uyghur intellectuals, scholars, and civil servants as part of an ongoing program of active genocide, the Campaign said.

“We must not allow the Beijing Olympics to serve as a platform for this regime to display its false human rights record on the international stage," the rights group added.

As many as 50,000 people may have vanished at the same time into programs of “residential surveillance” and other systems of detention in China’s mainland, according to Safeguard Defenders, a rights group based in Madrid and with offices across Asia.

China now uses at least six methods for forced disappearance, including holding persons incommunicado in residential locations and retaining persons in custody after their sentences end, Safeguard Defenders said.

Other victims disappear after their formal release from prison, are registered under false names in pre-trial detention centers, or are held in administrative detention, while others more rarely are simply kidnapped, the rights group said.

Reported by Sangyal Kunchok for RFA’s Tibetan Service and by the Uyghur Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Identified as Gyuldrak and Yangrik, the two 19-year-old residents of Darlag county in Qinghai’s Golog (in Chinese, Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture were taken into custody on Tuesday by Chinese police, a Tibetan living in the region told RFA.

The two Middle School students are believed to have drawn police attention by speaking on the WeChat social media platform against a Chinese policy mandating, beginning in September, that all classes in local schools be taught only in Chinese.

Tibetan parents are being instructed to pick up the new Chinese-language textbooks in place of the older Tibetan texts when they go for COVID-19 testing, RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The new language policy has already aroused widespread opposition among Tibetans in neighboring Sichuan, where Tibetan private schools have been closed and children sent to government schools amid parents’ concerns for their children’s connection to their native Tibetan language and culture.

Gyuldrak and Yangrik are now being held at the Darlag county police station, RFA’s source said.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Language rights have become a particular focus for Tibetan efforts to assert national identity in recent years, with informally organized language courses in the monasteries and towns deemed “illegal associations” and teachers subject to detention and arrest, sources say.

Reported by Sangyal Kunchok for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Taken into custody in Sunday’s raid in Dza Wonpo township in the Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture were 19 monks from a local monastery and 40 laypeople whose homes were thoroughly searched by police, a Tibetan living in India told RFA.

“Those who were arrested are currently being held at the Sershul [Shiqu] county police station,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity and citing contacts in the region.

Chinese police then called a meeting on Wednesday, three days later, telling local residents aged 18 and above they would penalized for failure to attend, the source said, adding, “The focus of the meeting was to warn people not to keep any pictures of the Dalai Lama or to share any information over their cell phones.”

A second raid of houses in the township to find banned photos was then launched that same day, the source said.

This week’s meeting and raids followed meetings earlier this year in Dza Wonpo in which Tibetans were forced to sign a document pledging not to keep or circulate photos of the Dalai Lama on penalty of criminal prosecution and cut-offs of state aid, according to Tibetan sources.

Authorities also inspected a local old-age home on the pretext of cleaning the facility and confiscated a number of the banned photos, giving facility residents pictures of China’s president Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders to put up in their place, one source said.

Already tightly restricted following widespread protests in Tibetan regions in 2008, Dza Wonpo’s local monastery drew increased police attention in 2012 when monks refused to host Chinese national flags on the monastery’s roofs.

Sporadic protests including the scattering of leaflets calling for Tibetan independence have continued in Dza Wonpo since then, with a monk named Tenzin Nyima, also called Tamey, dying in January of injuries sustained from beatings and torture in a Chinese prison after being released in a comatose state.

Considered a separatist by Chinese leaders, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet into exile in India in the midst of a failed 1959 national uprising against rule by China, which marched into the formerly independent Himalayan country and annexed it by force in 1950.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Reported by Pema Ngodup for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.

The Gyalten School, operating in the Tehor Dhargay Rongpa Tsal subdistrict of the Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, was founded in 1994 by religious leader Tulku Gyalten Lobsang Jampa, a local source told RFA this week.

“And though the school was founded by a Tibetan lama, it does not operate as a private school. It is registered and administered under the Chinese government and runs like a government school,” RFA’s source said in a written message sent under condition of anonymity.

“And yes, I have heard about a notice sent to the school to change its medium of instruction to Chinese,” the source said.

Also speaking to RFA, a Tibetan living in India confirmed the threat to close the school, citing contacts in the Kardze region.

“And if the school refuses to implement the changes, the Chinese government has threatened to shut it down,” the source said.

“Also beginning this school year, the annual entrance exams were all conducted in Chinese,” the source added.

The Gyalten School holds classes up through sixth grade where Tibetan, English, Chinese, math, science, and vocational training are taught as part of the curriculum, sources say. So far, 642 Tibetan students have graduated from the school.

Tulku Gyalten Lobsang Jampa, the school’s founder, also serves as vice-chair of the Buddhist Association of Sichuan and is a member of China’s National People’s Congress, the rubber-stamp parliament.

Private schools already closed

Authorities in Sichuan had already begun this year to close down private Tibetan schools offering classes taught in the Tibetan language, forcing students to go instead to government-run schools where they will be taught entirely in Chinese, sources told RFA in earlier reports.

The move is being pushed in the name of providing uniformity in the use of textbooks and instructional materials, but parents of the affected children and other local Tibetans have expressed concern over the imposed requirements, saying that keeping young Tibetans away from their culture and language will have severe negative consequences for the future.

Just under 1.5 million Tibetans live in historically Tibetan parts of western Sichuan province, according to China’s 2010 census.

Language rights have become a particular focus for Tibetan efforts to assert national identity in recent years, with informally organized language courses in the monasteries and towns deemed “illegal associations” and teachers subject to detention and arrest, sources say.

Reported by Sangyal Kunchok for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Tsepa, who wrote under the name Chenbang, died on Aug. 19 at the Chigdril County Hospital in Sichuan’s Golog (in Chinese, Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“He had been detained and questioned earlier by the Chinese government for writing about Tibetan issues,” the source said.

Born in 1992 in Chigdril, Tsepa was a graduate of Gansu province’s Northwest University for Nationalities and had written at least five books, along with poetry published on creative-writing websites online, RFA’s source said, adding that Tsepa wrote his poems in a “unique style.”

“He was also interested in other subjects, and while he was studying at the Northwest University for Nationalities he wrote articles that criticized the Chinese government, for which he was arrested and interrogated many times,” he said.

Tibetan scholars and poets inside Tibet are now widely sharing Tsepa’s poems, and are praising him for his contributions to Tibet’s culture and the Tibetan language, the source added.

Writers, singers, and artists promoting Tibetan national identity have frequently been arrested and handed long jail terms by Chinese authorities, with informally organized courses promoting the study of the Tibetan language now typically deemed “illegal associations,” sources say.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Reported by Sangyal Kunchok for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.

"Only by following the [Chinese Communist party] leadership and pursuing the path of socialism, can Tibet achieve development and prosperity," Wang Yang, a member of the powerful politburo standing committee, told a crowd in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, the traditional home of Tibet’s Buddhist leaders, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The intense security and restrictions on movement in the run up to the Aug. 19 anniversary event, however, prompted Tibetans to mock China’s description of the armed invasion 70 years ago as the “Peaceful Liberation” of their region.

“The Chinese government claims that they have liberated Tibet in the last 70 years, but in reality, Tibetans have been under constant restrictions and scrutiny,” said a resident of Lhasa, the regional capital, who complained that local residents had to endure “the same situation of heavy restrictions in place all around Lhasa” at the 60^th anniversary in 2011.

“It’s been 70 years since China forcefully invaded Tibet, but they have not been able to win the hearts of the Tibetans,” said another source in Lhasa, who also spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

 “In attempting to legitimize the invasion of Tibet, Chinese government has been spreading propaganda for the last 70 years using their state media and distorting the historic facts of Tibet and Tibetan identity, which is very disturbing,” the source added.

'Occupation and oppression'

An independent nation for centuries, Tibet’s incorporation into China by force has been enforced, by tight restrictions on the six million Tibetans’ political activities and expression of cultural and religious identity, as well as a catalog of well-documented persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

“For us Tibetans, what China celebrates as ‘Liberation Day’ is the anniversary of occupation and oppression,” Sikyong Penpa Tsering, the elected head of the exile Tibetan government in Dharamsala, India said during India’s 75^th Independence Day celebration on Aug. 15.

“With human rights violations still ongoing in Tibet and other regions under Chinese occupation, the CCP’s claims of the ‘liberation of Tibet’ begs the question: ‘From what or whom was Tibet liberated?’” he said.

Gonpo Dhundup, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress in Dharamsala said his people had experienced “70 years of sweat and tears” since the Chinese takeover.

“The Chinese government is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the so -called peaceful liberation of Tibet in Lhasa today but for us Tibetans it's a dark day,” he told RFA.

Wang Yang and the 22-member CCP delegation gave “washing machines to farmers and herdsmen, and present souvenirs such as medical and health kits to cadres and employees, which fully reflects the special support for work in Tibet, care and concern for cadres and masses of all ethnic groups in Tibet from Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core,” said Zhao Huinian, deputy CCP secretary-general of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

“After 70 years of oppression, the only thing the Tibetan people need ‘peaceful liberation’ from today is China’s brutality,” said the International Campaign for Tibet.

“Rather than force an empty celebration on the Tibetan people, the Chinese government should sit down with Tibetan leaders and the Dalai Lama’s representatives to negotiate meaningful autonomy that will bring actual peace and basic freedoms back to Tibet,” the Washington, DC-based advocacy group said.

Broken promises

The Dalai Lama, who turned 86 last month, fled Tibet for India in 1959, eight years after he signed a 17-point agreement with Beijing under duress that promised Tibet would enjoy full autonomy without interference by the Chinese government in the region’s religion, customs, and internal administration.

None of the promises were kept, and Beijing has stepped up its effort to assimilate the Tibetans, while imposing strict surveillance and controls on communications in Tibet and Tibetan areas of western China that make it difficult to learn details of protests, arrests, or other information considered politically sensitive.

“China’s government has relentlessly assaulted the human rights, ​the unique religious, linguistic, cultural freedoms, and dignity of Tibetans,” a U.S. State Department spokesman told RFA’s Tibetan Service.

“We will work with our allies and partners to press Beijing to return to direct dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives to achieve meaningful autonomy for Tibetans, respect for human rights, and the preservation of Tibet’s environment as well as its unique cultural, linguistic, and religious traditions,” the spokesman said when asked about China’s violation of the 1951 pact.

The secrecy and tight security surrounding the 70^th anniversary event “signifies that there is no stability in Tibet,” Ngawang Woebar, a monk in Dharamsala who participated in big 1987 protests in Tibet against Chinese rule, told RFA.

“Those who have not experienced life in Tibet will feel that everything is prosperous. But the Tibetans who have experienced Tibetan religion, culture and customs will know that everything in Tibet about ‘peaceful liberation’ is a façade,” he said.

“If they let Tibetans speak freely. they would know the real aspirations of Tibetans in Tibet.”

Reported by Kalden Lodoe and Yangdon Demo for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickey. Written in English by Paul Eckert.

Sherab Dorje, age 19 and a resident of Trotsik township in the Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, was taken into custody near his home and led away in handcuffs, a local resident told RFA’s Tibetan Service.

“A few police officers recently arrived in Trotsik to enforce the Communist Party’s political education campaign for young Tibetans to ensure they don’t rebel against the government’s policies,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Sherab Dorje didn’t attend the meeting, so he was arrested later near his house and put in handcuffs,” the source said, adding, “He’s still being held in custody.”

Dorje, a graduate of the Machu County Middle School in Gansu province's Kanlho (Gannan) prefecture, may also have come to the attention of police by joining with students in submitting a petition opposing county government orders to give classroom instruction only in Chinese when schools reopen at the end of this year’s summer vacation, sources said.

Language rights have become a particular focus for Tibetan efforts to assert national identity in recent years, with Tibetan schools including kindergartens and elementary schools now teaching almost entirely in Chinese.

Informally organized language courses in the monasteries and towns are typically deemed “illegal associations” and teachers are subject to detention and arrest, sources say.

Politically sensitive discussions

Police in Trotsik also arrested a senior monk at a local monastery last month on suspicion of holding politically sensitive discussions on the popular WeChat social media platform, sources told RFA in an earlier report.

Konmey, a 45-year-old monk in charge of discipline at Ngaba’s Trotsik monastery, was taken into custody on July 20, a source in Ngaba told RFA.

“He had performed prayers on his WeChat group, but he only talked about the number of prayers he had accumulated,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He said nothing at all about political issues.”

Communications clampdowns in Tibet and Tibetan areas of western China have made it difficult to learn the details of protests, arrests, or other information considered politically sensitive by Chinese authorities, sources have told RFA.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Reported by Sangyal Kunchok for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.

The Aug. 10 meeting with Ngodup Dongchung—a representative of the Dharamsala, India-based Tibetan exile government, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA)—followed an earlier meeting in July between Dongchung and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The CTA representative and Atul Keshap, now named as the new U.S. ambassador to India, had met briefly during the July 28 meeting with Blinken, Dongchung told RFA.

“This time we went to welcome Ambassador Keshap in his new post in New Delhi,” Dongchung said.

“We had a great conversation with the ambassador where he assured us that the U.S. supports Tibet’s religious freedom and the preservation of Tibet’s cultural and linguistic identities and respects the Dalai Lama’s vision for the equal rights of all people,” he said.

“He also asked about His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s health,” he said.

Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama escaped from Tibet into India with thousands of his followers amid a failed 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, and has lived in exile in India ever since.

The Chinese Embassy in India on Aug. 11 slammed Dongchung’s meeting with Keshap, calling it “a provocative act” and saying “Tibetan affairs are purely China’s internal affairs that allow no foreign interference.”

“Cordial meetings that take place in a free and democratic country do not need anybody’s approval,” Dongchung said, adding, “These accusations of ‘interfering in China’s internal affairs,' and calling these meetings a ‘separatist act’ are baseless, and no one should pay any attention to them.”

Delivering on promises

The recent series of U.S. contacts with the CTA shows that President Joe Biden is delivering on his campaign promises regarding Tibet, said Tenzin Lhadon, a research fellow at the Dharamshala, India-based Tibet Policy Institute, speaking to RFA in an earlier report.

“President Joe Biden said that if elected, his administration will meet with the Dalai Lama and work on resolving the Tibetan issue, as mandated by last year’s Tibet Policy and Support Act 2020,” Lhadon said.

“I think this visit reassures us of the Biden administration’s commitment to the Tibetan issue," he said.

The Tibetan Policy Support Act of 2020 affirms as U.S. policy the right of Tibetans to choose the next Dalai Lama, whose advancing age has underscored uncertainties in recent years over his possible successor.

Beijing claims the right to name the Dalai Lama’s successor, while the 86-year-old spiritual leader himself says that any future Dalai Lama will be born outside of territory controlled by China.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Reported by RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Rigdrak, 50, and Sherab Gyatso, 26, were returning to Domda village in the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture with a group of other motorists when they were stopped on the road by Chinese police dressed in plain clothes, a Tibetan living in the area told RFA on Monday.

“Neither of them was aware that the officers carrying out the inspection were actually police, so Rigdrak confronted one of the officers, demanding to know which department he belonged to and why they were being stopped and searched” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Enraged, the officer pushed Rigdrak off the road and into the Drichu River,” the source said, using the Tibetan name for the Yangtse River, which originates in the highlands of Tibet.

“Local Tibetans later searched for Rigdrak’s body in the river but never found him,” he said, adding that Rigdrak is survived by his wife, named Sangmo, and by two daughters.

A passenger named Sherab Gyatso, who has five family members in Domda, also confronted police and was shot, but is now being treated at a local hospital and is out of danger, the source said.

Random searches

Chinese authorities have been conducting random searches of Tibetans in the Yushu area, also called Kyegudo, since July, paying particular attention to social media and messaging apps on mobile phones, sources said in earlier reports.

On Aug. 8, police arrested three men for sharing photos on social media amid tightened security put in place for the 70^th anniversary of the founding of Yushu prefecture, one source in Yushu said.

Identified as Rinchen Dorje and Kelsang Nyima from Domda village, and Lhundup from Dza Sershul, the men were detained by police conducting random inspections in the area, the source said, adding that the men were charged with sharing photos of local events on the WeChat social media platform with Tibetans living in exile.

Police deployed to Kyegudo town’s market square conducted inspections during anniversary events, and streets and playgrounds were also put under surveillance, the source said.

China has imposed strict communication clampdowns in Tibet and Tibetan areas of western Chinese provinces aimed at stopping the flow of news about protests or other politically sensitive information to Tibetans living exile and other outside contacts, sources say.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Reported by Sangyal Kunchok for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.

The Nagchu (Naqu, in Chinese)  Horse Racing Festival has been described as the biggest annual event in the northern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Though the event had been scheduled to open Monday and run through Aug. 20, authorities decided to cancel the event and all related festivities, tourist activities, and gatherings to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The cancellation came with retroactive orders not to share publicly any photos or videos of the event’s preparations, and many Tibetans who had shared them were punished, sources said.

“We were summoned to a meeting on the morning of Aug. 9, and that’s where all the cell phones were confiscated by the authorities for inspection,” a Tibetan resident told RFA’s Tibetan Service.

“Eleven police officers showed up that day and called out the names of 110 individuals who were then taken to the police station,” the resident said.

The 110 were accused of sharing pictures and videos of event preparations on social media, according to the resident.

“Some of them were fined 5,000 yuan [U.S. $772] and were told they must report to the police station once a week,” the resident said.

Another Tibetan resident told RFA in a written message that authorities are unfairly applying pandemic restrictions to Tibetan cultural events.

“Tibetans were barred from celebrating the Shoton Festival in Lhasa and the Horse Racing Festival in Nagchu, but the Chinese government didn’t hesitate to celebrate the 70^th anniversary of what they call the ‘liberation’ of Tibet, with the full festivities,” the second resident said.

The anniversary commemorated the May 23, 1951 signing of the 17-Point Agreement which established Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, which from that point onward ceased to be an independent state.  In Chinese, the 17-Point Agreement is known as the “Agreement of the Central People's Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet.”

Sources told RFA that 30 of the 110 arrested Tibetans remain in detention, while 80 were released.

Reported by Sangyal Kunchok for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Students in high schools and colleges enrolled in the program may continue their studies after their training has ended, according to a recent Chinese government notice sent to students’ phones by text. Students already receiving state aid for their schooling are required to enroll, however.

The deadline for enrollment in the program is August 15, the official notice states.

“Military training has been a part of our schools’ curriculum in the past, but this is the first time that an official government notice has been sent out to all the schools promoting enrollment in programs of military training,” a high school student in Tibet told RFA in a written message.

Tsewang Dorjee—a researcher at the Dharamsala, India-based Tibet Policy Institute—said China’s losses last year in clashes with India and concern for security along its long shared border are driving the new push in military training for Tibetans.

China’s government received many criticisms from journalists and other experts inside China over its handling of the border clashes last year in India’s northwestern region of Ladakh, Dorjee told RFA.

“To counter these criticisms, the government is now laying out policies where Tibetans, who adapt more easily than the Chinese to high-altitude environments, are being forced to join military schools to further secure and patrol the border,” he said.

China is now establishing new villages along Tibet’s border with India for Tibetans sent from Nagchu and other areas, Dorjee added, calling the move a “new strategy in which the Chinese Communist Party is deploying both military units and lay Tibetans who are being relocated to enhance security at the border.”

No benefit to Tibetans

China and India share a 4,000 kilometer-long border, and China cannot station troops along its entire length, noted Indian defense analyst and retired general PG Kamath, adding, “China should resolve its border issues with India, but they are not prepared to do this.”

“And since they are not prepared to do this, they are forcing Tibetans into villages that are closer to the area of Ladakh and the McMahon Line,” Kamath said, referring to an early demarcation of the boundary between Tibet and British-ruled India agreed by Britain and Tibet in 1914.

“So these developments were never meant [to benefit] the Tibetans,” Kamath said.

“As far as I am concerned, China’s policy is that the Tibetans will be used as an instrument in their greater design to see that Tibet and its people, culture, and religion are all Sinicized.”

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Reported by Lobsang Gelek for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Identified as Rinchen Dorje and Kelsang Nyima, from Domda village in Yushu, also called Kyegudo, and Lhundup from Dza Sershul, the men were detained by police conducting random inspections in the area, a source in Yushu told RFA’s Tibetan Service.

The men were charged with sharing photos of local events on the WeChat social media platform with Tibetans living in exile, RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

“They were part of a WeChat group called the United Association, which has members both inside and outside of Tibet,” the source said. “We don’t know where the men are being held at the moment.”

“Three days had been set aside to celebrate the 70^th anniversary of the founding of Kyegudo, but because of the coronavirus pandemic and for several other reasons, the Chinese authorities decided to hold the celebration only for two days.”

“However, lots of restrictions were put in place forbidding people from discussing these events or sharing information about them with the outside world,” the source said.

Police deployed to Kyegudo town’s market square conducted inspections during anniversary events, and streets and playgrounds were also put under surveillance, the source said.

“During these random checks, these three men were taken away by the police after being handcuffed and put into a police vehicle without explanation,” he said.

China has imposed strict communication clampdowns in Tibet and Tibetan areas of western Chinese provinces aimed at stopping the flow of news about protests or other politically sensitive information to Tibetans living exile and other outside contacts, sources say.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Reported by Sangyal Kunchok for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.