A few weeks back we heard about a news report on Tibet, broadcast in England by the channel ITV, and were kindly provided a copy. The format of the title (’INSIDE CHINA: The Battle for Tibet’) hinted as to the program’s editorial position. What followed, presented as something of a scoop, was a portrait of a culture facing extinction, a subject which we have been researching and reporting on for quite a number of years.
There’s no doubt that the nature, extent, and impact of Chinese rule in Tibet has greatly intensified; in terms of its marginalization, suppression and corrosion of Tibetan culture. As we have commented previously, it’s not an exaggeration to describe Tibet as the world’s largest open-air prison.
There’s no freedom-of-movement, with every Tibetan a prisoner; digitally identified, their location, behaviour, online activities and communications monitored and assessed 24/7.
Image: Wiki
Meanwhile, the very fabric of Tibet’s traditional identity is being eroded, distorted and controlled into a form that meets the political and ideological demands of China’s regime. Nowhere is this more evident than in the calculated oppression and destruction of Tibetan Buddhism, and forced relocation of Tibetans nomads into concentration settlements. And lastly, targeting of Tibetan children for ‘re-education’ into Chinese-speaking loyalists.
The news-special touched upon these issues, implying that Tibet was in effect, ‘lost’. Unfortunately that single-sided perspective went unchallenged by the report’s two non-Tibetan ‘experts’. Whose contributions did little to counter the somewhat doom-laden conclusions. One mentioned Tibetans becoming “more Chinese” (with the unavoidable implication that at least some part of them already was). While the other commentator, rather than referring to ‘Tibet’ used ‘Tibetan Autonomous Region’ (a political and propaganda construct created and peddled by the Chinese Regime).
While Tibet’s culture is being seriously threatened by the policies and actions inflicted by China’s illegal occupation, is the menace facing Tibetans existential? The editing and narrative of that ITV item would have you conclude that it is. Yet history. and the experiences of other peoples, show that hope and resistance to cultural extermination are deeply embedded and enduring.
Image: Shubh M Singh
Take the example of First Nations within the United States, who were subjected to over a century of genocide; which included children being removed from their families and placed into so-called residential homes. In which the racist objective was to ‘Kill The Indian to Save the Man’. Then there’s the case of Ireland, invaded and under English tyranny for several hundred years. Irish culture was selected for eradication, religion criminalized, language forbidden, people brutalized and starved leading to the Great Famine.
Despite these efforts to eradicate First Nations or Irish culture, the people; even when speaking in the language of their oppressors, retained the knowledge and dream of their heritage and history. They did not disappear; and today the rebuilding and cherishing of their traditions, mother tongue and sense of identity flourishes. As the saying has has it ‘We Are Still Here’.
Image: Archivenet
A similar spirit exists within Tibet. Although barely expressed or reported (such is the stranglehold Tibetans are under) individual protests continue. Traditions are remembered; and when possible followed. While Tibetan families, in their home, may sit under an obligatory image of dictator Xi Jinping, their hearts are not Chinese!
The future of Tibet’s culture is also served by the Tibetan Diaspora with communities around the world; in which their customs are firmly established, practised and thriving. Tibetan education, language, astrology, religions, music, medicine, dance; and monasteries from differing practices, all ensuring that present and future generations will have a strong and vibrant sense of their cultural identity.
Image: Wiki
This is not to discount the destructive hazards posed by China’s genocidal assault, nor the societal impacts of its deliberate distortion and erosion of Tibet’s culture. But existing; through the determination, resilience and courage of Tibetans inside occupied Tibet, is a profound and enduring aspiration for cultural and national freedom. While in exile Tibetans have created a formidable refuge for Tibet’s traditions, language, history and religions. Taken together these are a vital counterweight to the corrosive pressures inflicted by the Chinese regime, in its efforts to eradicate Tibetan identity.
Image: Tibetan Youth Congress
On this March 10, as the Lhasa Uprising of 1959 is commemorated by exiled Tibetans, minds will be turned towards the ongoing plight of relatives and compatriots inside Tibet. Never, in all those subsequent sixty-six years has it been more important that unity prevail in the resistance to China’s illegal and violent occupation of Tibet.
Tibetan Parliament In Exile, Dharamsala, India – Image: Wiki
The exiled Tibetan authorities would do well to urgently review; what may have been a well meant yet failed policy of seeking compromise and understanding from the Chinese regime. Which clearly has but one aim, to eliminate any trace of Tibetan identity. It is time for the Tibetan Administration to restore the objective of Tibet’s rightful independence at the very core of Tibet’s struggle. An action which would serve to concentrate, consolidate and empower, bringing a determined and united purpose to the Tibetan Diaspora and show a unified solidarity with the political aspirations of Tibetans suffering Chinese rule.
The British Museum removed the term “Xizang” from its labeling of Tibetan artifacts after rights groups and Tibetans living in the United Kingdom criticized the use of the Beijing-promoted place name.
The London museum’s Silk Roads exhibition opened in late September and ran until last Sunday.
The labels were reviewed in January and updated from “Tibet or Xizang Autonomous Region, China” to “Tibet Autonomous Region, China,” a British Museum spokesperson said in an email to Radio Free Asia on Tuesday. The email did not state when the labels were changed.
Tibetan activists who visited the museum in February confirmed that the wording had indeed been changed.
Use of the term has generated an uproar among Tibetans living outside the country, who see it as another example of Beijing’s attempts to assimilate Tibetans into Chinese culture and erase Tibetan identity.
One of the objects cited by the Tibetan groups –- which are led by the Global Alliance for Tibet and Persecuted Minorities and the Tibetan Community in Britain –- was a silver vase that was gifted by the 7th-century Tibetan Empire to neighboring Tang China.
People walk in front of the British Museum in London in 2023.(Hollie Adams/Reuters)
The museum’s response in December defended its use of the term Xizang, saying that the labels reflected “the contemporary region.”
Tibetan activists rejected that explanation, saying it ignored the political implications of promoting terminology perpetuated by the Chinese Communist Party.
The Silk Roads exhibition explored the history of the ancient trade route during the key period from 500 to 1000. It featured over 300 objects from the museum’s own collection and those loaned from at least 29 other institutions.
The British Museum will consult with experts on Tibetan history and culture in any future Tibet-related exhibitions, the museum spokesperson said in the email to RFA.
“It has not, nor was it the intention, to replace ‘Tibet’ with the Chinese term ‘Xizang,’” the spokesperson said.
Last year, the French museum Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac also faced criticism for using the term “Xizang” in its exhibit. In October, following weeks of protests and petitions from Tibetans, the museum announced that it would reverse the change in its labeling.
The museum’s change was “a step forward,” but still short of expectations, said Tsering Passang, founder and chairman of the Global Alliance for Tibet and Persecuted Minorities.
“Beijing’s promoted term ‘Xizang’ should never have been there in the first place,” he told RFA. “We will continue to investigate this further.”
He added that Tibetans in the U.K. have reported a trend in which so-called “Tibetan cultural performances” at universities have been labeled as “South West China.”
Tibetan organizations are preparing to submit a formal complaint about the British Museum exhibit to the Information Commissioner’s Office, an independent governmental body in the U.K., Passang said.
The complaint aims to investigate who could be promoting the use of alternate terms for Tibet and whether they have connections to the Chinese government, he said.
Translated by Khando Yangzom. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Tibetan.
A Tibetan athlete, Lobsang Tharchin, finished third in the Pangong Ice Ultra, an ultra-marathon on a high-altitude frozen lake that straddles India’s northern Ladakh region and Tibet.
Some 20 runners competed in the 55-kilometer (34-mile) race through snow and ice at an elevation of 4,274 meters (14,000 feet) and in temperatures that fell to minus 20 degrees Celsius (-4 F).
Tharchin, 33, from Ladakh’s Tibetan Sonam Ling Settlement in northern India, finished Wednesday with a time of 5:19:10, proudly holding up the Tibetan flag at the finish line.
The third edition of the Pangong Frozen Lake Marathon in Ladakh was held on February 24-25 this year.
It marks the first time a Tibetan has finished in the top three of the Ice Ultra, which is a new addition in this year’s event, called the Pangong Frozen Lake Marathon. It was held in Ladakh, a mountainous region administered by India.
“Running on ice for the first time in this freezing weather was both an incredible experience and a great challenge,“ Tharchin said.
“With no special preparation, securing third place is a great honor,” he said. “As a Tibetan, being able to carry the Tibetan flag and display it filled me with immense happiness.”
Tibetan runner Lobsang Tharchin, center, approaches the finish line of the Pangong Frozen Lake Marathon, on the India – TIbet border, Feb. 25, 2025. Image from video.(RFA)
The event was started in 2023 to promote winter tourism around Pangong Lake and to raise awareness about climate change and the specific challenges faceing the Ladakh region, said event organizer Jampa Tseten.
“As global temperatures rise, the melting of glaciers in Ladakh is becoming a stark reality,” he told Radio Free Asia. “It is crucial to encourage the local community to live in harmony with the environment.”
The event was organized by Adventure Sports Foundation of Ladakh and is also referred to as “The Last Run” to draw attention to melting glaciers. The theme of this year’s edition was “Save Water and Save Glaciers.”
Pangong Tso lake, spanning eastern Ladakh and West Tibet, is the location for the Pangong Frozen Lake Marathon.(Planet Labs)
During its first edition in 2023, the event was officially recognized by the Guinness Book of World Record as Asia’s first and the world’s highest frozen lake marathon.
Another Tibetan Namgyal Tsering, 27, claimed third place in the shorter, 21-kilometer (13-mile) category of the event, called the Pagong Frozen Lake Marathon, organized by Adventure Sports Foundation of Ladakh. Ladakh is a mountainous region administered by India.
Participants in the Pangong Frozen Lake Marathon gather near the finish line on Pangong Tso lake, Tibet-Indian border, Feb. 25, 2025.(RFA)
Among the 300 who participated in the event, about half were Ladakhis, while others included Indian soldiers and approximately 30 Tibetans. The youngest was 7 years old and the oldest 60.
The marathon received support from the administration of the Union Territory of Ladakh under the Jal Jeevan Mission, an Indian government initiative to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections to all households in rural India.
Translated by Tenzin Palmo for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Thinley Choedon for RFA Tibetan.
Chinese authorities have extended the prison sentence of a Tibetan environmental activist from Sichuan province by an additional eight months after he rejected charges of “disrupting social order,” two sources from inside Tibet told Radio Free Asia.
“The large-scale and indiscriminate extraction of sand from the river has led to serious soil erosion in the surrounding area and is posing a threat to the foundations of residents’ homes,” he said in the video, in which he holds up his government ID card.
In January, the Kyungchu County People’s Court extended Tsering’s prison sentence by eight more months, increasing his total prison sentence to 16 months.
Strict surveillance
Tsering’s case illustrates the risks Tibetans face for speaking out, and the swift action authorities take to silence those who raise concerns about environmental degradation in their communities, especially when linked to Chinese companies.
Tsering’s parents have been kept under virtual house arrest with strict surveillance, sources said, adding that his mother’s health has been impacted due to anxiety and concerns over her son.
Chinese authorities have also placed tight restrictions on movement in the historic Amdo region of Tibet, specifically in the Atsoknb Tsenyi Gon Monastery in Ngaba county, Sichuan province, sources said.
Tsering has since been transferred from Kyungchu county to a prison in Barkham, the prefectural capital of Ngaba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, said Tenzin Dawa, director of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, which first reported the news on Thursday.
“The Chinese authorities told Tsongon Tsering that he would be relieved of his prison sentence if he made a statement admitting to the charges that he posted the video online to incite social disorder, but Tsongon and his family rejected this,” the first source said.
“They stood by their concerns, stating that the Chinese government is causing major environmental damage in the region,” he said. “The authorities are now trying to make Tsongon Tsering’s situation more difficult for him.”
In December 2024, sources told RFA that Tsering had been held in Kyungchu County Prison since October and that he faced “continued investigation and threats of extended sentencing.”
At the time, sources said authorities had indicated to Tsering’s family that the eight-month prison sentence was “not final” and said they would “continue to investigate the matter completely before making a conclusive ruling.”
‘Respect Tibetans’ rights’
On Thursday, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, reported that authorities have forbidden Tsering’s family from participating in any religious activities during the Tibetan New Year, or Losar, which begins on Feb. 28.
Authorities also have warned Tsering’s relatives against speaking out about his case, the center said.
The rights group also called on Chinese authorities to “immediately overturn” the conviction and sentence of Tsering and “uphold and respect the fundamental rights of all Tibetans, including human rights defenders and activists, allowing them to freely express their opinions without fear of persecution.”
Other Tibetan environmental defenders, such as Anya Sengdra, have faced persecution for their activism.
In 2019, Chinese authorities sentenced Sengdra to a seven-year prison term on charges of disturbing social order after he complained online about corrupt officials, illegal mining and the hunting of protected wildlife.
Additional reporting by Dorjee Damdul, Tenzin Norzom, Thaklha Gyal and Tsewang Norbu for RFA Tibetan. Translated by Tenzin Palmo and Tenzin Dickyi, Edited by Tenzin Pema, Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Tibetan.
Popular Tibetan singer Lobsang, who was frequently detained and interrogated by Chinese authorities for music that was patriotic and critical of Chinese policies, has died following a prolonged illness, according to two sources, one in Tibet and one in exile. He was 39.
Lobsang, who became famous at a young age and produced eight albums, died on Feb. 18 of a liver disease at a hospital in the city of Chengdu in southwest China’s Sichuan province, the source in Tibet said, speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.
“Due to political content in some of his lyrics, he was repeatedly summoned for questioning and detained by Chinese authorities,” the source said.
Hailing from Kyungchu county in Sichuan province, Lobsang dedicated his life to music, releasing numerous albums, and was suspected of activism by the Chinese government because of the political content in his works, a source in exile told RFA.
Authorities restricted the singer from traveling to Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and other regions, he said.
“Though he wasn’t imprisoned for extended periods, he was frequently questioned and detained,” the source said.
Social media tributes
Following Lobsang’s passing, Tibetans inside Tibet, in exile and across China expressed their grief on social media.
“I grew up listening to his songs since childhood,” one Tibetan wrote. “I am deeply saddened by the passing of this singer who cared so deeply for the Tibetan people.”
On his eight albums and in numerous other recordings, Lobsang sang songs that resonated deeply with Tibetans, such as “Three Camps of Sun and Moon,” which referenced the Dalai Lama with the lyrics, “The King of Snow Land, Tenzin Gyatso, coming to Tibet, may his lotus feet remain stable.”
His music often touched on Tibet’s struggle, such as “Suffering and Happiness of the Snow Land,” “World Peace,” “Future of Tibet’s Children,” “Protector,” and “Fate of Tibetans.”
Due to his powerful lyrics, Tibetans inside Tibet referred to him as “patriotic singer Lobsang.”
Another netizen wrote: “His singing was as warm and familiar as a teacher, accompanying us through countless unforgettable times.”
A Tibetan inside Tibet, speaking in a WeChat voice chat group, said Lobsang’s health fluctuated, sometimes appearing stable, while at other times deteriorating, until he died.
Kunchok Tsering, a Tibetan living in India who collects and archives songs and writings by Tibetan artists in Tibet, said he considers Lobsang to be one of the region’s best singers.
“His songs often praise His Holiness the Dalai Lama and reflect love for his country, Tibet, so his courage and lack of fear in creating such music were commendable,” Tsering said.
Tsering cited Lobsang’s song “Nyi-Dha-Kar Sum,” meaning “Sun-Star-Moon,” paying homage to Tibet’s three spiritual leaders — the sun representing His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the Moon symbolizing the Panchen Lama, and the star representing the Karmapa, head of the 900-year-old Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and one of Tibet’s highest-ranking religious figures.
“His lyrics are deeply powerful,” he said.
Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Tibetan.
India has boosted security for the Dalai Lama, adding about 30 police commandos to protect the Tibetan spiritual leader amid reports of potential security threats, according to a person familiar with the matter and Indian media reports.
The move raises the security coverage for the 89-year-old Dalai Lama to the third-highest level, called Z-category, under the Central Reserve Police Force, or CRPF, the source told Radio Free Asia on the condition of anonymity because he wan’t authorized to speak to the media.
Video footage of the Dalai Lama in southern India showed armed CRPF commandos around a vehicle carrying the Tibetan spiritual leader.
Citing official sources, the Press Trust of India said the central government enhanced the Dalai Lama’s security because of “potential security threats.”
The Indo-Asian News Service said the move was prompted by a recent Intelligence Bureau threat analysis report.
The Indian government has upgraded the Dalai Lama’s security to Z-category, one of the highest levels of protection.
RFA could not independently confirm these reports, and the security department of the Central Tibetan Administration — the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, northern India — did not respond to requests for comment.
The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, the CRPF and the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also didn’t offer any comments.
The Dalai Lama normally lives in Dharamsala, but has been visiting a Tibetan community in southern India since Jan. 5.
Chinese opposition
The move comes amid growing concerns over the Dalai Lama’s safety due to China’s long-term opposition to his activities.
Beijing is seeking to appoint the successor to the Dalai Lama, who is expected to either name his successor or provide some indication regarding his succession when he turns 90 in July.
The vehicle transporting the Dalai Lama is guarded by members of the Central Reserve Police Force in Hunsur, Karmataka state, India, Feb. 18, 2025.(Pema Ngodup/RFA)
“This has led to growing desperation from the Chinese side,” senior Indian journalist and national security affairs specialist, Aditya Raj Kaul, told RFA.
The highest level of security in India, given to the Indian prime minister and his immediate family, is called the Special Protection Group.
Below that are the Z+ category, provided to top ministers in the central and state governments, and Z category, provided to prominent leaders and individuals based on their threat perception.
Since the Dalai Lama’s flight from Tibet into exile in India in 1959, the Indian government has assumed responsibility for his security protection, maintaining a 24-hour security patrol around his residence in Dharamsala to ensure his safety.
Whenever the Dalai Lama travels to different parts of India, his security arrangements are overseen by the central government, with state governments coordinating protection during his visits.
The Dalai Lama (center) is guarded by the members of the Central Reserve Police Force in Hunsur, Karmataka state, India, Feb. 18, 2025.(Pema Ngodup/RFA)
The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs directed the CRPF’s VIP security wing to take charge of the security for the Dalai Lama and ensure Z-category protection with around 30 CRPF commandos across the country, the Press Trust of India and other Indian media reported.
The CRPF’s VIP security wing is provides security to individuals as assigned by the ministry, including politicians, state government ministers, governors, spiritual leaders, business tycoons and other prominent individuals.
“Now there will be a massive security cover with commandos traveling with him in a multiple convoy and the possibility of additional state security cover,” senior Indian journalist and national security affairs specialist, Kaul, citing sources, told RFA.
In December 2022, security at Bodh Gaya in northeast India’s Bihar state had been beefed up after an alleged threat to the Dalai Lama from a Chinese woman.
However, the state police later clarified the incident was no threat to the Dalai Lama and that the Chinese woman had been detained and deported because she overstayed her visa.
Translated by Tenzin Dickyi and Tashi Wangchuk for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Kalden Lodoe, Tenzin Pema, Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Tibetan.
Love, romantic, platonic, and familial, abounds in this episode of RFA Insider as Eugene and Amy cover Valentine’s Day, Lunar New Year and one RFA staffer’s story of being smuggled out of Tibet as a child.
Off Beat
Lobsang Gelek, a journalist in RFA’s Investigative team, hasn’t seen his family since he was 10. Now in his thirties, he comes on the podcast to explain why he hesitated to share his story publicly, calling it unremarkable among the Tibetan exile community.
Yet, at the age of 10, Lobsang walked from Shigatse, Tibet, to Kathmandu, the center of Nepal. The journey took a month, required him to travel under cover of darkness and cross a treacherous mountain pass in the Himalayas cut across steep glaciers.
His father had seen him off with a sleeping bag, snow goggles, provisions and lies about a “short trip” to India, knowing that sending his son away for a better life meant they would likely never reunite.
Lobsang discusses his childhood memories in Tibet, the harrowing details of his escape and his feelings towards his father making that decision, especially now as he approaches parenthood himself.
Lobsang also recently took a work trip to India where in an RFA exclusive, he interviewed Gyalo Thondup, the elder brother of the Dalai Lama, just weeks before his death, about his involvement in a CIA-backed campaign to support Tibetan fighters in their battle for independence. You can read that story here.
Podcast Free Asia
The contact information bumper in each episode of RFA Insider is now obsolete, because our website no longer supports the reader comment feature. Additionally, most of the comments we do get come from YouTube. So we thought it would be a good idea to re-record some lines and make a new bumper, which we are proud to share with you for the first time here!
The Rundown
This week’s Rundown begins in China, where thousands of temple-goers queued for hours in winter weather to pray for luck and wealth in the lunar new year. While one might imagine these temple-goers to be from the older generations, data from Chinese travel agencies shows that young people are the ones booking temple visits en masse.
Commentators say that youth in China are increasingly turning to temples, and religion as a whole, in response to an increasingly unstable future. In post-pandemic China, the youth unemployment rate remains worryingly high, and combined with a flagging economy, has increasingly driven young people to seek solace in burning incense and purchasing prayer bracelets.
With Valentine’s Day upon us, RFA Insider offers a glimpse of how countries in RFA’s coverage areas celebrate in the holiday.
While little information exists for North Korea, it can be inferred that the 2020 Rejection of Reactionary Thought and Culture Act, which bans activities deemed to be capitalist or South Korean, effectively eradicates any public Valentine’s Day festivities.
Meanwhile the South Korean and Japanese versions of the holiday, wherein the women buy chocolate for the men in their lives, seems to have made inroads to other parts of Asia, including China and Vietnam, according to media outlets Eugene was able to quickly find in a Google search.
But the South Korean custom of having special couple days on the 14th of EVERY month seems not to have been adopted elsewhere.
A woman stands selling fruits next to a shop offering Valentine’s Day-related gifts on a street in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 12, 2010.(HOANG DINH NAM/AFP)
In Southeast Asia, Vietnam and Laos celebrate with holiday decorations and special business promotions, as did a pre-coup Myanmar. On the other hand, the Cambodian government called upon its people to celebrate the holiday in accordance with Cambodia’s traditions – however, a 2024 poll showed that public interest in the holiday had fallen off over the last 15 years.
In China, the Qixi festival, celebrated in late August, is a more lovey-dovey holiday for couples compared to Valentine’s Day. Derived from a mythology of star-crossed lovers, the Qixi festival is a day for Chinese couples to celebrate their love, whether through gifts marketed specifically for the holiday, or even by timing their weddings with the festival for good luck.
Chinese authorities have expelled over 1,000 Tibetan monks and nuns from the Larung Gar Buddhist Academy in the latest blow to the major center of Tibetan Buddhist learning, sources inside Tibet with knowledge of the situation said.
Citing a lack of proper residency documentation, officials said they need to reduce the number of Buddhist clergy residing at the academy from 6,000 to 5,000, the sources said.
The move is the latest in a long series of steps taken by China to destroy and shrink the academy, which by the early 2000’s was home to about 40,000 Buddhist monastics.
In 2016, Chinese authorities destroyed half the compound and sent away thousands of monks and nuns. At the time, county authorities issued an order that spelled out the plans for the 2016-2017 demolitions and forced expulsions.
In December 2024, about 400 officials and police were deployed to Larung Gar, which is in Serthar county (Seda in Chinese) within the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan province.
Officials have pressured hundreds of Buddhist clergy to leave voluntarily, the sources said.
“Those expelled have been ordered to leave under the pretext of lacking proper residency documents,” he said. “And to avoid drawing public attention, more than 1,000 monks and nuns have been gradually forced out over the past month.”
An aerial view of Larung Gar Buddhist Academy in Serthar county of Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, July 23, 2015.(China Stringer Network/Reuters)
The source said that government officials have been stationed at the academy, imposing strict controls on the movement of monks, nuns, pilgrims and tourists.
“They are strictly prohibited from taking photos freely and are only allowed to visit designated areas within the monastery.”
Many of the residences of expelled Buddhist clergy have been marked for demolition, although they have not been destroyed yet, he said.
Plans are in place to build a road through the monastery in April, leading to further demolitions, he said.
Part of broader strategy
The latest crackdown is seen as part of Beijing’s broader strategy to reduce the size and influence of religious institutions, particularly those ties to Tibetan Buddhism.
While Beijing says such policies are meant to ensure social stability, rights activists argue they they aim to suppress Tibetan culture and religious freedom.
Chinese authorities want to roll out a 15-year residency limit for Buddhist clergy at Larung Gar starting this year.
They also plan to shrink the academy’s population even more by making registration mandatory, which will force Chinese students to leave, according to a report by Phayul, a news website about Tibet.
Larung Gar has long been a symbol of resistance to Chinese control over Tibetan Buddhism — but it has suffered for that.
When the Chinese government deployed around 400 troops from Drago county (Luhuo) and other areas to Larung Gar last December, with helicopters flown in to monitor the movement of monks and nuns, the source said.
Founded in 1980 by the late Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok, Larung Gar, was established as a center for Tibetan Buddhist education and meditation.
Unlike traditional monasteries, it welcomed monks, nuns and lay practitioners from diverse backgrounds, fostering a unique blend of inclusivity and scholastic rigor that are now under threat.
Larung Gar at one time was home to 40,000 Buddhist nuns and monks, but in 2017, over 4,000 monastics were expelled, and 4,700 dwellings were destroyed.
“During that time, Chinese government officials stated that the Chinese Communist Party owned both the land and the sky, giving them the authority to do whatever they wanted with Larung Gar,” a second source said.
Translated by Tenzin Palmo and Tenzin Dickyi for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Tibetan.
As exiled Tibetans mark, on February 13, Tibet Independence Day the anonymous group ‘Operation Tibet’ have published a video-statement in which they re-affirm their support for Tibet’s cause.
Please share this important message across your social network, in doing so it helps a lot to increase awareness about Tibet.
Sam Brownback, a former U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, has urged the American government to recognize China’s actions in Tibet as genocide and to oppose Beijing’s efforts to control the Dalai Lama’s succession, to told Radio Free Asia in an interview.
Brownback also called for banning any form of Chinese Communist Party lobbying in the U.S. capital.
The Chinese government has stepped up its repressive rule in Tibet in an effort to erode Tibetan culture, language and religion, said Brownback, 68, who served in that role 2018 to 2021 — the fifth person to hold the position.
Brownback said the decades-long repression of Tibetan culture and religion by the Chinese government meets the legal definition of genocide, and that Tibet should be formally recognized as a site of genocide.
“(What) needs to take place now is to declare genocide in Tibet,” he told RFA. “The genocide definition is about targeting a specific group of people for annihilation and that’s what’s taking place in Tibet, and it’s been happening over a 70-year time period… and it needs to be talked about and doesn’t get discussed near enough.”
Appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump during his first administration, Brownback was tasked with promoting religious freedom as a key objective of U.S. foreign policy while monitoring religious persecution and discrimination around the world.
He made the comments during an interview with RFA on Feb. 5 on the sidelines of the 2025 International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, which he co-chaired.
Calls for no CCP lobbying
At the conference, members of the international religious community released a white paper with a series of policy recommendations for the Trump administration to undertake to advance religious freedom globally.
“The lead recommendation we make is no lobbying by the CCP in Washington,” said Brownback, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.
“We see so much lobbying against the interests of people in Tibet, people in Xinjiang, the Christians, the Falun Gong … and we’ve got to get them [the CCP] out of the halls of Congress and trying to influence us in Washington,” he said.
Vice President JD Vance addresses the International Religious Summit in Washington, Feb 5, 2025.(Passang Dhonden/RFA)
“This is a major issue… and [they’re] pushing for things that are in China’s interest but really are against American interest,” said Brownback, a former U.S. senator and state governor of Kansas.
Also at the summit, Adrian Zenz, a senior fellow and director of China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, urged the United States and its allies to impose Magnitsky sanctions on top Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses in Tibet.
The sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act, imposed by the Treasury Department, prevent those listed from accessing the U.S. financial system and prohibit American citizens from conducting business with them.
“Under [Chinese President] Xi Jinping, religious oppression continues to get worse,” Zenz said, while highlighting China’s increasing ideological crackdown and crushing of religious freedom in Tibet. “There’s no improvement and none is in sight.”
When U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance addressed the 1,500 religious freedom advocates at the summit, he highlighted the Trump administration’s commitment to combating religious persecution worldwide.
The administration believes it must stand for religious freedom “not just as a legal principle” but “as a lived reality, both within our own borders and especially outside our borders,” Vance said.
Dalai Lama succession
On China’s efforts to control the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, Brownback dismissed Beijing’s claim to having the authority to appoint a successor to the 89-year-old spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism as a “fraud.”
He emphasized that the U.S. government must make clear — again — that it will not support any such recognition by the Chinese government and that there will be consequences should Beijing attempt to interfere in the process.
Brownback noted that when he was the ambassador-at-large, he traveled to Dharamsala, India, the residence of the Dalai Lama and headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile, to announce that the U.S. government would not recognize attempts by the Chinese government to select the next Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader.
“We need to step back up and say that again,” he told RFA.
“We also need to put teeth in it, saying that there will be consequences if the Chinese government attempts to do that,” he said. “The big thing really right now is to announce to the world that this is a fraud if the Chinese government attempts to do this.”
The Dalai Lama, who turns 90 in July, has been the face and symbol of the Tibetan freedom struggle for over seven decades, having fled Tibet into exile in India amid a historic Tibetan national uprising that took place on March 10, 1959, against Chinese rule in Tibet.
Sam Brownback, US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom attends a news conference at the State Department in Washington, June 10, 2020.(Andrew Harnick/Reuters)
The Dalai Lama, who is expected to outline his succession plan this year when he turns 90, has said Beijing will have no say in who will succeed him as Tibet’s spiritual leader if he decides the tradition should continue.
“The Dalai Lama has been picked for hundreds of years by the process set forth by Tibetan Buddhists,” Brownback said. “And the Chinese government’s going to step in and declare itself the wise person to choose? This is a complete fraud by the Chinese government.”
American support for Tibetans
Rashad Hussain, another former U.S. ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom, told RFA that despite ongoing concerns over religious freedom in Tibet, he was optimistic that U.S. bipartisan support for protecting religious freedom would continue with the Trump administration.
“We’ve been very, very clear about the right to succession and that the people of Tibet should have the sole authority to choose a successor,” he said. “I am confident that we will continue to reinforce this point.”
The Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020, which outlines U.S. policy on Tibet, says the Dalai Lama’s succession is solely a religious matter to be decided by him and the Tibetan Buddhist community, without interference from China.
Under this law, any Chinese officials attempting to appoint a future Dalai Lama will face sanctions, including asset freezes and visa bans.
Additionally, the U.S. State Department is mandated to collaborate with like-minded nations to counter Beijing’s attempts to control Tibetan religious affairs — a policy that aligns with Brownback’s warnings at the summit about China’s interference in the Dalai Lama’s succession and his call for Tibet to be recognized as a site of genocide.
“The cavalry is coming,” said Brownback as he urged Tibetans inside Tibet to not give up hope.
“You’re seeing more and more people in the world standing up for religious freedom,” he said, “and that means Tibetan Buddhists will be able to practice their faith freely and carry on their traditions.”
Additional reporting by Passang Dhonden for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Tenzin Dickyi and Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan.
Gyalo Thondup, an elder brother of the Dalai Lama who played a crucial role in the history of modern Tibetan, has died at his home in Kalimpong in northeast India aged 97.
One of six siblings to the Tibetan spiritual leader, he leaves behind a legacy built on a lifetime of advocating against Chinese rule in Tibet.
At different points in his life, Thondup made numerous – at times desperate – attempts to save Tibet’s traditional culture and self-governance, including seeking U.S. support for an armed resistance against the Chinese Communist regime, as well as through dialogue with Beijing, engagement with global leaders, and raising Tibet’s plight with the United Nations.
Groomed from a young age to serve as an advisor to his younger brother, Thondup’s singular role in advancing the Tibetan cause – often as the unofficial envoy of the Dalai Lama – as well as his early efforts to reform Tibet’s social and political systems have been met with a mix of reverence and controversy.
Gyalo Thondup, the second eldest brother of the Dalai Lama, at his residence in Kalimpong, India, Nov. 14, 2024.(Lobsang Gelek/RFA)
Born in 1928 to a Tibetan farming family in a small village in the historical Amdo province of Tibet, Thondup’s family set out for Lhasa in July 1939 after his younger brother, born Lhamo Thondup, was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama.
Thondup was the only son in the family not groomed for a religious life, and as such was sent abroad for studies in his teens and early twenties. Throughout the 1940s and early 1950s, Thondup traveled widely to China, India, Taiwan and the United States. It was while he was away from home that the People’s Liberation Army marched into Tibet.
Thondup – who would make India his home from 1952 – was instrumental in maintaining early contact with the governments of India and America to seek support for Tibet.
When the Dalai Lama escaped into exile in India in March 1959, Thondup took primary responsibility for liaising with the Indian government, including with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders. He has said his role in his brother’s successful escape may have been the greatest legacy of his long life.
Another success came following his participation as part of an official delegation from Tibet to the U.N. in 1959, 1960, and 1961. The delegation sought support for Tibetan self-determination from the international body, and was able to win passage for three resolutions in 1959, 1961, and 1965. These resolutions called for an end to practices that violate the Tibetan people’s human rights and freedoms, including their right to self-determination.
However, Thondup’s hope that Tibet would cast off Chinese rule has not come to pass, despite the plethora of approaches he put his weight behind, from the diplomatic to the more muscular.
Having studied in China, Thondup played a key role in engaging with Chinese leaders, making several visits to China as the Dalai Lama’s unofficial envoy throughout the later decades of the 20th century.
In 1979, he met with then-Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, hoping for a detente. During the visit, Deng famously told Thondup: “Except independence, everything is negotiable. Everything can be discussed.”
China’s Deng Xiaoping, 1978.(AP)
The meeting gave rise to a series of formal negotiations between the Dalai Lama’s official envoys and the Chinese leadership that continued until they ground to a halt in 2010.
Beyond his position as a brother to the Dalai Lama, he held high offices within the Tibetan government-in-exile, serving as Prime Minister in 1991 and Minister for Security from 1993 to 1996.
Yet an account of his life – The Noodle Maker of Kalimpong, co-written with Anne Thurston and published in 2015 – reflects deepest on his most controversial role, as the linchpin of a secret U.S.-backed campaign to arm and train Tibetan resistance fighters from 1956 to 1974.
‘Chief architect’ of the Tibetan resistance
When the People’s Liberation Army invaded Tibet in 1949, Thondup was in Taiwan. Unable to return home, he went to the U.S., where an older brother, Thubten Jigme Norbu, had gone ahead to earlier, and was there introduced to contacts at the CIA, the American intelligence agency.
But according to Thondup, it was not until 1956, when he had been living back in India and serving as a back channel source for what was going on in Tibet that the CIA approached him again with concrete plans to help train Tibetans to take up arms against the Chinese.
“The CIA was prepared to train some of the freedom fighters as radio operators and guerrilla warriors,” he writes in Noodle Maker. “[U.S. Admiral] John Hoskins wanted me to introduce him to some of the Tibetan fighters. I was happy to oblige.”
The resistance was not supported by the Dalai Lama, who as a figure of peace cannot back the taking up of arms on his behalf, but Thondup could. Beginning in 1957, he helped recruit fighters who would be sent to U.S. training camps in subsequent years. Some 200 fighters were eventually trained at Camp Hale, a secret location in Colorado.
Many of these fighters were later airdropped into Tibet to set up radio communications with Langley, which has later been credited for enabling the timely asylum granted to the Dalai Lama after his flight into exile from Tibet.
A 1963 brochure created by Ken Knaus and Tibetan trainees portrays Chinese leader Mao Zedong leading the destruction to Tibetan way of life.(STCIRCUS Archive of Tibetan Resistance via Hoover Institution Library & Archives)
Though Thondup was one of several intermediaries between the Tibetan and U.S. governments, his status as the Dalai Lama’s brother meant that “in the eyes of the U.S. government, Gyalo was not just an intermediary; he was the chief architect of the Tibetan resistance,” according to Carole McGranahan, anthropologist and author several studies on Tibet’s resistance.
But in his later years, he seemed to express some regret for trusting the Americans, who ended the training program by 1974 amid warming relations between Beijing and Washington during the Nixon era.
His criticisms of the approach taken by the U.S. and other governments in turn created significant controversy around Thondup within the Tibetan community.
Nevertheless, Thondup, in what may have been his last media interview, told RFA in November 2024: “My hope is that Tibetans work together in unity and harmony and make Tibet’s culture, Tibet’s situation known to the whole world, and without losing heart continue to find ways to overcome difficulties, so everyone please work hard.”
Additional reporting by Passang Dhonden, Lobsang Gelek, and Passang Tsering; edited by Kalden Lodoe and Boer Deng
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Tashi Wangchuk and Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan, Boer Deng for RFA Investigative.
Tashi, an ethnic Tibetan and Belgian citizen, was elated when he heard last November that China had expanded its visa-free stay to 30 days for 38 countries, including Belgium, from the previous 15 days.
He immediately began making plans to visit relatives he hadn’t seen in 26 years, as the previous 15-day limit was too short a duration for such a long trip.
As the departure day approached, Tashi — whose name has been changed for safety reasons per his request — was filled with “a mixed sense of excitement and apprehension,” he told Radio Free Asia.
Tashi is one of several ethnic Tibetans who have been denied entry to China from European countries under this visa-free policy.
When in late January Tashi boarded his flight from Brussels to Beijing, he envisioned taking a connecting flight to Chengdu, from where he expected to make the 20-hour drive to his hometown in the historic Amdo region in Qinghai province.
“After 26 years, I thought my dream of returning had finally come true,” he said. “I imagined celebrating Losar [the Tibetan New Year] with my family, attending the Monlam Festival, and revisiting the place where I grew up.”
“But mine was a journey interrupted,” he said.
The immigration section of Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China, January 2025.(RFA)
Instead, after Tashi landed, officials at Beijing Capital International Airport interrogated him for eight hours, detained him for 20 hours and put him on a plane back to Belgium.
Authorities said it was because he was a follower of the Dalai Lama and had done volunteer work to preserve Tibetan language and culture.
Denied entry
Tashi is one of several dozens of ethnic Tibetans who have been detained and questioned at Chinese airports, the travelers have told Radio Free Asia.
The Tibetans said officials interrogated them for hours and searched their belongings before they were deported.
At least four other Tibetans have been denied entry to China from European countries under the visa-free policy.
RFA reported in 2018 that Chinese authorities at Chengdu airport in Sichuan province prohibited three Tibetans with foreign passports — two with South Korean passports and one with A U.S. passport — from entering the country, questioning them harshly and detaining them for hours before expelling them.
In January, a Tibetan woman with Belgian citizenship was also deported from China, this time from Shenzhen Baoan International Airport.
This is not a new pattern.
In April 2024, authorities at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport detained another Belgian citizen, Thubten Gyatso, along with his 6-year-old son, on their way to visit family in Qinghai province.
Signs mark the immigration section at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China, January 2025.(RFA)
At least six Chinese officials took turns grilling him in a small room for 18 hours, Gyatso said.
They questioned him on a range of subjects, including his escape from Tibet to India in 1994, his move to Belgium and his citizenship status there, and details about his relatives’ professions.
Afterwards, the officials told him that he would not be allowed to return to his hometown because they found a photo of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan national flag — both banned in China — when searching his belongings and mobile phone.
Queried about Dalai Lama links
Similarly, in the case of Tashi, officials repeatedly accused him of being a follower of the Dalai Lama.
He told RFA that authorities accused him of being part of a campaign under the Dalai Lama, as seen by Beijing, to split Tibet from China, even though his work focuses solely on Tibetan language and culture.
“This made me realize just how important my work is and knowing my work is meaningful and effective strengthens my resolve to do more,” Tashi said.
Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, offers blessings to his followers at his Himalayan residence in Dharamsala, India, Dec. 20, 2024.(Priyanshu Singh/AFP)
During more than eight hours of questioning, Tashi was asked about items among his belongings, apps on his mobile phone and the volunteer work he’d been doing in Belgium since 2006 concerning the preservation of Tibetan cultural and linguistic identity.
“With each passing minute, they probed deeper, inquiring about every activity I had been involved in while volunteering in Belgium,” he said.
Despite the quizzing, officials already “seemed to know every detail, right down to specific dates” about his activities, he said.
When authorities informed Tashi that he needed to return to Belgium, they confiscated his passport and flight tickets and escorted him to immigration where he had to wait for another 13 hours without food or drink.
“With nowhere to get sustenance, I sat there feeling helpless,” Tashi said.
The Belgian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to an RFA request for comment.
Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told RFA via email that the Chinese government does not engage in any discrimination with regards to its visa-free policy.
“The Chinese government administers the entry and exit affairs of foreigners in accordance with the Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China and other laws and regulations,” Liu said.
“Patriotic overseas Tibetans are an important part of the overseas Chinese community,” he added. “The Chinese government has always been very caring about their situation, and there is certainly no discrimination.”
Additional reporting by Tsering Namgyal, Tenzin Tenkyong and Dickey Kundol. Edited by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan, and by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Lhuboom for RFA Tibetan.
A Tibetan writer and former elementary school teacher, imprisoned for having contact with Tibetans living abroad and making a prayer offering to the Dalai Lama, has been placed under strict surveillance following his release from jail in November 2024.
Palgon, 32, and who goes by only one name, was arrested at his home in Pema county in the Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai province in August 2022, and served more than two years in jail.
Since his release, he has been prohibited from contacting others, the sources told Radio Free Asia on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
“Details about where he was detained over the past two years as well as his current health condition remain unknown, due to tight restrictions imposed by authorities,” the first source told RFA.
The Chinese government frequently arrests Tibetans for praying for the Dalai Lama and for possessing photos of him, limiting religious freedom in Tibet and controlling all aspects of Tibetan Buddhism.
The government also restricts Tibetans inside Tibet from communicating with those living abroad, saying it undermines national unity.
Tibetans, in turn, have decried surveillance by Beijing, saying Chinese authorities are violating their human rights and trying to eradicate their religious, linguistic and cultural identity.
Sources also said Palgon — a graduate of the prominent vocational Tibetan private school Gangjong Sherig Norling, which was shut down by the Chinese government in July 2024 — wrote many literary pieces on various social media platforms and audio chat groups before his arrest.
However, his writings and posts have since been deleted and remain inaccessible online, and his social media accounts have been blocked, they said.
Human Rights Watch noted in its “World Report 2025″ that authorities arbitrarily arrested Tibetans in Tibet in 2024 for posting unapproved content online or having online contact with Tibetans outside the region.
Norbu was only 17 the first time he helped smuggle Tibetans out of Tibet. One cog in a well-oiled machine, Norbu — who is being referred to as a pseudonym for security reasons — played the role of a guide. His job was to meet small groups of escapees at the Dram border (Zhangmu) in southwest Tibet and lead them along remote pathways into the safety of Nepal. All were fleeing Chinese repression back home.
To avoid patrols on both sides of the border, their only option was to take strenuous mountain routes during the middle of the night. After three or four hours of trekking, they’d reach a village safe house. There, the group would await cars to take them the rest of the way to Kathmandu, where they could be registered and processed by the Tibetan government-in-exile’s reception center.
“There was one Tibetan who was so frightened that even when we reached the house in the village he was still trembling,” Norbu recalled in a recent interview, raising his voice as he mirrored the mournful cry the man made.
Tsetan Dolkar teaches an 11th grade English class at the Tibetan Children’s Village school in Dharamsala, India, Nov. 11, 2024.(Lobsang Gelek/RFA)
A member of Nepal’s Sherpa ethnicity, Norbu, now 33, grew up in the Himalayas — which has long served as anatural border between Tibet and Nepal. His shared background and his Nepalese-accented Tibetan made him a good fit for the shadowy job of a smuggler.
The term “smuggler,” however, is rarely used by Tibetans, who call men like Norbu lamtikpa (ལམ་འཁྲིད་པ།), which means guide in Tibetan.
That word hints at how these individuals have been a lifeline for refugees over the past 65 years. Since 1959, when the Dalai Lama and around 8,000 Tibetans were forced to escape to India after Communist China’s takeover of Tibet, tens of thousands of Tibetans have been smuggled out of the country.
For Tibetans, this journey to Nepal and then India represents a crucial path to freedom, a chance for a better life, and an opportunity to see their living god, the Dalai Lama. But for most it is also a deeply painful journey, as more often than not leaving means never returning home again.
“They look exhausted and they often pray to God for freedom. I feel sad seeing their suffering, but there’s nothing I can do to ease their pain,” Norbu said. “All I can offer is reassurance, saying, ‘Don’t worry, you’re in Nepal now, and it’s a safe place,’ hoping to calm them. That’s all I can do.”
Norbu worked as a smuggler from 2009 to 2015 – years that traced the start of a precipitous decline in crossings as a result of tightening border restrictions and increased surveillance within Tibet. He stopped when those restrictions grew even tighter in the wake of the April 2015 earthquake in Nepal.
Data from the Tibetan government-in-exile shows that about 1,000 Tibetan refugees crossed each year in the first decade of the century. From 2010 to 2014, that number dipped to about 400 a year, and 70 in the following half-decade. Only 55 Tibetans in total have crossed since 2020, including just 8 who crossed last year.
In the mid-1990s, when he was 7, Rinchen Dorjee was smuggled to India along with 28 other Tibetans. They took the famous Nangpa la pass, a crossing less than 20 miles from Mt. Everest, to reach Nepal — a journey that lasted over a month, including a week of walking through the snow.
Rinchen Dorjee at Kunphen Recovery Centre in Dharamshala, India, Nov. 12, 2024.(Lobsang Gelek/RFA)
“As we neared the Nepal border, we had no food left, and survived on just drinking tea leaves for two days,” recounted Dorjee, who is now 36, living and working in Dharmasala, India.
Eventually, they found a village and their guide bought a sheep and slaughtered it. But someone had alerted the authorities, Dorjee learned, and the group was forced to flee before they even had a bite of meat.
“When a flashlight from the Chinese border tower swept our way, we had to lie still in the grass, moving only when it passed,” he recalled.
Dorjee’s experience of transiting in a large group reflects how Tibetans fled throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Until the early 2000s, individual smugglers would move 20 to 30 Tibetan refugees at a time. Unlike the network system Norbu was part of years later, these individuals took full responsibility for completing the journey from start to finish, according to people familiar with the journey who spoke to RFA.
In 2008, rare public protests against Beijing’s rule in Lhasa and elsewhere culminated in mass arrests and as many as 140 killed by security forces, according to figures from rights groups. As a result of the uprising, China tightened border restrictions; implemented strict surveillance systems along the Tibet-Nepal border; and exerted pressure on the Nepalese government to prevent Tibetans from crossing. Crossing the border became more dangerous, particularly in large groups.
The area in the direction of the Nangpa la pass is seen from the Nepal side of the border in this undated photo.(Adobe Stock)
After that, smugglers like Norbu began operating within larger networks that had leaders and agents spread across Tibet, Nepal and even China. These agents would collect Tibetans fleeing from places like Lhasa and Shigatse and pass them along to other smugglers.
“We divided ourselves into two groups,” said Norbu. “One group would move ahead to scout the path and signal the way forward. They used the small flashlight from a Chinese lighter, which served as a beacon to guide us in the dark. The narrow beam of light would send a signal, and we would carefully follow its direction.”
Norbu’s unit consisted of three Sherpas whose role was to transport escapees from hiding spots during the night, often in remote rocky mountain caves, and guide them safely to Nepalese villages. He was only paid 3,000 Nepalese rupees per day (about $30 in 2014) from their network agent group, but even that meager sum was better than what he earned in his previous job as a porter, where he made only a sixth as much.
Certainly, the risks were much higher. “Whenever the mission started, there was a sense of fear,” he said.
“Sometimes, when we went to get the Tibetans, they were suspicious, unsure if we were police. They would stay hidden in the forest and not come out easily. We had to reassure them that we were there to help and on their side. The Tibetans rarely spoke or asked questions,” Norbu said. The youngest person he smuggled was just 13, the oldest nearing middle age.
Separation, longing and exiled life
Around 7,000 Tibetan refugees now live in Dharamshala, the northern Indian hill town that since 1959 has served as the spiritual, cultural and political center of the Tibetan diaspora.
Most of those living here carry a story of emotional separation.
Tsering, 30, an office assistant for the Tibetan government-in-exile, was raised by his father who arranged to have the boy smuggled to India at the age of 11 by paying 7,000 Chinese yuan ($850) in 2005.
While Tsering assumed he would one day reunite with his family, his father’s recent death from a car accident has left him unmoored. He learned of it from his aunt in Dharamshala, who was able to remain in touch with some family back home.
“I have always yearned to return to Tibet and to be with my father but the tragic news turns everything’s empty, I feel there are many words left unspoken, which makes me feel lonely,” he said.
Since 1980, nearly 50,000 Tibetans have arrived in India and Tibet as refugees. Globally, there are about 150,000 Tibetans in the diaspora, with the majority born in exile.
Family separation is the norm for nearly all who left the country through smuggling routes. Those who leave as children may have relatives on the other side of the border, but many arrive alone. The school system in Dharmasala is run with that in mind, with most students housed in dormitories run by foster parents who focus on caring for the emotional needs of new arrivals and integrating them among the community.
But in spite of those efforts, some Tibetan refugees struggle with trauma and depression as a result of family separation — even decades after leaving their homeland.
The Kunphen Recovery Centre in Dharamsala, India, Nov. 12, 2024.(Lobsang Gelek/RFA)
Not far from the offices of the exile government, a narrow road leads to the Kunphen Recovery Center, a drug rehab center set in a northern Indian-style hostel adorned with Tibetan prayer flags and surrounded by a gated compound with barbed wire.
Unlike some drug rehab centers, there are no guards here and patients are free to roam inside the compound. Treatment involves lectures from Buddhist monks, yoga, meditation and traditional Tibetan arts.
Today, Dorjee has a good job as a night guard for the residence of the Sikyong, or president, of the exile government. But not too long ago he was a patient at Kunphen.After he was smuggled to India at 7, he spent his childhood haunted by homesickness. As he got older, the stress of separation pushed him to pills and marijuana.
“If I had stayed in Tibet, I think I wouldn’t have been involved in drug addiction because my parents and all the relatives are there … they would definitely stop me from doing wrong things,” said Dorjee, recalling that he was sent to India only after his aunt convinced his parents it would afford him better opportunities.
Changes in China’s Tibet policy that began in 2008, have accelerated since Chinese president Xi Jinping took office in 2013. Beijing has drastically increased the deployment of soldiers and continued to build infrastructure along Tibet’s border, building new border villages which are filled with both Tibetans and relocated Han Chinese. High-tech surveillance systems have made free movement more difficult than ever.
With fewer Tibetans able to cross,the diaspora in India and Nepal has drastically declined, hollowing out both monasteries and schools.
“Increasing Chinese restrictions have strained family relationships and has had a negative impact on exiled schools and monasteries,” Sikyong Penpa Tsering said in November 2024 at a public gathering.
“Last year we received only four students from Tibet, but this year not a single student from Tibet has been enrolled, ” Tsultrim Dorjee, the general secretary of Tibetan Children’s Village, or TCV, told RFA in late 2024.
For those who have made it to India relatively recently, many cited education as a driver of their move. One key aspect of China’s Tibetan policy has been replacing Tibetan education with Mandarin-only schooling, as part of a forced assimilation program that has seen monasteries shuttered and children pressed into abusive boarding schools.
Sonam Dharkyi, an 11th grader at the Tibetan Children’s Village school in Dharamsala, India, Nov. 11 2024.(Lobsang Gelek/RFA)
Sonam Dharkyi, an 11th grader at TCV, left Tibet in 2014.
“We didn’t have a proper school in my village, but I dreamed of going to school. Now, I’m getting a modern education and [studying] Tibetan as well, which I never would’ve known if I stayed back home in Tibet,” she told RFA.
To make it to India, Sonam and five others walked for more than 20 days to reach the Nepal border, crossing slippery patches of ice, treacherous rivers and rickety bridges in the Himalayan mountains. Along the way, they slept in mountain caves.
“I remember feeling hungry and freezing through the night,” she recounted. “With no choice, we had to cross the steep slopes and rugged valleys, and I feared slipping to my death, unsure if I could complete the journey.”
A decade after her arrival, Sonam dreams of being a doctor. Today, she can look forward to a future that would have been unimaginable under Chinese rule.
For Norbu, the former smuggler, helping Tibetans access hope for the first was a rich reward.
“I must say that this is the best job I did in my life so far as well as on a humanitarian level,” Norbu told RFA. “I cannot express that joy over here how I felt when I was able to help them make their journey to Nepal.”
Additional reporting by Abby Seiff. Edited by Abby Seiff and Boer Deng.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Lobsang Gelek for RFA Investigative.
Norbu was only 17 the first time he helped smuggle Tibetans out of Tibet. One cog in a well-oiled machine, Norbu — who is being referred to as a pseudonym for security reasons — played the role of a guide. His job was to meet small groups of escapees at the Dram border (Zhangmu) in southwest Tibet and lead them along remote pathways into the safety of Nepal. All were fleeing Chinese repression back home.
To avoid patrols on both sides of the border, their only option was to take strenuous mountain routes during the middle of the night. After three or four hours of trekking, they’d reach a village safe house. There, the group would await cars to take them the rest of the way to Kathmandu, where they could be registered and processed by the Tibetan government-in-exile’s reception center.
“There was one Tibetan who was so frightened that even when we reached the house in the village he was still trembling,” Norbu recalled in a recent interview, raising his voice as he mirrored the mournful cry the man made.
Tsetan Dolkar teaches an 11th grade English class at the Tibetan Children’s Village school in Dharamsala, India, Nov. 11, 2024.(Lobsang Gelek/RFA)
A member of Nepal’s Sherpa ethnicity, Norbu, now 33, grew up in the Himalayas — which has long served as anatural border between Tibet and Nepal. His shared background and his Nepalese-accented Tibetan made him a good fit for the shadowy job of a smuggler.
The term “smuggler,” however, is rarely used by Tibetans, who call men like Norbu lamtikpa (ལམ་འཁྲིད་པ།), which means guide in Tibetan.
That word hints at how these individuals have been a lifeline for refugees over the past 65 years. Since 1959, when the Dalai Lama and around 8,000 Tibetans were forced to escape to India after Communist China’s takeover of Tibet, tens of thousands of Tibetans have been smuggled out of the country.
For Tibetans, this journey to Nepal and then India represents a crucial path to freedom, a chance for a better life, and an opportunity to see their living god, the Dalai Lama. But for most it is also a deeply painful journey, as more often than not leaving means never returning home again.
“They look exhausted and they often pray to God for freedom. I feel sad seeing their suffering, but there’s nothing I can do to ease their pain,” Norbu said. “All I can offer is reassurance, saying, ‘Don’t worry, you’re in Nepal now, and it’s a safe place,’ hoping to calm them. That’s all I can do.”
Norbu worked as a smuggler from 2009 to 2015 – years that traced the start of a precipitous decline in crossings as a result of tightening border restrictions and increased surveillance within Tibet. He stopped when those restrictions grew even tighter in the wake of the April 2015 earthquake in Nepal.
Data from the Tibetan government-in-exile shows that about 1,000 Tibetan refugees crossed each year in the first decade of the century. From 2010 to 2014, that number dipped to about 400 a year, and 70 in the following half-decade. Only 55 Tibetans in total have crossed since 2020, including just 8 who crossed last year.
In the mid-1990s, when he was 7, Rinchen Dorjee was smuggled to India along with 28 other Tibetans. They took the famous Nangpa la pass, a crossing less than 20 miles from Mt. Everest, to reach Nepal — a journey that lasted over a month, including a week of walking through the snow.
Rinchen Dorjee at Kunphen Recovery Centre in Dharamshala, India, Nov. 12, 2024.(Lobsang Gelek/RFA)
“As we neared the Nepal border, we had no food left, and survived on just drinking tea leaves for two days,” recounted Dorjee, who is now 36, living and working in Dharmasala, India.
Eventually, they found a village and their guide bought a sheep and slaughtered it. But someone had alerted the authorities, Dorjee learned, and the group was forced to flee before they even had a bite of meat.
“When a flashlight from the Chinese border tower swept our way, we had to lie still in the grass, moving only when it passed,” he recalled.
Dorjee’s experience of transiting in a large group reflects how Tibetans fled throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Until the early 2000s, individual smugglers would move 20 to 30 Tibetan refugees at a time. Unlike the network system Norbu was part of years later, these individuals took full responsibility for completing the journey from start to finish, according to people familiar with the journey who spoke to RFA.
In 2008, rare public protests against Beijing’s rule in Lhasa and elsewhere culminated in mass arrests and as many as 140 killed by security forces, according to figures from rights groups. As a result of the uprising, China tightened border restrictions; implemented strict surveillance systems along the Tibet-Nepal border; and exerted pressure on the Nepalese government to prevent Tibetans from crossing. Crossing the border became more dangerous, particularly in large groups.
The area in the direction of the Nangpa la pass is seen from the Nepal side of the border in this undated photo.(Adobe Stock)
After that, smugglers like Norbu began operating within larger networks that had leaders and agents spread across Tibet, Nepal and even China. These agents would collect Tibetans fleeing from places like Lhasa and Shigatse and pass them along to other smugglers.
“We divided ourselves into two groups,” said Norbu. “One group would move ahead to scout the path and signal the way forward. They used the small flashlight from a Chinese lighter, which served as a beacon to guide us in the dark. The narrow beam of light would send a signal, and we would carefully follow its direction.”
Norbu’s unit consisted of three Sherpas whose role was to transport escapees from hiding spots during the night, often in remote rocky mountain caves, and guide them safely to Nepalese villages. He was only paid 3,000 Nepalese rupees per day (about $30 in 2014) from their network agent group, but even that meager sum was better than what he earned in his previous job as a porter, where he made only a sixth as much.
Certainly, the risks were much higher. “Whenever the mission started, there was a sense of fear,” he said.
“Sometimes, when we went to get the Tibetans, they were suspicious, unsure if we were police. They would stay hidden in the forest and not come out easily. We had to reassure them that we were there to help and on their side. The Tibetans rarely spoke or asked questions,” Norbu said. The youngest person he smuggled was just 13, the oldest nearing middle age.
Separation, longing and exiled life
Around 7,000 Tibetan refugees now live in Dharamshala, the northern Indian hill town that since 1959 has served as the spiritual, cultural and political center of the Tibetan diaspora.
Most of those living here carry a story of emotional separation.
Tsering, 30, an office assistant for the Tibetan government-in-exile, was raised by his father who arranged to have the boy smuggled to India at the age of 11 by paying 7,000 Chinese yuan ($850) in 2005.
While Tsering assumed he would one day reunite with his family, his father’s recent death from a car accident has left him unmoored. He learned of it from his aunt in Dharamshala, who was able to remain in touch with some family back home.
“I have always yearned to return to Tibet and to be with my father but the tragic news turns everything’s empty, I feel there are many words left unspoken, which makes me feel lonely,” he said.
Since 1980, nearly 50,000 Tibetans have arrived in India and Tibet as refugees. Globally, there are about 150,000 Tibetans in the diaspora, with the majority born in exile.
Family separation is the norm for nearly all who left the country through smuggling routes. Those who leave as children may have relatives on the other side of the border, but many arrive alone. The school system in Dharmasala is run with that in mind, with most students housed in dormitories run by foster parents who focus on caring for the emotional needs of new arrivals and integrating them among the community.
But in spite of those efforts, some Tibetan refugees struggle with trauma and depression as a result of family separation — even decades after leaving their homeland.
The Kunphen Recovery Centre in Dharamsala, India, Nov. 12, 2024.(Lobsang Gelek/RFA)
Not far from the offices of the exile government, a narrow road leads to the Kunphen Recovery Center, a drug rehab center set in a northern Indian-style hostel adorned with Tibetan prayer flags and surrounded by a gated compound with barbed wire.
Unlike some drug rehab centers, there are no guards here and patients are free to roam inside the compound. Treatment involves lectures from Buddhist monks, yoga, meditation and traditional Tibetan arts.
Today, Dorjee has a good job as a night guard for the residence of the Sikyong, or president, of the exile government. But not too long ago he was a patient at Kunphen.After he was smuggled to India at 7, he spent his childhood haunted by homesickness. As he got older, the stress of separation pushed him to pills and marijuana.
“If I had stayed in Tibet, I think I wouldn’t have been involved in drug addiction because my parents and all the relatives are there … they would definitely stop me from doing wrong things,” said Dorjee, recalling that he was sent to India only after his aunt convinced his parents it would afford him better opportunities.
Changes in China’s Tibet policy that began in 2008, have accelerated since Chinese president Xi Jinping took office in 2013. Beijing has drastically increased the deployment of soldiers and continued to build infrastructure along Tibet’s border, building new border villages which are filled with both Tibetans and relocated Han Chinese. High-tech surveillance systems have made free movement more difficult than ever.
With fewer Tibetans able to cross,the diaspora in India and Nepal has drastically declined, hollowing out both monasteries and schools.
“Increasing Chinese restrictions have strained family relationships and has had a negative impact on exiled schools and monasteries,” Sikyong Penpa Tsering said in November 2024 at a public gathering.
“Last year we received only four students from Tibet, but this year not a single student from Tibet has been enrolled, ” Tsultrim Dorjee, the general secretary of Tibetan Children’s Village, or TCV, told RFA in late 2024.
For those who have made it to India relatively recently, many cited education as a driver of their move. One key aspect of China’s Tibetan policy has been replacing Tibetan education with Mandarin-only schooling, as part of a forced assimilation program that has seen monasteries shuttered and children pressed into abusive boarding schools.
Sonam Dharkyi, an 11th grader at the Tibetan Children’s Village school in Dharamsala, India, Nov. 11 2024.(Lobsang Gelek/RFA)
Sonam Dharkyi, an 11th grader at TCV, left Tibet in 2014.
“We didn’t have a proper school in my village, but I dreamed of going to school. Now, I’m getting a modern education and [studying] Tibetan as well, which I never would’ve known if I stayed back home in Tibet,” she told RFA.
To make it to India, Sonam and five others walked for more than 20 days to reach the Nepal border, crossing slippery patches of ice, treacherous rivers and rickety bridges in the Himalayan mountains. Along the way, they slept in mountain caves.
“I remember feeling hungry and freezing through the night,” she recounted. “With no choice, we had to cross the steep slopes and rugged valleys, and I feared slipping to my death, unsure if I could complete the journey.”
A decade after her arrival, Sonam dreams of being a doctor. Today, she can look forward to a future that would have been unimaginable under Chinese rule.
For Norbu, the former smuggler, helping Tibetans access hope for the first was a rich reward.
“I must say that this is the best job I did in my life so far as well as on a humanitarian level,” Norbu told RFA. “I cannot express that joy over here how I felt when I was able to help them make their journey to Nepal.”
Additional reporting by Abby Seiff. Edited by Abby Seiff and Boer Deng.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Lobsang Gelek for RFA Investigative.
Chinese authorities in Tibet have forbidden aid workers and Buddhist monks from entering areas of the region struck by deadly earthquakes last week, three residents of the region and a Tibetan in exile told Radio Free Asia.
On Jan. 7, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Dingri county, near the border of Nepal. Chinese state media says it killed 126 people, but Tibetan sources said the toll was likely higher given that at least 100 people were killed in the town of Dramtso alone.
State media also said the disaster injured 337 people and displaced more than 60,000 people.
Starting Monday, authorities blocked off access, preventing monks, relief volunteers and aid providers from entering the affected area under the pretext of “cleanup,” and “security work,” the residents said under condition of anonymity for safety reasons.
The blocking of monks was painful for survivors because in Buddhist tradition, prayers and rituals are conducted at the end of each week for the first seven weeks after a person’s death.
Tibetans in other areas of Tibet, as well as those abroad or in exile in India, Nepal, Bhutan and elsewhere, gathered Monday to offer prayers.
Aftershocks
Since last week’s quake, more than 1,200 aftershocks have been reported by Chinese authorities.
On Monday evening, two strong aftershocks — with magnitudes of 5.1 and 4.6 — struck Dingri County’s Tsogo township (Cuoguoxiang in Chinese) and Tashizong township (Zhaxizongxiang), respectively, according to the United States Geological Survey.
According to a Dingri county official quoted by Chinese state media on Monday, “no casualties have been reported so far” in the latest aftershocks. The official added that “further investigation is underway.”
Information censorship
The Chinese government has also been deleting photos and videos about the impact of the earthquake from social media, residents said.
“Chinese state media has been focusing on propaganda activities such as having Tibetan children wave Chinese flags. They are forcing affected residents to express their gratitude to the Chinese government, and they display (Chinese President) Xi Jinping’s photos in the temporary shelters provided,” another resident said.
On Sunday, Sikyong Penpa Tsering, the democratically elected leader of the Central Tibetan Administration, the government-in-exile based in Dharamshala, India, issued a statement in which he called on Beijing to “…ensure transparency and accountability in relief efforts by granting unrestricted and immediate access to international aid organizations and media delegations.”
Rescue workers conduct search and rescue for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Jan. 7, 2025.(Jigme Dorje/Xinhua News Agency/AP)
“Strict information censorship by the PRC government continues to pose significant challenges in verifying the accuracy of casualty reports and assessing the adequacy of relief operations,” Tsering said.
He also called on the Chinese government to “provide adequate assistance in rebuilding efforts that takes into account the traditional Tibetan needs and fundamental rights of the Tibetan people.”
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun, in a press briefing on Monday, responded to a query raised on Tsering’s statement, saying, “The disaster response and relief work is generally proceeding smoothly. We are confident in winning this tough battle of quake response and returning work and life to normal in the affected areas as soon as possible.”
Translated by Tenzin Pema. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Tibetan.
Tibetan residents have found more than 100 bodies in their village in the wake of Tuesday’s earthquake, raising doubts about the death toll of 126 reported by Chinese state media, Tibetan sources said.
The discovery was made in Guring village of Dramtso township in Dingri county, called Tingri in Chinese, where the magnitude 7.1 quake struck near the border with Nepal. The county is under the administration of the city of Shigatse in the Tibet Autonomous Region.
A Tibetan living in India who was able to contact family members in Guring told Radio Free Asia that it was one of the worst-hit areas. In this village alone, Chinese media reported that over 30 people died.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities on Friday nearly doubled their tally of injured in the earthquake to 337 and said more than 60,000 people have been affected by the quake, as search efforts widened for survivors in remote areas.
But Tibetan sources said they believe the actual number of casualties is much higher than the figure reported by the Chinese government, because the population of Dingri county alone is over 60,000, and Lhatse county, another quake-affected area, has 50,000 people.
Rescue workers look for survivors amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo township, Dingri county, in southwestern China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Jan. 7, 2025.(Jigme Dorje, Jigme Dorje/Xinhua News Agency/AP)
The areas most severely affected by the earthquake include Guring village and Zingkar village in Dram-tso township, Kyiding village in Tsogan township, and Chulho township.
Additionally, Ngamring county, Sakya county and Dinggye county were impacted by the temblor.
The earthquake caused extensive structural damage, including to several century-old institutions such as the Dingri Dram-tso Serkar, Gonta Phug, Tso-nga, Tso-go and Dewachen monasteries in Dingri’s Chulho area, sources told RFA.
Skepticism
Determining the exact death toll is currently very challenging, said a Tibetan resident of Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
“Everybody is skeptical of the official death toll, but we have no way to know the actual figures,” the person said.
Another Tibetan living in India, who remains in contact with people in the affected areas, said residents have been restricted from traveling to neighboring villages following the earthquake.
Despite the restrictions, she was able to contact her family and learned that nine people, including neighbors, had died in their local area.
“China is not allowing Tibetans from nearby areas to travel to affected areas to offer help, fearing details of the earthquake will become widespread,” she said.
Many remote villages in the earthquake-affected areas have yet to receive assistance, and no relief personnel have arrived, Tibetan sources said.
Restrictions on aid
The Chinese government has imposed strict restrictions, preventing people from traveling to affected areas to provide help.
Rescue workers check on an injured resident in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo township, Dingri county, in southwestern China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Jan. 7, 2025.(Liu Yousheng/Xinhua News Agency/AP)
Further measures prohibit individuals from taking pictures or videos, with police deployed to monitor aid workers to ensure compliance.
Tibetans from across the region attempting to assist are being blocked at various checkpoints, with authorities requiring permits for entry.
Additionally, they must hand over to Chinese authorities all aid for distribution, leaving volunteers unable to directly provide support to those in need.
Since Jan. 9, authorities have imposed strict controls at Lhatse county checkpoints, requiring all relief supplies to be handed over to government-designated points, restricting the free distribution of aid by ordinary Tibetans who have been leading aid and donation drives.
RFA received a video from a source inside Tibet that showed mountains of relief and aid materials donated for the Tibet earthquake victims piled up at the government’s local disaster relief management center in Dingri county.
Translated by Tenzin Dickyi and Tenzin Norzom for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Tenxin Pema for RFA Tibetan, and by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Tibetan.
In a prayer ceremony for victims of Monday’s earthquake in Tibet, the Dalai Lama told listeners that because it was a natural disaster and “not caused by political tensions,” there was no reason to be angry with Chinese authorities.
The magnitude 7.1 quake left 126 people dead and destroyed 3,600 houses, according to Chinese officials — although Tibetans inside Tibet say the death toll probably exceeds 200.
“Even though it is in our human nature, do not feel dispirited or doomed by such disasters,” the Dalai Lama told more than 12,000 Buddhist clergy members gathered for a ceremony in southern India on Thursday. “It helps to think that events like earthquakes are natural disasters and not caused by political tensions.
The 7.1-magnitude earthquake killed scores of people and damaged thousands of homes.
“There is no reason to show anger or hatred towards China,” he said. “Hence, Tibetans inside and outside Tibet should develop a kinder, more compassionate heart.”
Still, Tibetans are disturbed that Chinese authorities have called off search-and-rescue operations, promoted the government’s official relief work, and banned them from sharing photos or videos about the quake on social media.
The earthquake was centered around Dingri and Shigatse, close to the border with Nepal, in the southern part of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, controlled by China.
‘Meditate upon compassion’
The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, who is visiting the South Indian town of Bylakuppe — which has the largest Tibetan settlement in the world outside Tibet — counseled Tibetans not to lose heart in the face of the natural disaster.
Instead, he urged them to transform this tragedy into a condition for the practice of compassion and spiritual growth and enlightenment.
Butter lamps are seen lit in front of a portrait of the Dalai Lama in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the recent earthquake, at a Tibetan camp in Lalitpur, Nepal, on Jan. 8, 2025.(Niranjan Shrestha, Niranjan Shrestha/AP)
He spoke at the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, the principal monastery in Shigatse founded by the First Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Gendun Drup, and the former seat of the Panchen Rinpoches that was re-established in South India.
“Even for me, seeing the pictures of ruins of Dingri after the earthquake encourages me to meditate upon compassion and emptiness and pray to Chenrezig, the Buddha of Infinite Compassion,” the Dalai Lama said. “It empowers us to take adversities in our stride and not be crushed by them. That is our advantage as religious people.”
Tibetans in Dharamsala, North India — the residence of the Dalai Lama and the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile — held a candlelight vigil and prayer service on Thursday for those affected by the quake.
On Wednesday evening, four NGOs — the Tibetan Youth Congress, Tibetan Women’s Association, Students for a Free Tibet and the National Democratic Party of Tibet — jointly organized a candlelight vigil from the Dharamsala suburb of McLeod Ganj to the Tsuglagkhang Temple, followed by a prayer service.
They said they were holding the vigil was to show solidaritywith Tibetans inside Tibet and to demand transparency from Chinese authorities about the disaster.
Search and rescue
Inside the Tibet Autonomous Region, or TAR, Chinese officials announced the end of search-and-rescue operations to focus on the resettlement of those who now are homeless.
The Dalai Lama, right, leads prayers at a monastery in Bylakuppe, India, Jan. 9, 2025, in solidarity with those affected by the earthquake that hit the Tibet Autonomous Region in western China.(Tenzin Choejor/AP)
But Tibetans continued to conduct their own rescue efforts in villages on Thursday, two sources in Tibet’s capital Lhasa told Radio Free Asia.
A third source told RFA that Chinese authorities stopped operations to recover bodies from the ruins, even as the general public continued to retrieve them from the rubble on Thursday.
Most of the casualties were elderly people and children because many young people were away at work when the temblor struck, the source said.
Li Ling, deputy director of the TAR’s Special Disaster Investigation Office, attributed the earthquake to tectonic plate movement and blamed the high casualty numbers on poorly constructed traditional buildings.
The Shigatse government has ordered residents not to post earthquake-related photos and videos on social media, saying it would harm rescue efforts and threatening severe punishment for violators, the two Lhasa sources said.
Chinese authorities are restricting documentation of the actual situation and local rescue efforts while heavily promoting official government relief operations, they added. They are also preventing people from taking photos or sharing information about casualties and damage.
One of the sources reported that after three days, some remote areas still hadn’t received government assistance.
Many villagers are sleeping in damaged building compounds without food, a source from the quake-affected region said.
In Dingri’s Dramtso village alone, over 20 people died, and the Dzongphug Nunnery suffered severe damage, killing two nuns and injuring many others. Residents still had not received aid by the Wednesday afternoon, said one of the Lhasa sources.
The Dewachen Monastery in Dingri’s Chulho township was completely destroyed, he added.
Translated by RFA Tibetan. Edited by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan, and by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Tibetan.
Chinese authorities on Wednesday said the death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck Tibet stood at 126, though sources in the region told Radio Free Asia that they estimate the actual numbers to be higher.
They also said Tibetans have been restricted from sharing information about the disaster outside Tibet.
Chinese authorities say at least 126 people were killed and 188 others injured. Over 3,600 houses were destroyed, with the tremors felt in neighboring India, Nepal, Bhutan and even in Bangladesh.
AFP(AFP)
The focus of relief efforts in the earthquake-hit region — where January temperatures typically plunge to as low as minus-16 degrees Celsius (3 degrees Fahrenheit) — have now shifted from rescue and search to resettlement and reconstruction, local authorities said on Wednesday.
According to local authorities, roads, electricity and communications networks had been restored in Dingri and Lhatse counties by the afternoon on Jan. 8. In addition, around 187 resettlement sites had been set up, and 46,500 people had been resettled, they added.
Dingri county has a population of about 60,000, according to a 2020 census.
“We have been strictly instructed to not communicate and share any information about the impact of the earthquake outside,” said one source from the region.
“Official figures say the number of dead are over 100, but the actual number is more likely over 200 if you look at the sheer scale of the devastation, and many have been trapped under rubble in freezing weather,” the source added, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
Calls for transparency
A spokesperson for the Central Tibetan Administration — the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India — called on China to disclose the actual impact of the earthquake, citing the lack of updates to the number of casualties.
“China should not withhold information and should come forward with actual ground realities of the impact and reveal the actual numbers of death tolls and those injured to reveal the reality in quake-hit Dingri,” Karma Choeying, secretary of the Department of Information and International Relations of the Central Tibetan Administration, told RFA.
Medical workers attend to an injured child, in the aftermath of an earthquake, at the Shigatse People’s Hospital in Shigatse city in western China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Jan. 8, 2025.(Tenzin Nyida/Xinhua News Agency/AP)
Experts and rights groups also noted China’s past track record of authorities trying to censor information in the wake of natural disasters, although they noted the likelihood of challenges that relief teams may have faced in accessing various quake-hit sites to ascertain actual impact.
“It is possible that they haven’t been able to access sites to find more casualties,” said Sophie Richardson, co-executive director of Chinese Human Rights Defenders.
“That said, we do know that in the past, most notably in the Sichuan earthquake, that not only did the government censor figures but also quite actively persecuted and prosecuted people who tried to investigate casualties in that disaster,” she told RFA.
In the past, the Chinese government often sought to tightly control public narratives and responses to disasters, whether it was COVID-19 or the Sichuan earthquake, noted Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch.
“These controls included restricting foreign media access to the disaster areas, arresting activists, members of civil society groups, citizen journalists, or volunteers who may challenge official narratives,” Wang told RFA.
Monasteries suffer damage
Several monasteries in affected areas of Dingri county, including the Damtso Serkar, Gonta Phug, Tsonga, Tsogo and Choede monasteries in Lhatse county, have suffered significant damage, according to a Tibetan source based in Nepal.
“Even though my family is safe, we’ve lost many others, including friends, neighbors and cattle to the earthquake,” said a third Tibetan source based in Lhasa on the condition of anonymity.
A firefighter distributes breakfast to residents, following the earthquake that struck Dingri county, Shigatse, in western China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Jan. 8, 2025.(cnsphoto/Reuters)
“I am now awaiting permission to travel back home to Dingri,” he said, adding that family members and volunteers seeking to travel to quake-hit regions are restricted from going to the quake-hit regions.
Many Tibetans inside Tibet — who have been rallying together to help those affected by the earthquake and leading donation drives — will also need to obtain special permissions from local Chinese government authorities to provide relief and aid to those affected by the temblor.
“It is recommended that non-disaster-stricken civil rescue teams and other social organizations and volunteers do not go to the disaster-stricken areas without approval at this stage,” an announcement from local authorities said, in which volunteers were instructed to “consciously accept unified command.”
Human Rights Watch called on the Chinese government to refrain from imposing these restrictions, and allow Tibetans to organize, mobilize and freely participate in the relief efforts, Wang said.
As of Jan. 8 noon local time, a total of 646 aftershocks were monitored, with the largest aftershock being magitude-4.4, about 18 kilometers (11 miles) from the epicenter of the main earthquake, local authorities said.
The Dalai Lama will lead a prayer ceremony for earthquake victims on Jan. 9.
The Central Tibetan Administration, as well as Tibetans in India, Nepal, North America and Europe have also held prayer meetings and organized vigils.
Several nations, including the United States, France and India have offered condolences for the loss of lives.
Additional reporting by Lobsang, Tenzin Pema, Dolkar, Tashi Wangchuk, Nordhey Dolma and Tenzin Norzom. Edited by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan, and by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by RFA Tibetan.
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Dozens of people were killed on Tuesday and many buildings destroyed when a powerful earthquake struck Tibet in western China, according to U.S. and Chinese agencies. Tremors were felt hundreds of kilometres away in neighboring Nepal and India.
The earthquake hit at 9:05 a.m. (20:05 ET on Monday) at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) in Dingri County in the Shigatse prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region, near the border with Nepal, said the China Earthquake Networks Centre, which recorded a magnitude 6.8 quake.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported the earthquake was of magnitude 7.1. Multiple aftershocks of magnitudes of more than 4 struck the region.
“Fifty-three people have been confirmed dead, and 62 injured as of Tuesday noon,” China’s state-owned media agency Xinhua said. More than 1,000 buildings were destroyed in one county alone.
Rescue teams have been deployed, Chinese media reported.
Rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Tingri, southwestern China’s Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.(Xinhua via AP)
Radio Free Asia attempted to contact sources in Tibet but communication was difficult due to disrupted internet and electricity services. Sources in neighboring Nepal told RFA that many people in Tibet were believed to be trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings.
In video footage sourced by RFA, significant damage can be seen, with many buildings reduced to rubble. In one video, a Tibetan woman can be heard crying out for trapped family members.
Dingri County has a population of about 60,000, according to a 2020 census. Within 5 kilometers of the epicenter are the villages of Tangren, Xuezhu, Garegoji, and Meiduo, while Tsosang and Chulho townships are within 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) of the impact zone, Chinese state media reported.
Tremors were also felt in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu some 400 kilometers (250 miles) away, where residents ran from their houses, Reuters news agency reported.
“We felt a very strong earthquake. So far we have not received any report of injuries or physical loss,” said Anoj Raj Ghimire, chief district officer of Solukhumbu district in Nepal, cited by Reuters.
The earthquake also hit Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, and the northern Indian state of Bihar which borders Nepal, said Reuters.
A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Tibet’s Dingri County in the Shigatse prefecture as well as neighboring India and Bhutan. The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was also felt in Bangladesh.(The U.S. Geological Survey)
Southwestern parts of China and Nepal have been hit frequently by earthquakes.
A huge earthquake in China’s Sichuan province in 2008 killed almost 70,000 people, while in 2015, a magnitude 7.8 quake, Nepal’s worst, hit near Kathmandu, killing about 9,000 people and injuring thousands.
A 7.1 magnitude earthquake can cause extensive structural damage, severe ground shaking, landslides and fatalities, particularly in densely populated or poorly constructed areas, with risks of power outages, gas leaks, and tsunamis if near the coast.
There have been 29 earthquakes with magnitudes of 3 or higher within 200 kilometers (124 miles) of the epicenter of Tingri in the past five years, according to China’s state-run broadcaster CCTV.
Edited by Mike Firn.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Tashi Wangchuk, Dolkar, Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan and Taejun Kang for RFA.
The Dalai Lama on Sunday received a stirring welcome in South India, where more than 10,000 Tibetans lined the streets to greet the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader as he arrived for an extended stay at the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Bylakuppe.
It was his first visit to the Bylakuppe Tibetan Settlement in the Indian state of Karnataka — the largest Tibetan settlement in the world outside Tibet — in over seven years. Over 20,000 Tibetans live in the community, which was established on land leased by the state government for Tibetans who resettled in India after 1959.
The Dalai Lama was warmly welcomed in South India as 10,000 Tibetans cheered his arrival at Bylakuppe, his first visit in 7 years.
That was the year that China quelled the Tibetan national uprising movement and annexed Tibet, prompting the 14th Dalai Lama to flee to India alongside thousands of Tibetans.
The trip also marked the Dalai Lama’s first domestic travel within India after his return to his residence in Dharamsala in the northern part of the county in late August 2024, following a two-month stay in the United States, where he underwent a successful knee replacement surgery in New York.
The visit comes as the Dalai Lama, 89, tries to allay concerns over his general health amid questions about his successor. The Chinese government insists it will select the 15th Dalai Lama, though Tibetan Buddhists believe in the reincarnation of their spiritual leaders.
The Dalai Lama on Sunday received a stirring welcome in South India as more than 10,000 Tibetans, young and old, lined the streets to greet the Tibetan spiritual leader as he arrived for an extended stay in the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Bylakuppe – his first visit to the South Indian settlement in over seven years.(Multimedia video)
The Dalai Lama, who has said he expects to live to be over 100 years old to fulfill the wishes of the Tibetan people, has stated that his incarnation could be found in India.
“Today, I have come to Tashi Lhunpo Monastery which was founded by Gyalwa Gendun Drub, the First Dalai Lama,” he said, at a reception ceremony in the monastery. “As his successor, I feel happy and honored to be here today.”
The Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, known as the seat of the Panchen Lama, was founded in 1447 in Shigatse, Tibet, by the first Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Gendun Drub. After China’s occupation of Tibet, the monastery was re-established in Bylakuppe, South India, in 1972 by senior monks under the guidance of the Dalai Lama.
“In Tibet, the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery was renowned for the quality of the monks’ studies of Buddhist philosophy and logic,” he said. “It is one of Tibet’s most important monasteries,” the Dalai Lama said.
The exact duration of the Dalai Lama’s “extended stay” in South India has not been disclosed.
Local Tibetan officials told RFA that the primary purpose of his visit is to rest and enjoy the warmer climate of South India in the winter, and that, as such, no major teachings have, as yet, been planned.
However, from Wednesday onwards, public blessings for the Tibetan people are expected to be held three times a week — every from Monday, Wednesday and Friday — with the initial rounds to focus on Tibetans aged 80 and above, according to the Dalai Lama’s office.
Rousing welcome
The Dalai Lama left his residence in Dharamsala on Jan. 3 for an overnight stay in the Indian capital New Delhi, from where he made a journey to Bangalore the following day. There, hundreds of Tibetan professionals, students and businessmen dressed in their traditional best greeted him with incense, flowers and silk scarves.
On Jan. 5, the Dalai Lama flew by helicopter from Bangalore to the Bylakuppe settlement. All along the more than 5-kilometer (3-mile) stretch of road leading to the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, thousands of Tibetans carrying traditional silk scarves and incense welcomed him amid the sounds of cymbals, drums and horns, as monks and nuns chanted.
“All of us residents of the Tibetan settlements in South India are very fortunate that His Holiness is here,” said Namgyal, who hails from the Doeguling Tibetan Settlement in Mundgod, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Bylakuppe.
“Even though I’m old, I’ve made the journey to be here to satisfy my heart’s desire to see His Holiness,” he said.
Thousands of Tibetans line a street in the Bylakuppe Tibetan Settlement in the Indian state of Karnataka to greet the Dalai Lama, Dec. 5, 2025.(Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama)
Tsewang Dolma, an elderly woman from the Tibetan settlement in Hunsur, over 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Bylakuppe, said she was elated about the visit.
“I feel very emotional and am almost tearing up,” she told Radio Free Asia, while holding a bouquet of flowers to welcome the Dalai Lama. “All I pray for is that he lives a long, long life.”
Role of Buddhist monasteries
The Dalai Lama’s last visit to Bylakuppe was in December 2017, during which he gave Buddhist teachings at Sera Jey and Sera Mey monasteries.
In his address at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, where the heads of all the different Tibetan monastic institutions were gathered, the Dalai Lama emphasized the critical importance of monasteries in serving as “centers of learning” for Buddhist study and practice.
“As I have always advised, the principal purpose of a monastery is to serve as a center of learning where monks and nuns have the opportunity to study and put into practice the Buddha’s teachings,” he said.
“Members of all the monastic institutions should strive to uphold the Buddha’s teachings, particularly in this degenerate age,” the Dalai Lama said, while noting the growing interest in Buddhism in China and other regions.
“Today, many people around the world who are not Buddhists are taking an interest in the Buddha’s teachings,” he added. “These include scientists who value the Buddhist tradition’s emphasis and use of reason and logic.”
Translated by Tenzin Norzom and Tashi Wangchuk. Edited by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan, and by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
The story was updated to say that over 20,000 Tibetans live in the Bylakuppe Tibetan Settlement.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Pema Ngodup, Dickey Kundol and Tenzin Dhonyoe for RFA Tibetan.
