The Chinese Party-state is targeting and silencing influential Tibetan writers, intellectuals and cultural leaders that it views as hindrance to its cultural assimilation campaign. New information obtained by TCHRD revealed the ongoing detention of four other writers on top of the four recently sentenced to four to ten years in prison.
The well-known Tibetan language rights advocate Tashi Wangchuk, who was sentenced to five years in prison for “inciting separatism”, was released yesterday after completing his sentence. However, he remains inaccessible to his lawyers even as it is reported that he is staying at his sister’s home in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham. Mr…
Chinese authorities have declared “unconstitutional” local regulations that require the use and development of the spoken and written language of “ethnic minorities”, further cementing the Chinese party-state’s aggressive attempts to assimilate minority nationalities into a single Chinese national identity. The National People’s Congress (NPC), which is subservient to the Chinese Communist Party, made this pronouncement in a work report submitted…
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) is concerned about the condition and whereabouts of Tashi Wangchuk, an advocate for Tibetan culture and language, who has been detained by Chinese authorities for over five months now in Kyegudo (Ch: Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham. There is no information about whether he had been given access to due legal process or if any trial had been held.
Tashi Wangchuk was arbitrarily detained on 27 January 2016 more than a month after an interview of him appeared in the New York Times on his efforts to file a lawsuit against the Chinese authorities for their failure to protect and promote Tibetan culture and language. Due to enormous attention generated by international media outlets, the Chinese authorities informed Tashi’s family about his arrest on 24 March, almost two months after his actual arrest. But his family members were not allowed to meet him and his whereabouts remained unknown for a long time. When the New York Times called the local police authorities about Tashi Wangchuk, an officer with surname Zhang replied that the Chinese state security agency was working on the case without giving any details.
In keeping with its assimilationist policy, Chinese authorities have recently introduced mathematics textbooks in Chinese language in a number of primary schools to gradually replace the Tibetan version in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).
Recent media reports exposed steps taken by the TAR education department to introduce Chinese language mathematics textbooks for Tibetan primary school children that have caused deep concern among educated Tibetans some of whom have expressed their concern in writing on online platforms.
A special team of Chinese officials recently visited four different schools in Tsolho (Ch: Hainan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, to carry out propaganda activity on “anti-immolation special struggle” including campaigns to “instill respect for constitutional provisions on bilingual education policy”, an official Chinese daily reported.[i]
The propaganda campaign was aimed at snuffing out self-immolation protests and shoring up compliance for the controversial bilingual education policy. According to the report, cadres and work teams from Provincial Education Committee and Provincial Department of Education visited Tsolho from 6 to 7 January to implement anti-immolation campaign and guiding the masses on bilingual education policy.
On 19 October 2010 in Rebkong (Chinese: Tongren) county in Malho “Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture” “(TAP)” in Qinghai province, thousands of Tibetan students came out in the streets to protest against the education reforms and the inequality faced by the Tibetans.
The meeting on education reform by the Education Department of Qinghai province, the local Communist Party Secretary and Chairman ordered that all subjects are required to be taught in Mandarin and all textbooks to be printed in Chinese and except for Tibetan and English language classes.