The heightened restrictions on social media platforms such as WeChat have caused a chilling effect on online activities of local Tibetans as they fear communicating their concerns about the ongoing crackdown with Tibetans living outside Tibet.
TCHRD has been informed that a 30-ft Maitreya Buddha statue in the courtyard of Drango Namgyal Ling Monastery has been destroyed and at least a dozen local Tibetans detained for sharing news of the destruction of a 99-ft Buddha statue that was reported last month in Drango (Ch: Luhuo) County, Kardze (Ch: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham.