Policy for Kindergarten Children Imposes Chinese-Medium Environment, Indoctrination

– By Human Rights Watch, 4 May 2026

• A 2021 Ministry of Education directive—the Children’s Speech Harmonization plan—mandates the use of standard Mandarin Chinese for all preschool instruction and care, including in ethnic minority areas.
• By severely limiting Tibetan-language education in early childhood, and imposing ideological indoctrination on kindergarten children, the Chinese government is speeding up its erasure of Tibetan language and culture.
• The Chinese government should end political indoctrination in early childhood and ensure that Tibetan children are able to learn and use Tibetan in kindergartens. Foreign governments should press the Chinese government to free detained advocates of Tibetan language and allow independent access to Tibetan areas.

(New York) – The Chinese government is imposing Chinese-medium education and ideological indoctrination on kindergarten children in its efforts to force Tibetans to assimilate, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The 72-page report, “Start with the Youngest Children: China Uses Preschools to ‘Integrate’ Tibetans,” documents that a 2021 Ministry of Education directive—the Children’s Speech Harmonization plan—mandates the use of standard Mandarin Chinese for all preschool instruction in ethnic minority areas. While the kindergartens in theory can still offer supplementary sessions for minority children in their own language, minorities no longer have the legal authority to do so. By severely limiting Tibetan-language education in early childhood, a stage critical for language acquisition and identity formation, the Chinese government is speeding up its erasure of Tibetan language and culture.

“The Chinese government, by targeting kindergarteners, is accelerating its campaign to deprive Tibetan children of their mother tongue and their culture and identity,” said Maya Wang, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “This policy is not about education quality, but about forcibly assimilating Tibetans at an early age into a Han-centric national identity.”

The report is based on an analysis of Chinese laws and policy documents, and academic and media sources. Human Rights Watch also interviewed seven Tibetans and scholars with recent, direct knowledge of conditions in Tibetan areas, where access is extremely restricted.

Human Rights Watch found that many Tibetan children emerge from preschool unable or unwilling to speak Tibetan, even with family members. Parents reported that within weeks or months of starting kindergarten, children switch almost entirely to Chinese.

The 2021 Harmonization Plan is the culmination of decades-long policy shifts reducing mother-tongue education for minorities. Since the 1984 Regional National Autonomy Law, China has moved in five stages to mandatory Chinese-instruction at progressively younger ages. While this process had been completed in primary and secondary schools, kindergartens were long the last setting where Tibetan could still be used as a main language of instruction.

In 2021, the Education Ministry ordered all kindergartens in minority areas to use the “national common language,” or standard Chinese, for all teaching and care activities. Official references to “bilingual education” disappeared from policy documents. A series of legal rulings, education laws, and government policies eliminated remaining legal and policy space for minority language education while embedding political and cultural indoctrination throughout the school system, including at the preschool level. This culminated in the 2026 Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, which imposes legal penalties for anyone deemed to “obstruct” the learning and use of Chinese.

Although preschool is not compulsory in China, Human Rights Watch found that in Tibetan areas it has become obligatory in practice. Primary schools in urban areas increasingly require proof of kindergarten attendance for enrollment, leaving parents little choice but to send their children to Chinese-language preschools.

The authorities also require kindergartens to encourage or pressure parents and children to speak Chinese in their homes and to submit videos of them doing so. Government-appointed examiners have tested preschoolers’ Mandarin skills through interviews and observation, despite regulations that prohibit examinations and other academic pressure in kindergartens.

The language policy is paired with intensified political and cultural indoctrination. Preschool curriculums in Tibetan areas increasingly emphasize “patriotic education,” loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party, and identification as members of the “Chinese nation.” Children are taught to celebrate Han Chinese festivals, recite Chinese classics, sing patriotic songs, and participate in activities glorifying the military and revolutionary history. Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan cultural practices—core elements of cultural and ethnic identities—are absent from the curriculum.

The accelerating language loss among ever younger Tibetans has profound cultural consequences, Human Rights Watch said. These include weakening communication between children and elders, altering family dynamics, reduced transmission of religious and cultural knowledge, and the growing perception among children that Tibetan language and identity are inferior.

China’s policies contravene its obligations under international human rights law, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which guarantees children belonging to minorities the right to use their own language and obligates states to ensure education respects children’s cultural identity.

The Chinese government should reverse policies that mandate Chinese-medium education in preschools, restore genuine bilingual education options, and end political indoctrination in early childhood settings, Human Rights Watch said. Foreign governments and the UN should also press the Chinese government to comply with its international obligations and to allow independent access to Tibetan areas and schools.

“Language loss on the scale taking place in Tibet is not accidental – it is Chinese government policy,” Wang said. “Unless China’s practices change, an entire generation of Tibetan children will grow up cut off from their own language, culture, and heritage.”

Selected Quotes:

“Education must penetrate the blood and reach into the soul; it must be grasped from an early age, starting in kindergarten. We must do a good job with patriotic education, planting the seeds of love for China deep in every child’s heart, and ensuring that the core socialist values take root and grow in the minds of the next generation. All ethnic groups must teach children to develop a sense of belonging to the Chinese nation, so they do not only identify with their own ethnicity, but first and foremost recognize themselves as part of the Chinese nation.” 

– Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping, in a speech at the Central Nationalities Work Conference on September 28, 2014.

“This is not only about not teaching the Tibetan language. … It is carefully done to manage the way children think and believe.… The problem is that the kindergarten platform is designed in favor of the Han Chinese nationality – the way you talk, the topic, how to recognize objects, any knowledge that is introduced. Not even a whiff of the Tibetan way of thinking is there. The result is that when the children come out of kindergarten at age 6, even if both parents are Tibetan, the children think that they are Chinese.… In a decade or two, maybe the culture will die, and be only in a museum.” 

– Tibetan official involved in cultural policy implementation, interviewed by Human Rights Watch in mid-2025.

“Even though she is still able to understand it [Tibetan], she only answers in Chinese. After some time, she managed to give me some simple (single word) answers in Tibetan, but it was obvious she was making a great effort to do so…. There are two preschools in the town, and the mother chose the one where Tibetan language is not completely banned: the children are only spoken to in Chinese, but they are allowed to speak Tibetan in the playground.” 

– Scholar who specializes in linguistics, interviewed in writing by Human Rights Watch on March 5 and 6, 2025.

“All kids below 10 speak Chinese to each other. They do not speak Tibetan to each other. If you force them to, they speak Tibetan, but how well depends on the parents. It’s a lost cause – and it’s happened in one generation.” 

– Tibetan Studies scholar, interviewed by Human Rights Watch via text message on October 10, 2025.

The post China: ‘Harmonization Plan’ Erasing Tibetan Language first appeared on Tibetan Magazine for Tibet News & Issues.

– By International Campaign for Tibet, 1 May 2026

Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Rick Scott (R-FL) introduced legislation on April 29 that directly confronts the Chinese Communist Party’s severe human rights violations and abuses in Tibet.

The Tibet Atrocities Determination Act would require the Secretary of State to investigate China’s repressive actions in Tibet and publicly report on whether those atrocities meet the criteria for genocide or crimes against humanity.

In a statement, Senator Scott said the Chinese government “has engaged in systematic killings, torture, forced sterilization, forced displacement, government sanctioned kidnapping, and a myriad of other crimes against humanity in its oppression of the Tibetan people.” Senator Merkley added, “As the Chinese government continues to ignore the rights of the Tibetan people under international law, we must be clear that these crimes will not be ignored.”

“China is accustomed to hiding its abuses in Tibet and discrediting its victims. Today the US Congress takes another step towards ending China’s impunity,” said ICT President Tencho Gyatso. “I appreciate Senator Scott and Senator Merkley’s determination to shine a light on these atrocities, and I encourage Secretary Rubio to thoroughly investigate China’s acts in Tibet when the bill becomes law.”

The bill includes a requirement to consult with “experts in Tibetan culture, religion, language, and internationally recognized human rights; nongovernmental organizations, including Tibetan advocacy groups; and members of the Tibetan diaspora” and to issue recommendations for United States policy responses, “including potential sanctions, including, but not limited to, visa restrictions and diplomatic actions.”

History of atrocities in Tibet

Chinese rule in Tibet has been marked by serious human rights violations and abuses against the Tibetan people from the very beginning.

The International Commission of Jurists found “prima facie evidence that the Chinese Communists have by acts of genocide attempted to destroy the Tibetan nation” in a 1959 report, while the Central Tibetan Administration states that China’s occupation of Tibet is “marked by systematic destruction of monasteries, the suppression of religion, denial of political freedom, widespread arrest and imprisonment and massacre of innocent men, women and children.”

Human rights reports issued by the State Department have consistently identified “significant human rights issues,” including credible reports of “disappearances; torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment; arbitrary arrest or detention; transnational repression against individuals located in another country; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including censorship; and restrictions of religious freedom.”

Should the Tibet Atrocities Determination Act pass, the Secretary of State will be able to draw on these organizations, reports, and experts, among a plethora of others.

The post New US Senate Bill Would Require State Department to Examine China’s Atrocities in Tibet first appeared on Tibetan Magazine for Tibet News & Issues.

Press Relase

Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Exile, Bylakuppe, Karnataka | April 25, 2026

On April 25, 2026 (Saturday), the Tibetan community in exile solemnly and joyously commemorated the 37th birthday of His Holiness the 11th Panchen Lama, Jetsun Tenzin Gedun Yeshe Trinley Phuntsok Palzangpo (Gedhun Choekyi Nyima), at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Bylakuppe, South India. The grand ceremony brought together spiritual devotion, cultural expression, and renewed global advocacy—reflecting both reverence for a sacred lineage and an unwavering commitment to justice, identity, and truth.

The event was graced by eminent dignitaries representing the highest institutions of the Central Tibetan Administration. The Chief Guest was Sikyong Penpa Tsering. Special Guests included Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, Chief Justice Yeshe Wangmo of the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission, and Cabinet Secretary Lobsang Jinpa from the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The gathering also welcomed senior monastery officials, regional and settlement representatives from Bylakuppe, members of various monasteries and NGOs, and the Tibetan public. Their presence underscored the enduring institutional unity and moral clarity surrounding the Panchen Lama’s legacy and the Tibetan cause.

The day began with elaborate monastic prayers invoking blessings for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and for the well-being and swift reappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama. The rhythmic chants of monks, accompanied by traditional instruments, filled the monastery with a deeply contemplative and sacred atmosphere.

During the formal ceremony, the Abbot Rinpoche of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery read an official statement marking the occasion. Addresses were delivered by Sikyong Penpa Tsering, Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, and Cabinet Secretary Lobsang Jinpa. In his speech, the Speaker highlighted the unique spiritual teacher–student relationship between the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, and paid tribute to the immense contributions of the 10th Panchen Lama, Choekyi Gyaltsen, to Tibetan religion, language, and culture. He also underscored the grave concern surrounding the disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama—recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and taken into custody by Chinese authorities over 31 years ago—whose whereabouts remain unknown, raising ongoing global concern and mistrust.

Other speakers included respected scholars and teachers such as Nga Sangye Tendar, Kalzang Lhamo, and Druk Konchok, who reflected on the Panchen Lama’s spiritual and historical significance.

A central highlight of the event was the reaffirmation of the Panchen Lama’s global symbolic importance. It was announced that the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), USA, had awarded its prestigious 2025 Democracy Service Medal to the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. The medal was formally displayed to the public by the Abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, serving as a powerful symbol of international solidarity and recognition of the Panchen Lama as an enduring figure representing religious freedom, human rights, and resistance against cultural erasure.

The ceremony also marked a significant intellectual and cultural milestone with the release and inauguration of several important publications. Among these was the historic “70,000-Character Petition” authored by the 10th Panchen Lama—one of the most courageous critiques of Chinese policies in Tibet—alongside contemporary scholarly works that contextualize its ongoing relevance. Another major publication was an authoritative biography by the distinguished scholar Kachen Lobzang Zotpa, a former student of the 10th Panchen Lama and former Abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, whose work highlights the enduring spiritual and cultural ties between India and Tibet.

Students of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery actively participated in the celebrations by delivering speeches in Tibetan, English, and Hindi on the life and legacy of the Panchen Lama. The event also recognized academic excellence, with outstanding students honored for achievements in poetry, essay writing, debates, and examinations. Awards were presented to top performers in annual tantric debates, written exams, and major scholastic assessments. Tokens of appreciation were also offered to the chief and special guests.

The celebrations concluded with vibrant cultural performances, including traditional Tibetan songs and dances presented by students and members of the local community. These performances served as living expressions of a resilient culture that continues to thrive despite displacement and adversity.

The ceremony concluded with a formal vote of thanks from the monastery administration.

The 37th birthday celebration of the 11th Panchen Lama at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Exile reaffirmed his enduring significance as a beacon of faith, identity, and freedom. It also highlighted the broader challenges faced by the Tibetan people in preserving their cultural and spiritual heritage in an evolving global landscape.

As the international community continues to grapple with questions of justice, cultural preservation, and human dignity, the legacy of the Panchen Lama stands as a powerful reminder of the quiet strength of resilience and the enduring hope for truth and reconciliation. The gathering in Bylakuppe was not merely a commemoration of a birthday, but a reaffirmation of a collective vow—to remember, to resist, and to renew the quest for freedom and spiritual integrity.

The post 37th Birthday Celebrations of the 11th Panchen Lama first appeared on Tibetan Magazine for Tibet News & Issues.

The post Refuting Beijing’s Claims About Tibetan Diaspora and Democracy first appeared on Tibetan Magazine for Tibet News & Issues.

The friendship between the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu once defined how South Africa was imagined — as a place of moral courage and transformative leadership. Today, in a more transactional and fractured world, that legacy raises a sharper question about what kind of global relationships we still choose to value.

-By Dhundup Gyalpo For Daily Maverick, 19 April, 2026

As a Tibetan, whenever I thought of South Africa, the first things that automatically came to mind were Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu and their friendship with the Dalai Lama. Now?

In today’s world fractured by power politics and nationalism, the most enduring alliances are rarely built on shared humanity. The bonds between the Dalai Lama and SA’s moral giants – Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu – were never transactional. They came from different traditions, lived on different continents, and faced very different struggles. Yet they all arrived at the same conviction: that compassion, dignity, and a refusal to be consumed by hatred aren’t soft ideals reserved for the victorious. They’re the discipline of those determined to truly win.

On Mandela — forgiveness as discipline

When Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster Prison after 27 years behind bars, he made a choice that history still struggles to fully absorb. He chose reconciliation over revenge – not because he was free of rage, but because he understood that rage, left unchecked, would merely replace one oppressor with another. That decision took something rarer than courage. It took iron discipline.

Forgiveness isn’t about forgetting. It’’s about refusing to let anger get out of proportion and lose self-control – and to be guided instead by compassion and restraint. This is what the Dalai Lama has long argued, and what Mandela proved in practice. Real liberation is not merely the dismantling of unjust systems – it is the breaking of cycles of bitterness that would otherwise outlast any political victory. Both men understood that the most dangerous prison is the one you carry inside you.

On Tutu — joy as a moral stance

Desmond Tutu’s friendship with the Dalai Lama felt, to those who witnessed it, almost effortless. There was laughter. There was teasing. There was a lightness that seemed, on the surface, improbable between two men who had spent their lives confronting the worst of human behaviour. But beneath the warmth lay a profound spiritual kinship.

Tutu’s idea of ubuntu – the belief that our humanity is inseparable from the humanity of others – echoes what the Dalai Lama describes as the “oneness of humanity” and our deep interdependence. Both men rejected the notion that being morally serious means being distant or detached. Together, they showed something the world needs to be reminded of: that joy is not a retreat from principle – it can be its clearest expression.

Both men placed deep faith in inherited wisdom – not as a fixed inheritance to be preserved unchanged, but as an anchor for societies navigating rapid disruption. Identity and tradition, in their view, need not be obstacles to dialogue. Properly understood, they are its foundation.

The thread that runs through all of it

Beneath all these relationships runs an older thread – one that traces back to Mahatma Gandhi, whose philosophy of nonviolent moral resistance was itself partly forged on South African soil. His conviction that how you fight matters as much as what you fight for ripples forward through every one of these figures.

Mandela’s commitment to reconciliation, Tutu’s firm belief in justice without revenge, the Dalai Lama’s unflinching faith in nonviolence and compassion as real forces for change: none of these ideas are naïve. They are hard-won conclusions – shaped by people who had every reason to take a different path, but chose not to. Their lives remind us that the fight for freedom and dignity isn’t new. It’s something we’ve inherited together, part of a much longer human story.

Each of these leaders stood up to systems that demanded resistance. They fought hard against injustice without losing their moral compass – that’s what makes them unforgettable.

At a time when global politics feels increasingly transactional – when alliances are driven more by narrow national interests than by principles – all of this prompts a deeper question: What kind of world do we really want to live in? Seen in that light, the friendship between these leaders is more than just nostalgic: it offers a genuinely inspiring example of the kind of path forward we might choose.

Economic partnerships matter. No serious foreign policy can ignore them. But when pragmatism becomes the only language being spoken, something essential is forfeited. SA’s international standing was built, above all, on moral authority – on its willingness to stand for human rights and justice. That legacy is not merely sentimental. It is strategic. It is the reason SA’s voice has historically carried weight beyond what its economic power alone would command.

A shared struggle

The connection between the Tibetan struggle for freedom and dignity, led by the Dalai Lama, and SA’s fight against apartheid stands as one of the most powerful moral alliances of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

For the Dalai Lama, supporting the anti-apartheid movement was never simply a matter of offering occasional rhetorical solidarity. It was deeply rooted in his idea of “Universal Responsibility” – the belief that the Tibetan cause is part of a much bigger, global fight against oppression, racism and the denial of basic human dignity.

Today, as the world faces new forms of inequality and injustice, the examples set by the Dalai Lama and SA’s freedom leaders still remain as relevant as ever, reminding us that moral courage can outlast military strength and economic power. Their legacy isn’t defined by political barriers or visa restrictions, but by an enduring belief: injustice and oppression don’t get the final say.

-Dhundup Gyalpo joined the Tibetan civil service in January 2000. He also studied Chinese in Taiwan for two years. Over the past two decades, he has served as head of the health education and media section of the Health Department; editor of TibetNet/Tibetan Bulletin; research fellow at the Tibet Policy Institute; secretary of the Office of Tibet in Taipei, Taiwan; and secretary of the Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New Delhi. Since March 2026, he has been serving as the Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Pretoria, South Africa.

The post In a Fractured World, Lessons from Mandela, Tutu and the Dalai Lama offer hope first appeared on Tibetan Magazine for Tibet News & Issues.

– by International Campaign for Tibet, 8 April 2026

The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) spotlights the enforced disappearance and secret sentencing of Venerable Dhargye, a 63-year-old Tibetan monk, as a stark illustration of China’s escalating campaign of religious repression and judicial secrecy in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and neighboring Tibetan prefectures. After more than four years of incommunicado detention, Dhargye has, according to credible reports made to ICT, been sentenced to seven years in prison. His case highlights Chinese authorities’ systematic criminalization of peaceful Buddhist religious practices and their routine violation of fundamental due process rights.

Arrest and enforced disappearance

Dhargye’s ordeal began on August 5, 2021, when he was arrested by Chinese police in Lhasa. He was detained alongside a relative named Tsering and a nun named Choekyi. While Tsering and Choekyi were released after several months, Dhargye remained in custody and was subsequently subjected to an enforced disappearance until traces of information began emerging in autumn 2025.

For over four years, Dhargye’s family was kept in the dark about his whereabouts. As soon as he was arrested in 2021, family members began regularly contacting Chinese authorities in Lhasa but they were given false assurances that Dhargye was well and would be released shortly. These false claims gave his family false hope for a speedy return and led them to avoid raising his detention with the international community.

Charges and sentencing

Information about Dhargye’s sentencing emerged in late January 2026. ICT believes he was charged with making traditional Tibetan Buddhist monetary offerings (Kyab-ten སྐྱབས་རྟེན་ and Ngo-ten བསྔོ་རྟེན་) to the Dalai Lama. Authorities also reportedly accused him of assisting Tibetan monks attempting to escape from Tibet.

The legal proceedings were conducted in complete secrecy. Dhargye’s family did not receive official notification of his charges, the date of his trial, the court that would deliver the verdict or the location of his detention. He has been denied all visits, and his current health status remains unknown, causing deep concern among his relatives given his advanced age.

In August 2022, nearly a year after Venerable Dhargye’s arrest, Chinese authorities detained his brother Tsedu along with four other Tibetans in a separate case. The five men were arrested for conducting traditional religious activities including smoke offerings to mountain deities and prayer ceremonies. While one of the five Tibetans died due to severe beatings, the other four were sentenced to two years imprisonment.

Contravention of legal standards

ICT’s analysis clearly shows that Chinese authorities handling of Dhargye’s case clearly violated China’s Criminal Procedure Law (CPL) and international human rights law. Article 85 requires authorities to notify a family of the reasons for arrest and the place of custody within 24 hours. Principle 16 of the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment (adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 43/173 of 9 December 1988), Rule 58 of the Nelson Mandela Rules, and Articles 17 and 18 of the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance require states to provide families with basic information about the fate and whereabouts of a disappeared person without delay. Only narrow and time-limited exceptions are permitted. By holding Dhargye incommunicado for five years, which far exceeds any permissible limits, China is in violation of its own legal frameworks and international law.

Furthermore, the criminalization of traditional Buddhist monetary offerings strikes at the core of Tibetan Buddhist belief. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, offerings are an essential expression of devotion to religious teachers. Kyabten is an offering made for “taking refuge” dedicated to a religious teacher and Ngoten is a dedicatory offering typically made in the name of deceased persons or those who are seriously ill to generate positive karma for them. Under China’s “stability maintenance” policy, however, such expressions of devotion to exiled spiritual leaders are equated with “inciting separatism” or “subverting state power”.

The non-transparent sentencing of Venerable Dhargye exemplifies Chinese authorities’ egregious violations of religious freedom in Tibet. Through pervasive surveillance and the strategic use of enforced disappearances, the Chinese Communist Party continues to suppress religious freedom and sever the spiritual connections between Tibetans and their exiled leaders. The lack of transparency in the judicial system ensures that many such cases of repression against Tibetans never surface.

Born in 1962 in Serta in Golog, Wulshul (Amdo region), Dhargye is the son of Choephel and Choelha. He is a monk of the Serta Sera Monastery, an institution founded in 1736 that is noted for preserving both old and new Buddhist traditions. Prior to his arrest, he resided in Lhasa, where he was frequently sought by local Tibetan devotees to perform consecration rituals for sacred objects, scriptures and stupas.

The post China’s enforced disappearance and sentencing of Venerable Dhargye first appeared on Tibetan Magazine for Tibet News & Issues.

The Dalai Lama’s East Asia representative says the law codifies assimilation, expands ideological control, and violates minority rights and UN conventions.

-By Tsewang Gylapo Arya For Japan Forward, 3 April,2026

The Chinese National People’s Congress (NPC) has, on 11–12 March , passed a new law under a seemingly innocuous title of “Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress.”

The law is scheduled to be effective from 1 July, 2026. Unity and progress are the foundation of social and national development — making it, at first glance, a welcome initiative.

However, a pertinent question here is why the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) needs to come up with a new law on ethnic unity after more than seventy years since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Assimilation in the Name of Unity

A quick answer is that despite its claim of liberation, unity, and prosperity, the regime has still not won the trust and loyalty of the minority nationals of Tibet, East-Turkistan, Southern Mongolia, and others.

The regime is now forcing assimilation in the name of unity and demanding patriotism and loyalty not only from the minority nationals but also from the Chinese and the people of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. This loyalty, moreover, is not to China as a nation, but to the communist party, as the absolute authority.

The law has seven chapters with sixty-five articles. Despite saying ethnic unity, the display of Chinese (Han) chauvinism is conspicuous with repeated use of phrases like “Chinese national” and “Chinese nation,” nearly eighty times in the text.

If this Ethnic Law is all about forging a strong sense of the Chinese national community, then what is there for other nationals and ethnic communities?  The law only addresses the unity of Chinese nationals. It offers nothing to the minority nationals in the region.

A Manufactured National Identity

The new law is all about the Chinese nation and the Chinese national community and is irrelevant to the minority nationals. One need not look further than Article 1 of the law. It says, “This Law is enacted in accordance with the Constitution to promote ethnic unity and progress, forge a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, advance the building of the Chinese national community, and propel the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

The Article is illogical and incoherent. First, despite its claim, the law is not in accordance with the PRC’s Constitution (Article 4), where minority nationals are given freedom and autonomy to maintain and promote their identity, language, and culture. Therefore, it is a gross violation and misinterpretation of the Constitution to legitimize its assimilation policy.

Second, the Law mentions forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation. We must note that China, right now, is not a nation-state. It is a colonial empire with occupied regions. People of the minority nationals are not Chinese, but they have their own distinct national identity. Therefore, the claim of China as a nation-state, and the minority nationals as Chinese nationals are not true. This is an outright invasion and derision of minority nationals’ identity and aspiration.

Thirdly, it talks of building the “Chinese national community.” If the CCP wants to promote and build a “Chinese nation”, it should first revert China to the Chinese people. As of now, China is under the dictatorship of the CCP, and it does not belong to the Chinese people.

If China is to belong to the Chinese people, the Chinese government should be a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. Is the regime ready for this?

Misinterpretation of Marxism-Leninism

Article 2 of the Law stipulates adhering to Marxism-Leninism. Yet what the regime is doing is contrary to what the two great helmsmen had taught. The essence of Marxism is based on the removal of labor exploitation, but the CCP regime is known best for labor exploitation, especially in Uyghur and other occupied regions.

Leninism talks of freedom and autonomy of the different nationals, but what the regime is doing is the eradication and assimilation of the minority nationals. So, with what authority is the regime talking about Marxism and Leninism?

“Those who do not agree with and support the equality of nationalities and languages and those who do not fight against nationality oppression and inequality are not Marxists or even socialists” (The Collected Work of Lenin, vol.20).

And Joseph Stalin said that “the people of a certain nationality use their own language because using their own language is the only way for them to develop their own culture, politics, and economy” (The Collected Works of Stalin, vol II) [A Tibetan Revolutionary, The Political Life of Times of Bapa Phuntso Wangye P-296]

Contrary to the principal teachings of Marxism and Leninism, the Law speaks of a singular objective of developing the Chinese national community, Chinese culture, Chinese people, Chinese image, and unity of the Chinese nation.

If the regime thinks that such a law will help achieve unity and the trust and loyalty of the minority nationals, it is totally mistaken. It will only fortify the minority nationals’ doubt that the law is made to destroy their identity and existence.

Article-15 is clear about how minority languages should be removed and how Chinese, as a “common and official language” for all purposes, should be promoted. It has made Mandarin mandatory in all educational institutions as a “common language and script” for teaching and learning. It has effectively criminalised the preservation and promotion of minority languages.

The Sinicization of Religions

Article 46 of the law openly and boldly calls for “Sinicizing religions in China, guide religions to adapt to socialist society, and guide religious personnel and believers to uphold patriotic traditions, thereby promoting ethnic harmony, religious harmony, and social harmony.”

It’s worth noting that “Sinicizing” means loyalty to the regime and adoption of Xi Jinping’s ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It is an open secret that communist ideology and socialism with Chinese characteristics have no place for religious beliefs.

According to Boston University’s 2020 World Religion Database, there are 499 million folk and ethnic religionists, 288 million Buddhists, 106 million Christians, 23.7 million Muslims, 7.7 million Taoists and Confucians, 20,500 Sikhs, and 2,900 Jews in China and the occupied regions.

The figure comes to about 924 million believers. This is an enormous figure, nearly 1/8th of the world population. If the CCP is successful in its plan, the world will witness new religions under the same names with the CCP as the supreme guiding force. This will usher in a new era of religious wars between the world religions and the CCP-fostered religions.

Legal Contradictions and Violations

As noted earlier, the law is against the Chinese Constitution and the PRC’s Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law. The new law is trying to override all the existing laws. It is a deliberate attempt to make and designate the existing minority nationals as ethnic minorities with Chinese as the supreme majority.

This is in violation of Article 4 of the Constitution and Articles 21, 37, and 49 of the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law, which guarantee the preservation and promotion of minority languages, religions, and cultures. The NPC first needs to revise the Constitution and the Regional Autonomy Law before implementing the new law.

China invaded Tibet under the guise of “peaceful liberation” and flaunted the 17-point agreement of 1951 as a legal document to legitimize the occupation. The new law is a violation and blatant betrayal of this agreement.

As a member of the United Nations, the CCP regime is violating Articles 15, 26, 28, and 29 of the UN Charter of Human Rights. Therefore, the law is unconstitutional, a betrayal, and against the UN conventions.

What China has not been able to achieve through force, repression, and intimidation all these years, China is now establishing laws to achieve its goal by legitimizing its repressions.

Repression by Design

Recognizing the strong faith among Tibetans and Himalayan Buddhists in the reincarnation system of Tibetan lamas, the CCP enacted Religious Order No 5 in July 2007. The order requires state approval for the selection and recognition of reincarnated teachers.

To further legitimize religious interference and tighten control over religious teachings, the regime passed Religious Order No. 19 in July 2024. The measure makes the adoption of CCP ideology and Xi Jinping Thought compulsory in all religious instruction.

These Orders provided the regime with total control over the monasteries, churches, mosques, temples, and the religious teachers. The silence of the international community has emboldened the regime to come up with this new law, “Ethnic Unity and Progress,” to erase the minority nationals’ identity with impunity.

The international community should protest this law, because this is not about the minority nationals’ issue in China. It is not Chinese internal affairs. According to the International Campaign for Tibet (ITC) report, “The law provides a legal tool for the CCP to establish and enforce a unified national identity and singular idea of China, shaped by the CCP and authoritarian ideology.”

The successful implementation of this pernicious and disdainful law in China and the occupied region will ultimately bring the dragon’s fiery fumes to the neighboring countries and around the world, and engulf the people’s mind and consciousness with the CCP’s ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It would likewise force democracy and rule of law to go hiding behind the bush.

-Dr Tsewang Gylapo Arya is the former Secretary of the Department of Information and International Relations and former Director of the Tibet Policy Institute. He is currently the Representative of the Liaison Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for Japan and East Asia. His books include Harnessing the Dragon’s Fume and The Ancient Tibetan Civilization. The view expressed above is the author’s own.

The post China’s New Ethnic Law Legalises Forced Assimilation, Violates Constitution first appeared on Tibetan Magazine for Tibet News & Issues.

The new policy assaults the Tibetan language and thus Tibet’s cultural and religious foundations.

– by Tsering Dolma for Bitter Winter, 30 March 2026

On March 12, 2026, the People’s Republic of China introduced a new ethnic policy officially framed as promoting “ethnic unity” and a consolidated national identity. Despite this framing, the policy carries profound implications for Tibetan Buddhism. In Tibetan society, religion, language, and culture are not separate domains but form a deeply integrated whole. Any state intervention targeting a single element, particularly language or cultural expression, inevitably extends to the religious sphere as well. The policy, therefore, functions not merely as a political framework but as a direct mechanism shaping the transmission, practice, and long-term continuity of Tibetan Buddhist traditions.

The relationship between language and religion is particularly profound in the Tibetan context, though not entirely inseparable. The Tibetan language is deeply intertwined with Tibetan Buddhism, serving as the primary medium through which its teachings, rituals, and philosophical traditions are transmitted. Foundational texts such as the volumes of Buddha’s teachings, the “Kangyur” (bka’ ‘gyur), the collected words of the Buddha, and the “Tengyur” (bstan ‘gyur), comprising centuries of Indian and Tibetan philosophical commentary, are preserved in classical Tibetan, a linguistic system uniquely constructed to carry precise doctrinal meaning, layered philosophical interpretation, and symbolic depth that no translation has ever fully replicated and no simplification can preserve. These are often difficult to capture in translation fully. Consequently, any weakening of the language risks limiting access to the original teachings and diminishing understanding of their depth. For this reason, Tibetans both within Tibet and in exile regard the preservation of their language as a matter of utmost importance.

Policies implemented by the Chinese government are widely perceived as systematic efforts to erode Tibet’s cultural and religious foundations, targeting above all its language and spiritual institutions. The 2007 Order No. 5, formally titled “Measures on the Management of the Reincarnation of Living Buddha in Tibetan Buddhism,” made this intervention explicit, requiring state approval for the recognition of reincarnated spiritual masters. What had long been a sacred, community-rooted process was thereby brought under political authority. The question this raises is not technical but fundamental: can a spiritual institution preserve its authenticity when its most sacred determinations require government sanction?

The displacement of Tibetan by Mandarin as the primary medium of instruction compounds this erosion. Language is not a neutral tool of communication. It is the root of cultural identity and the living medium through which spiritual knowledge is transmitted across generations.

The Dalai Lama addressed this directly during a media interaction at the Tibetan Canadian Cultural Centre in Toronto on October 24, 2010. He argued that China, with its own deep Buddhist heritage, stands to benefit from preserving Tibetan Buddhist culture rather than suppressing it. He pointed to India as a working example, a country that sustains profound linguistic diversity without treating it as a threat to national unity. The contrast with current Chinese policy could not be sharper.

Recent developments lay bare the true cost of resistance. According to the International Campaign for Tibet, Tibetan monk Palden Yeshi, aged 52, from a monastery in Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, was detained by Chinese authorities on May 17, 2021, and subjected to nearly five years of enforced disappearance. His family received no information about his whereabouts until late February 2026, when a relative was finally permitted to visit him at Chushul Prison, southwest of Lhasa. There, he disclosed that he is serving a six-year sentence believed to be directly linked to his efforts to preserve the Tibetan language.

His case is not an isolated incident. It is emblematic of a broader pattern in which cultural and linguistic preservation is treated as a criminal act. When a monk disappeared for nearly five years and was imprisoned for protecting his own language, the claim that these policies merely promote “ethnic unity” becomes impossible to sustain.

Tibetan Buddhist systems like Madhyamaka and Dzogchen rely on highly precise language to express subtle distinctions. Translation often reduces multiple terms to a single word, such as “mind” or “emptiness,” thereby losing both clarity and depth. Thus, language is not just descriptive but essential for guiding realization.

Furthermore, in Tibetan tradition, especially in Vajrayana practices, teachings are not regarded as complete through textual study alone. They require three essential modes of transmission: oral transmission (rlung), instruction (khrid), and empowerment (dwang). These are passed down from teacher to student in Tibetan, preserving lineage continuity and serving as the initial doorway for beginners to enter Vajrayana practices.

Therefore, if the language weakens, oral transmission declines, and the essential essence may be lost. If the language declines, these subtle instructions may disappear. This challenge is particularly significant in traditions associated with Padmasambhava, where teachings known as “terma” (hidden treasures) are revealed by “treasure revealers” (gterstons). These teachings often rely on the dakini script (mkha’drodgyig), requiring deep linguistic and cultural familiarity to interpret. A decline in Tibetan literacy could therefore prevent future generations from decoding the spiritual heritage.

This concern reflects core Buddhist principles like dependent origination, highlighting interdependence. The loss of language, therefore, risks the loss of an entire philosophical training system. Beyond doctrine, the Tibetan language preserves stories of saints and yogis, cultural metaphors, and elements of devotional poetry whose depth often fades in translation. It is thus not only religion that is at stake, but how it is experienced and lived.

In this light, the erosion of the Tibetan language does not eliminate Buddhism itself. Still, it poses a risk of losing the depth and continuity of Tibetan Buddhism as a living tradition.

In 2010 at Bodhgaya, the Dalai Lama urged Himalayan communities to learn Tibetan, emphasizing that Buddhist teachings cannot fully survive in translation and must be preserved through the language itself.

This position has since been corroborated at the highest levels of international scrutiny. In a report presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Nicolas Levrat warned that Chinese state policies are contributing to the systematic erosion of Tibetan civilisation, describing them not merely as discriminatory but as a form of “eradication in more subtle ways.” At the center of this concern is the large-scale boarding school system imposed on Tibetan children, through which Mandarin, state ideology, and assimilative practices dominate daily life. In contrast, the Tibetan language is structurally marginalised. Separated from their families and communities, these children are denied the natural conditions through which language, culture, and religious identity are transmitted across generations.

The relationship between the Tibetan language and Tibetan Buddhism is not one of convenience or historical accident. It is one of the constitutive interdependences. Language is not the medium through which Tibetan Buddhism is communicated; it is the condition under which it exists, is understood, and is transmitted. Every policy that erodes the Tibetan linguistic environment, therefore, strikes not at the periphery of the tradition but at its core.

The ethnic policy introduced by the People’s Republic of China on March 12, 2026, clearly reveals this reality. Framed as cultural consolidation, it effectively dismantles the conditions needed for Tibetan Buddhist knowledge to survive. The tradition may persist in name, but without its language, texts, and living transmission, it is not preserved; it is being erased. The preservation of the Tibetan language is therefore not a cultural preference or a political position. It is essential. Without it, the full depth, authenticity, and continuity of Tibetan Buddhism cannot survive, not because the religion lacks resilience, but because no tradition can endure the systematic destruction of the conditions that make it possible. It is the survival of one of humanity’s most profound and irreplaceable intellectual and spiritual inheritances.

-Tsering Dolma is a Research Fellow at the Tibet Policy Institute, a think tank and research center of the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamshala, India. She earned her Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Delhi.

The post The New Law on Ethnic Unity: A Threat to Tibetan Buddhism first appeared on Tibetan Magazine for Tibet News & Issues.

– By Tsering Yangkey for Tibetan Review, 19 March, 2026

The need to adopt a pro-active approach towards preserving the Tibetan national identity especially through the inculcation of linguistic skill has become ever more pressing today not only because of China’s ongoing coercive Sinicization drive in Tibet, which has seen the country’s Communist Party rulers adopt a new Law on ‘Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress’ recently, but also in view of the fact that the once closely-knit Tibetan communities in India, Nepal and Bhutan have been hollowing out with their youngsters dispersing across the free world in quest for better opportunities and life, writes Tsering Yangkey. *

I believe that, as Tibetans, we all share a deep and unwavering faith in His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, and an innate patriotism toward Tibet. To me, these two qualities are indispensable conditions for calling oneself Tibetan. Fulfilling the aspirations of His Holiness and serving the cause of Tibet are inseparable, for His Holiness and Tibet are like the two faces of the same coin. As Tibetans, the purpose of our lives is to serve these two sacred causes. The preservation and protection of the Tibetan language is not only our moral responsibility but also one of the four principal commitments of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

We all know that our forefathers fled their homeland, following His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with a single mission and purpose: to struggle for our freedom in exile and eventually return home. They did not leave Tibet in search of better jobs, improved educational opportunities, or a more comfortable livelihood, as many of us do today.

With his profound vision and determination, His Holiness requested the Government of India to allow the establishment of separate Tibetan communities. He did this with a single aim—to preserve our identity as Tibetans. As a result, despite living outside our homeland and being few in number, we have been able to preserve, promote, and nurture our religion, culture, and language. This achievement is largely due to His Holiness’s far-sighted leadership and tireless efforts, which won recognition for him with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

Today, however, the situation is changing—both inside Tibet and in exile. First, His Holiness is advancing in age, even though he has reassured us that he hopes to live for several more decades. At the same time, Tibetans living in India, Nepal, and Bhutan—especially young people—are increasingly migrating to Western countries. As a result, Tibetan settlements, schools, and monasteries are gradually emptying. Since many people of reproductive age are leaving for work abroad, population growth within our communities in South Asia has slowed significantly.

Back in Tibet, the government of the Chinese Communist Party is determined to eradicate our identity. The establishment of so-called boarding schools in Tibet has led to Tibetan children being forcibly enrolled in them, depriving them of their right to study their own language and cultural heritage. Recently, authorities have implemented policies requiring preschool children to begin learning Mandarin and threatening criminal law action against individuals overseas seen as “undermining ethnic unity.” Private Tibetan language schools have been systematically shut down, and teachers associated with them have been detained or disappeared.  The message is clear: erase the language, erase the people.

The survival and identity of any people depends fundamentally on the preservation of their language. Religion, culture, history, and collective memory are all preserved and transmitted through language. If a language disappears, the identity of that people gradually fades with it. With Tibetan children in Tibet being denied the right to learn their own language, we are approaching a critical threshold that threatens our existence as a distinct people in the world.

Tibetans in Tibet are not in a position to preserve our language due to such restrictions. Meanwhile, many Tibetans in the diaspora—particularly those living in the West and in major Indian cities—are gradually losing their language, often citing a lack of environment or opportunities to learn and practice it. For many years, Tibetan communities in India, Nepal, and Bhutan have served as the guardians of our identity. But now, as more people move abroad, our once close-knit communities risk becoming increasingly dispersed. This raises a serious question: who will preserve and carry forward our identity in the future?

Until recently, the preservation of our identity was not considered an urgent issue. Today, however, it has become as serious as our political struggle. We must recognise the reality faced by Tibetans inside Tibet under Chinese control. Our brothers and sisters there are helpless. In contrast, those of us living in the free world have the freedom, opportunity, and resources to speak and learn our language. No one prevents us from speaking Tibetan at home or with fellow Tibetans.

I would like to emphasise that parents play the most crucial role in this effort. In addition to speaking Tibetan at home, parents can send their children to Tibetan weekend schools, encourage them to attend online Tibetan language classes, and take them to summer camps in India—such as programs organised by institutions like the Sarah College, Tibetan Children’s Villages, Sera Jey Monastic University, Gyumed Tantric Monastery, and the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts. If we do not encourage and support our children in learning Tibetan, how will they pass it on to the next generation when they become parents themselves?

Our religion and culture teach us morality, love, compassion, peace, harmony, universal responsibility, mindfulness, meditation, environmental protection, and many other values that benefit humanity as a whole. People around the world admire Tibetan culture, including scientists who are deeply interested in Buddhist philosophy—especially Buddhist psychology and the study of the mind. Therefore, learning and preserving our language and culture is not selfish—it is a service to the world.

Although we cannot directly change the situation inside Tibet, we can do our part to preserve our identity—an identity for which our brothers and sisters in Tibet continue to struggle. When Tibetan children in Tibet are prevented from learning their own language, we should speak and learn Tibetan even more actively in exile. When birth rates in Tibet are controlled, we should strengthen our communities abroad. When mixed marriages are encouraged to dilute our identity, we must marry within our community. In this way, we can respond peacefully, without hatred or violence.

To the Lhakar Gorshe groups, I also have a small request: please take some time—perhaps half an hour—to learn the lyrics of the songs you perform and understand their meanings. Through them, you will discover the richness of our culture: the lives of nomads and farmers, offerings and praises to our spiritual masters, the beauty of our snow-capped mountains, the purity of our rivers, the vast green grasslands, and the majesty of our animals—yaks, sheep, and the loyal Tibetan Mastiffs.

My dear fellow Tibetans, I urge you: speak Tibetan, learn Tibetan, think Tibetan, and act Tibetan. Make this your next birthday resolution. Remember that where there is a will, there is always a way. We have already seen many Tibetan children born in the West who can speak Tibetan fluently and read and write the language beautifully. This shows that it is indeed possible, if we truly care and make the effort.

The survival of our identity is in our hands now.  Let us not be the generation that breaks the chain.  Let us be the generation that strengthens it.

I may sound like a hypocrite for writing this appeal in English rather than in the Tibetan language. However, I chose to write it in English so that our younger generation can fully understand it and reflect upon it. Otherwise, I normally write in Tibetan when communicating with fellow Tibetans.

– Tsering Yangkey, the Representative of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) at the Office of Tibet, London, has written this piece in her personal capacity.

The post A Heartfelt Appeal to the Tibetan Diaspora Communities first appeared on Tibetan Magazine for Tibet News & Issues.

China is amending its laws to weaken ethnic identities, including Tibetan language and culture. 

– By Jianli Yang for The Diplomat, 12 March 2026

In recent years, the Chinese government has intensified policies in Tibetan areas that aim to reshape Tibetan identity through language, education, and cultural control. These measures are not isolated administrative actions but part of a broader national strategy centered on what Beijing calls “forging a strong sense of the Chinese nation community.” Under this framework, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seeks to strengthen a unified national identity by weakening ethnic identities that might compete with the political narrative of the “Chinese nation.” Increasingly, these assimilationist policies are not merely administrative practices; they are being codified into law.

For decades, the Chinese state maintained tight political control over Tibet, particularly over Tibetan Buddhism and religious institutions. Yet in the realm of language and education, earlier policies were comparatively more accommodating than those of today. In 1994, the “Measures for Implementing the Compulsory Education Law of the People’s Republic of China in the Tibet Autonomous Region” stipulated that schools should “use Tibetan as the principal medium of instruction while gradually improving a bilingual Tibetan-Chinese education system.” Within this framework, Tibetan language education held a central place in the school system, while Mandarin functioned largely as a supplementary language.

At that time, Tibetan students also had institutional options in China’s university entrance examination system. Two separate examination tracks existed. One, known as “min kao Han,” required students to take exams in Chinese. The other, called “min kao min,” allowed ethnic minority students to take their exams in their own languages. While imperfect, this system acknowledged linguistic diversity and allowed Tibetan language education to retain meaningful institutional space.

This situation began to change dramatically after Xi Jinping came to power. Under the banner of achieving the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” Beijing increasingly began to view minority languages – including Tibetan – as potential threats to national unity. The policy shift reflects a deeper transformation in China’s ethnic governance doctrine.

Chinese policymakers and scholars now frequently refer to a transition from the “first-generation ethnic policy” to the “second-generation ethnic policy.” The earlier framework, developed during the Mao and Deng eras, formally emphasized ethnic regional autonomy and the protection of minority languages and cultures. Although implementation was uneven, the official policy at least recognized the legitimacy of cultural pluralism within the Chinese state.

The second-generation ethnic policy represents a significant departure from this approach. Rather than preserving ethnic diversity, it seeks to minimize the political and social significance of ethnic distinctions. Its central objective is the creation of a unified national identity centered on the concept of the “Chinese nation” (中华民族). In practice, this shift encourages linguistic assimilation, cultural homogenization, and tighter political integration of minority regions.

Language policy in Tibet provides one of the clearest examples of this transformation. Officially, the Chinese government continues to describe its education policy as “bilingual education.” In reality, Mandarin Chinese has increasingly become the dominant language of instruction, while Tibetan has been relegated to a secondary or optional subject. Core academic subjects such as mathematics, science, and history are now overwhelmingly taught in Mandarin.

This trend was reinforced by legislative developments at the National People’s Congress (NPC). In December 2025, the NPC Standing Committeerevised the National Common Language Law, removing earlier provisions that allowed minority languages to serve as primary mediums of instruction in schools. The revised law explicitly requires that Mandarin be used as the fundamental teaching language and mandates the use of standardized national textbooks throughout the education system.

These changes have had profound consequences for ethnic minority students. The “min kao min” examination track has largely disappeared, leaving only the Chinese-language examination system. Tibetan language proficiency, for example, is no longer central to university admissions except for students applying specifically to Tibetan-language academic programs.

Perhaps the most controversial element of the new policy has been the rapid expansion of the boarding school system in Tibetan areas. Research by human rights organizations suggests that roughly one million Tibetan children have been placed in state-run boarding schools. These institutions operate primarily in Mandarin and reportedly restrict the use of Tibetan language in daily life. Because students live on campus for extended periods, they are separated from their families and communities during crucial stages of cultural and linguistic development.

At the same time, private Tibetan language schools have been systematically closed. In several cases, teachers associated with independent Tibetan-language education initiatives have been detained or disappeared. Today, Tibetan language instruction within public schools has been drastically reduced, and private efforts to establish Tibetan language schools are rarely permitted.

The contrast is striking. Chinese immigrants around the world are free to establish Chinese-language schools. Tibetan immigrants abroad can organize Tibetan-language education in diaspora communities. Yet Tibetans living in Tibet itself increasingly lack the freedom to establish Tibetan-language schools in their own homeland.

The situations in other ethnic minority areas in China, such as Xinjiang and the Inner Mongolia, are similar.

The Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, which was passed during the NPC’s annual session this week, further strengthens this assimilationist framework. Based on a draft version, the legislation requires that preschool children begin learning Mandarin and mandates that students “basically master the national common language by the end of compulsory education.” At the same time, it weakens provisions in the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law that previously protected minority language rights.

The law also introduces provisions that allow authorities to pursue legal responsibility for individuals overseas accused of “undermining ethnic unity.” Such clauses extend the reach of China’s ethnic policy beyond its borders and further integrate identity issues into the country’s national security framework.

International concern about these developments has grown. In a 2026 report, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on minority issues warned that systematic restrictions on minority language education could lead to “linguistic erasure” and create a serious risk of cultural destruction. The report noted that policies designed to eliminate a language from public life may approach what international law describes as cultural genocide.

Viewed in this broader context, China’s current policies in Tibet represent more than a shift in language education. They reflect a structural transformation in the Chinese state’s approach to ethnic governance. The combination of administrative campaigns and legislative codification suggests that Beijing is moving to institutionalize the “second-generation” ethnic policy.

Through both political campaigns and legal reforms, China is steadily narrowing the space for minority autonomy in education, language, and religion. The legal codification of assimilation policies marks a new phase in Beijing’s frontier governance strategy – one that seeks not merely to manage ethnic diversity but to fundamentally reshape it.

Read the original report on The Diplomat here.

The post Beijing Is Legalizing the Assimilation of Tibetans and Other Ethnic Minorities first appeared on Tibetan Magazine for Tibet News & Issues.