China’s Arrest of Tibetan Writers Blocks Dissenting Views: Rights Group

The arrest in recent months of at least seven Tibetans apparently on charges of anti-state activity underscores Beijing’s continuing drive to destroy the influence of men and women whose views of life in Tibetan regions of China go against official narratives, a Tibetan rights group in India says. “If these intellectuals can no longer influence the Tibetan public, that public can be more easily manipulated and fooled,” says Pema Gyal, a researcher at the Dharamsala, India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.

Beginning in 2008—when widespread protests against Chinese rule swept Tibetan regions—and until 2010, nearly 60 influential Tibetan poets, writers, and other literary figures and academics were arrested by Chinese police, with the whereabouts of many still unknown, Gyal said. “And the reason usually given for the arrests was that they had all threatened national security and stability.”

But what these arrests really show, Gyal said, “is that Tibetans have been deprived of their freedom of academic expression, and that the Chinese authorities can arrest them at any time simply by calling them a national threat.”

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