It happened three days ago. The man was identified as Lobsang Palden, 52, a prominent Tibetan independence activist who had lived in the United States for more than twenty years. In recent years he had worked as an Uber driver. His self-immolation is the first ever by a Tibetan on American soil. Will there be more? The incident has attracted international attention and stirred anxiety in the Tibetan exile community.
Before taking the fatal step, Palden streamed a live video on Facebook in which he urged his compatriots to stand together in the struggle for Tibetan independence. His sacrifice was intended as a response to China’s implementation, on July 1, of a new law on “ethnic unity and progress.” China officially recognises 55 ethnic minorities. They make up only nine percent of the population, while the dominant Han Chinese take the rest of the “cake.”
China’s National People’s Congress passed the law earlier this year. Beijing presents it as a tool to ensure “national harmony and political stability.” That may sound harmless. But the rhetoric conceals a clear escalation in the Communist Party’s efforts to force the country’s ethnic minorities into submission.
First, the law strengthens the requirement that standard Chinese, Mandarin, be used in schools, public institutions and working life in minority areas. This means that local languages such as Tibetan are given a subordinate legal status. Second, religious institutions, including Buddhist monasteries in Tibet, are required to integrate “patriotism and love for the Party” into their daily operations. Religious practice must be adapted to socialist society, and religious leaders must actively declare their loyalty to Beijing.
Third, the law contains a clause stating that individuals and organisations outside China may be held legally responsible if they oppose “ethnic unity” or encourage “ethnic separatism.” This means that China is giving itself legal grounds to pursue, punish and prosecute exiled Tibetans, activists and foreign citizens around the world.
The reactions have been strong. Tibetan exiles and other critics say the law may become the death blow to what remains of Tibet’s unique cultural identity. By making Mandarin the only functional language in education and administration, they fear that younger generations of Tibetans will lose contact with their own culture, literature and history.
The 2020 census showed that just over seven million Tibetans lived in China. Of these, 3.1 million lived in the Tibet Autonomous Region, while the rest lived in the neighbouring provinces of Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan.
Human rights groups have long reported on boarding schools in Tibet where around one million Tibetan children live separated from their families. The aim is to give them intensive linguistic and ideological instruction in Mandarin. The Uyghurs in Xinjiang are receiving the same harsh treatment. The new law makes this practice a permanent, nationwide norm.
Exiled Tibetans such as Lobsang Palden have for years experienced family members in their homeland being harassed or denied medical help. With the new law in hand, Beijing now has an official tool with which to demand international arrests, for example through Interpol, or to freeze assets belonging to critics around the world. This is why the law has also caused alarm among Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. Up to 1.5 million Uyghurs live outside China.
Both the United States and the European Union were quick to criticise the law. The United States sees it as an attempt to force people in other countries to submit to China — or risk reprisals. The EU is equally clear, accusing the Chinese authorities of creating a legal basis for “transnational repression.”
Since 2009, 159 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in Tibet and neighbouring provinces, in addition to 11 in exile. It began when a young Buddhist monk at Kirti Monastery in Sichuan set fire to himself in protest against the authorities’ severe restrictions. In March 2011, another monk from the same monastery did the same. This triggered a wave of self-immolations in which nuns also set themselves on fire. The monasteries were surrounded by Chinese riot police, and the atmosphere grew even more tense.
The following year, human rights organisations recorded as many as 86 self-immolations. At the same time, the protests changed character. It was no longer only monks and nuns who set themselves on fire, but also ordinary men and women: nomads, farmers, schoolchildren, teachers and parents. The protests spread into Tibet and to the neighbouring provinces of Qinghai and Gansu. Most shouted the same slogans before the flames consumed them: “Let the Dalai Lama return!” and “Freedom for Tibet!”
The leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile in India, Penpa Tsering, has expressed deep sorrow over the loss of Lobsang Palden. At the same time, he has urged his compatriots not to follow his example: “Human life is precious. We must preserve it in order to fight the long-term struggle for Tibet.” He adds that Tibet is facing an existential crisis and implores world leaders not to allow the new law to pass in silence.
“Self-immolation is not an act meant to harm others,” says a statement from the Tibetan exile community in New York. “It is the final, desperate cry of a human being who feels that his people are being erased from history, while the international community looks on passively.”
The number of Tibetan exiles worldwide is estimated at just over 130,000. Of these, around 28,000 live in the United States. After the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959, most settled in India, Nepal and Bhutan. In recent years, growing numbers have moved to Western countries. Many are young and have largely given up hope of returning to a free Tibet.
In recent days, several hundred Tibetans and others have held candlelight vigils at the place where Palden took his farewell. Participants have set up a makeshift altar with a large photograph of him, surrounded by traditional white Tibetan silk scarves, khata, incense and hundreds of lit candles.
Chinese authorities dismiss the international reactions as a “malicious smear campaign.” This year, China has celebrated the 75th anniversary of the agreement on Tibet’s “peaceful liberation.” The agreement was signed in Beijing in May 1951, after Chinese forces had entered the mountain kingdom the previous year.
Before taking the fatal step, Palden streamed a live video on Facebook in which he urged his compatriots to stand together in the struggle for Tibetan independence. His sacrifice was intended as a response to China’s implementation, on July 1, of a new law on “ethnic unity and progress.” China officially recognises 55 ethnic minorities. They make up only nine percent of the population, while the dominant Han Chinese take the rest of the “cake.”
China’s National People’s Congress passed the law earlier this year. Beijing presents it as a tool to ensure “national harmony and political stability.” That may sound harmless. But the rhetoric conceals a clear escalation in the Communist Party’s efforts to force the country’s ethnic minorities into submission.
First, the law strengthens the requirement that standard Chinese, Mandarin, be used in schools, public institutions and working life in minority areas. This means that local languages such as Tibetan are given a subordinate legal status. Second, religious institutions, including Buddhist monasteries in Tibet, are required to integrate “patriotism and love for the Party” into their daily operations. Religious practice must be adapted to socialist society, and religious leaders must actively declare their loyalty to Beijing.
Third, the law contains a clause stating that individuals and organisations outside China may be held legally responsible if they oppose “ethnic unity” or encourage “ethnic separatism.” This means that China is giving itself legal grounds to pursue, punish and prosecute exiled Tibetans, activists and foreign citizens around the world.
The reactions have been strong. Tibetan exiles and other critics say the law may become the death blow to what remains of Tibet’s unique cultural identity. By making Mandarin the only functional language in education and administration, they fear that younger generations of Tibetans will lose contact with their own culture, literature and history.
The 2020 census showed that just over seven million Tibetans lived in China. Of these, 3.1 million lived in the Tibet Autonomous Region, while the rest lived in the neighbouring provinces of Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan.
Human rights groups have long reported on boarding schools in Tibet where around one million Tibetan children live separated from their families. The aim is to give them intensive linguistic and ideological instruction in Mandarin. The Uyghurs in Xinjiang are receiving the same harsh treatment. The new law makes this practice a permanent, nationwide norm.
Exiled Tibetans such as Lobsang Palden have for years experienced family members in their homeland being harassed or denied medical help. With the new law in hand, Beijing now has an official tool with which to demand international arrests, for example through Interpol, or to freeze assets belonging to critics around the world. This is why the law has also caused alarm among Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. Up to 1.5 million Uyghurs live outside China.
Both the United States and the European Union were quick to criticise the law. The United States sees it as an attempt to force people in other countries to submit to China — or risk reprisals. The EU is equally clear, accusing the Chinese authorities of creating a legal basis for “transnational repression.”
Since 2009, 159 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in Tibet and neighbouring provinces, in addition to 11 in exile. It began when a young Buddhist monk at Kirti Monastery in Sichuan set fire to himself in protest against the authorities’ severe restrictions. In March 2011, another monk from the same monastery did the same. This triggered a wave of self-immolations in which nuns also set themselves on fire. The monasteries were surrounded by Chinese riot police, and the atmosphere grew even more tense.
The following year, human rights organisations recorded as many as 86 self-immolations. At the same time, the protests changed character. It was no longer only monks and nuns who set themselves on fire, but also ordinary men and women: nomads, farmers, schoolchildren, teachers and parents. The protests spread into Tibet and to the neighbouring provinces of Qinghai and Gansu. Most shouted the same slogans before the flames consumed them: “Let the Dalai Lama return!” and “Freedom for Tibet!”
The leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile in India, Penpa Tsering, has expressed deep sorrow over the loss of Lobsang Palden. At the same time, he has urged his compatriots not to follow his example: “Human life is precious. We must preserve it in order to fight the long-term struggle for Tibet.” He adds that Tibet is facing an existential crisis and implores world leaders not to allow the new law to pass in silence.
“Self-immolation is not an act meant to harm others,” says a statement from the Tibetan exile community in New York. “It is the final, desperate cry of a human being who feels that his people are being erased from history, while the international community looks on passively.”
The number of Tibetan exiles worldwide is estimated at just over 130,000. Of these, around 28,000 live in the United States. After the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959, most settled in India, Nepal and Bhutan. In recent years, growing numbers have moved to Western countries. Many are young and have largely given up hope of returning to a free Tibet.
In recent days, several hundred Tibetans and others have held candlelight vigils at the place where Palden took his farewell. Participants have set up a makeshift altar with a large photograph of him, surrounded by traditional white Tibetan silk scarves, khata, incense and hundreds of lit candles.
Chinese authorities dismiss the international reactions as a “malicious smear campaign.” This year, China has celebrated the 75th anniversary of the agreement on Tibet’s “peaceful liberation.” The agreement was signed in Beijing in May 1951, after Chinese forces had entered the mountain kingdom the previous year.