25 April 2025 marks the 36th birthday of the Panchen Lama, who has remained under continued detention by Chinese authorities since 1995, only for being recognized by the Dalai Lama as a prominent Tibetan Buddhist master. His situation concretely symbolizes China’s abuse of Tibetan religious freedom and tradition.
The body of 57-year-old Tibetan Buddhist leader Hungkar Dorje was cremated on 20 April 2025, in a highly secretive and tightly controlled ceremony in Vietnam, according to information from sources who have been keeping in contact with people close to him.
On 15 April 2025, the Dutch Tweede Kamer (House of Representatives) passed three important motions on Tibet, demonstrating that the Netherlands, despite ongoing pressure from China, will raise and defend the rights of the Tibetans.
A highly respected Tibetan religious and cultural leader passed away in Vietnam on 29 March under unclear circumstances, following a pattern of Tibetan lamas targeted by the Chinese authorities for their cultural preservation work.
Multiple UN Special Rapporteur made public a joint communication to the Chinese government related to the summoning and interrogation of environmental human rights defender Tsongon Tsering and his subsequent detention.
The People’s Republic of China’s hydropower and dam projects are increasingly leading to massive human rights violations and environmental damage in Tibet. Since Asia’s largest rivers originate in the Tibetan plateau, the construction of hydroelectric dams in Tibet also threaten the water supply, livelihoods and health of up to 1.8 billion people across China, South and Southeast Asia.
Report Summary This report shows how the Buddhist Association of China (BAC), a supposedly non-political organization, is becoming a key instrument in the Chinese Communist Party’s strategy to assimilate and transform Tibetan Buddhism – particularly in relation to the search for and recognition of reincarnate lamas. The BAC has a special Tibetan Buddhism Working Committee […]
This report examines two large-scale policy initiatives – rural revitalization and national parks – that are resulting in a tightening Chinese grip on Tibet, as well as upending Tibetans’ traditional lifestyles, displacing Tibetan pastoralists and violating the Tibetan people’s Buddhist values.
