CCP Pushes Sinicization to Eradicate Tibetan Culture; Exiled Tibetans Lament: Young Generation Has Lost Native Language Ability

Tibetan activists gathered in Dharamsala, India, to mark the one-month anniversary of Loga Rangzen's self-immolation and protest China's "ethnic unity and progress promotion law." This law mandates Mandarin Chinese as the "basic language" in schools, further legitimizing the forced assimilation and linguistic erasure of Tibetans. The protest highlighted the escalating cultural and linguistic suppression under Chinese President Xi Jinping.

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I felt like I had arrived in a safe place, I was free.

UN human rights experts have warned that up to a million Tibetan children are being forcibly placed in government-run boarding schools, designed for complete assimilation. Cheogyal Dawa, a 25-year-old Tibetan who recently escaped to a refugee center in Nepal, tearfully described seeing a portrait of the Dalai Lama for the first time as a moment of freedom. His experience reveals the harsh reality of systematic cultural, linguistic, and religious extermination in Tibet.

Dawa recalled attending a monastic school in his childhood where he learned Tibetan history and philosophy. However, between 2021 and 2024, these cultural institutions were forcibly taken over or closed by authorities. Children in his hometown now attend public schools where Tibetan is a marginal subject, and textbooks are filled with content praising the Communist Party. This policy of cultural uprooting has created a severe generational gap, with Dawa noting, "The older generation can no longer communicate with the younger generation. The younger the children, the less likely they are to speak Tibetan; they are completely cut off from their culture."

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The older generation can no longer communicate with the younger generation. The younger the children, the less likely they are to speak Tibetan; they are completely cut off from their culture.

Beyond language, Dawa witnessed religious purges in his hometown, with numerous religious sites, large Buddha statues, prayer flags, and prayer wheels being demolished. A sacred riverbank, once adorned with Buddha statues, was filled in and converted into a racetrack promoting "ethnic common progress." Tibetans who resist cultural eradication face severe repression, including detention in "re-education centers" for political indoctrination. Authorities also frequently hold meetings to instill "listening to the Party" ideology and prohibit parents from sending their children to monasteries for education. As the 91-year-old Dalai Lama ages, Beijing seeks to control the selection of his successor, further consolidating its grip on Tibetan Buddhism.

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The sacred riverbank, once adorned with Buddha statues, was filled in and converted into a racetrack promoting "ethnic common progress."