“China Is Blocking Information”: Anger Grows Among Families and Diplomats of Foreigners Missing in Tibet Flood

The first foreign media visit to the flood-ravaged Gyirong Port in Tibet has intensified complaints from families and diplomats who say China is sharing too little information about missing foreigners.

Chinese authorities opened the area to more than 10 journalists from outlets including Reuters and CNN on the 6th, 11 days after the disaster. The visit followed an itinerary set by Chinese officials, and access to the site remained restricted. Until then, foreign media had largely been unable to reach disaster areas in China, leaving state media as the main source of information.

The reporters described the area as devastated. Reuters reported that a five-story customs building and a border gate about 20 meters high had disappeared. CNN showed damaged buildings, a travel agency, a supermarket and the bridge linking China and Nepal, all swept away. Rescue teams searched the debris with excavators, shovels and ground-penetrating radar.

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We are strictly and meticulously verifying personal information with an attitude of responsibility toward every life and every family.

Chinese authorities said that, as of the 6th, 43 people on the Chinese side had died and 519 were missing. The missing included 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries, many of them pilgrims who had traveled through Nepal to visit Mount Kailash, a Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage site. India accounted for 49 of the missing foreign nationals.

China said more than 60 experts and three laboratories were examining fingerprints, genetic information, tattoos and other physical characteristics from recovered bodies. Authorities also said they had secured 993 personal belongings and were using immigration records and location-tracking data to identify the missing.

But diplomats from four countries told Reuters that China had not explained in detail how DNA identification would be carried out. They also said they had received no answer on whether border checkpoint facial-recognition footage and other CCTV data would be shared with families or foreign governments. China said it had passed information about missing foreigners to their embassies. A regional official said authorities were checking personal information “with an attitude of responsibility toward every life and every family,” while the Foreign Ministry said disaster information had been disclosed transparently and in a timely manner.

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The disclosure of disaster-related information has been transparent and timely.