China has been rigorously barring Tibetan writers, Buddhist monks and other influential people from spreading religious content online without prior approval, sources told Radio Free Asia.
Tibetans heading to the capital of Lhasa for pilgrimages or for other reasons must obtain a permission letter from a local official assuring that the traveler will not instigate or participate in any protests that would disrupt social order, Tibetans inside the region said.
The sister of a businessman who is serving a life sentence has again been arrested and beaten for publicly protesting for her brother’s release in front of the high court in Tibet’s capital, Lhasa.
A Chinese official who approved the destruction of a huge Buddha statue in a Tibetan-majority area has been assigned to another position in the same prefecture, Tibetans inside and outside the region said.
In a bid to deepen claims to territory also claimed by India, China this week announced that it had standardized the names in Chinese and Tibetan of 11 place names in the rugged, disputed area that India calls Arunachal Pradesh and Beijing calls South Tibet.
Nearly 10,000 residents of Myanmar’s central Bago region have fled their villages as junta troops continue their scorched-earth operations in an attempt to flush out local People’s Defense Forces and ethnic Karen fighters.
A Tibetan writer arrested by Chinese police nearly three years ago has been confirmed serving four years in prison for “splittism and spreading rumors in internet chat groups,” according to Tibetans with knowledge of the situation.
Chinese authorities in Tibet arrested a woman for contacting Tibetans outside the western autonomous region amid an increase in surveillance and security searches before a politically sensitive anniversary, a Tibetan with knowledge of the situation said.
Tibetan political prisoner and Buddhist monk Geshe Phende Gyaltsen died in prison on Jan. 26, sources inside Tibet and in exile told Radio Free Asia. He was 56.
Chinese authorities imposed a new cyber law in Tibet that went into effect Wednesday, with the government announcing tougher punishments for anyone creating “public disorder by engaging in separatist acts.”