Tibetans Criticize China's Assimilation Policies, Emphasize That the Free Tibet Movement Will Not Disappear

Central News Message

(Central News Agency reporter Chen Kai-yu, Taipei, 13th) Gonpo Dhundup, a member of the Tibetan Parliament, emphasized today that China is accelerating the assimilation of Tibetan identity, language, and culture through its state-run boarding school system and the upcoming 'Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress.' However, he stressed that the Tibetan people's movement for a free Tibet will continue.

Human rights groups including the Tibet-Taiwan Human Rights Connection and the Taiwan Association for Human Rights held a lecture in Taipei today titled 'Different Struggles, Shared Freedom: Building a United Front Against China's Oppression.'

Gonpo Dhundup, a third-generation Tibetan exile and member of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, pointed out that after the 1959 Tibetan Uprising, the Chinese Communist Party further tightened its control over Tibet and introduced harsh policies aimed at erasing Tibetan identity and culture. One such policy, he said, is the forced enrollment of all children into colonial-style boarding schools. These schools are supported and established by the Chinese government, with curricula determined by Beijing, including mandatory instruction in Mandarin Chinese and Chinese history.

Gonpo Dhundup stated that the mass enrollment of Tibetan children into these boarding schools has severely affected their development. Many children are losing fluency in the Tibetan language, becoming only able to speak Chinese, which deepens their alienation from Tibetan culture.

China's 'Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress' is set to take effect on July 1 of this year. The law explicitly mandates the 'comprehensive promotion and popularization of the national common language and script'—meaning Mandarin Chinese and standardized simplified Chinese characters—among all ethnic minorities.

Gonpo Dhundup argued that this law aims to forcibly construct a singular national identity and compel the 'integration' of all ethnic groups, putting Tibetans, Uyghurs, and others at risk of cultural, religious, and linguistic erasure. He believes that once the law is implemented, the situation in Tibet will further deteriorate.

Nevertheless, Gonpo Dhundup emphasized that while the Chinese government may believe the Free Tibet movement will vanish within one or two generations, it will not. 'The movement will continue,' he asserted, 'until Tibet is truly free.' (Edited by Yang Sheng-ru) 1150613

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