China’s approach to assimilate Tibetans through residential schools has drawn parallels with historical practices against indigenous communities in Australia and North America.

Nearly a million Tibetan children are enrolled in State-run residential schools where a highly politicised curriculum seeks to replace Tibetan identity with a Chinese one. The Chinese Government, led by President Xi Jinping, has shifted towards a coercive policy, closing local Tibetan schools, imposing Mandarin as the sole medium of instruction, and separating children from their families. This systematic effort aims to erase Tibetan language, culture and identity.

The 2021 Tibet Action Institute report estimates that around 800,000 Tibetan students aged six to 18 are in the boarding system, comprising three out of every four students in Tibet. The concerned Chinese authorities coerce parents into enrolling their children through fines, denial of subsidies and even imprisonment. The suppression of the Tibetan language has particularly significant consequences, leading to linguistic displacement, cultural erasure and weakened familial structures.

This violates International Law and contradicts promises made by China in 1951 to respect Tibetan Autonomy in faith, culture and language. The coercive approach of Beijing is an admission of failure in winning Tibetan support through economic development. The Tibetans call on the global community, especially Western countries, to condemn China’s actions, issue strong statements, raise the issue at international platforms, impose sanctions on responsible officials and coordinate a collective response to protect Tibetan identity and culture.

There is urgency of diplomatic interventions, multilateral pressure and targeted sanctions to check and reverse China’s residential schooling policy in Tibet.

This article was first published by Talk Diplomacy on February 15, 2024.

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Linkedin

Contact: kousdas@gmail.com

Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das