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Hindustan Times
31-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
New report accuses China of ‘indoctrinating' Tibetan children in boarding schools
Tibetan children face abuse, neglect, indoctrination, and identity erasure in the Chinese government's network of colonial boarding schools and preschools in Tibet, an advocacy group has accused. The Tibet Action Institute (TAI) in its recent report has accused the Chinese government of using Tibetan children as a means to aggressively and forcibly assimilate Tibetans, threatening their survival as distinct people. The report found that students are restricted from enrolling in Tibetan language classes or engaging in religious activities, even during school breaks. As per activists, such boarding schools are now believed to house approximately one million Tibetan children, however, the exact number is difficult to confirm. The report titled 'When They Came to Take Our Children': China's Colonial Boarding Schools and the Future of Tibet' says the children are separated from their families at an early age –– as young as four years old in some rural areas –– and indoctrinated to be loyal to the Chinese Communist Party. 'There is now additional evidence that even younger children are being compelled to board across Tibet. At present, Tibetan children aged three or four to six must attend Chinese-language preschool,' the report states. TAI, is a US based advocacy group created in 2009 to assist Tibetans after large protests were held before the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The research for the report is based on rare firsthand accounts by Tibetans either still in Tibet or who have recently escaped. This includes fifteen in-depth interviews conducted between 2023 and 2024 with Tibetans who had recently fled to India, statements published online by people still in Tibet, and approximately 75 private or public comments by people in Tibet from January 2022 to April 2025 that were documented by Tibetans in exile. The report stated that China's education policies in Tibet seek to deracinate Tibetan children from their culture, language, and identity. In the colonial boarding school system, children are first separated from their families, and then bombarded with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ideology through carefully curated images, texts, and songs, all in Chinese language. The report also added that as one of the persons who recently escaped from Tibet as saying: In boarding schools, the indoctrination process begins from a very young age. The children are taken away from their parents, restricted from speaking their mother tongue – Tibetan – taught in Chinese language, forced to learn and speak Chinese, and taught only state-approved history. A stated in the report, former boarding school student described how politicised education was implemented in their classroom: 'All the materials put on our class walls were in Chinese. All [my] class teachers [were] Chinese…. In all the classes, we had pictures of Xi Jinping, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao.' The report outlined that all students in China are subjected to a politicised curriculum that is intended to cultivate loyalty to Xi Jinping and the Communist Party. However, in Tibet, education is part of a larger effort to methodically strip away a sense of Tibetaness and manipulate students' primary identification to be Chinese, rather than Tibetan. Notably, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights echoed the Special Rapporteurs', in March 2023, concern that the colonial boarding schools violate China's obligations under the ICESCR, urging the Chinese government to 'abolish immediately the coerced residential (boarding) school system imposed on Tibetan children. 'A generation of Tibetan children is being harmed by China's colonial boarding school policy — socially, emotionally, and psychologically,' said Lhadon Tethong, director of TAI, calling on the international community to step up all efforts to push the Chinese government to abolish this abusive and coercive system. TAI urges the United Nations and concerned governments to call on the Chinese government to immediately conduct a public investigation into the alleged abuses, deaths, and mental health concerns of Tibetan children in Chinese state-run boarding schools, to abolish the coercive system of boarding schools and preschools, and to enable Tibetan children to access high-quality mother tongue education while living at home.
Miami Herald
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
China's ‘Colonial' Schools Erasing Tibet Culture: Rights Group
The Chinese government is reportedly seeking to tighten its control over Tibet by targeting its youngest residents. At "colonial boarding schools across the regions, students are increasingly denied access to their native language and culture—with many subjected to neglect and physical abuse," according to a report released Thursday by the U.S.-based advocacy group Tibet Action Institute. The People's Republic of China seized control of Tibet—which it refers to as Xizang—in 1950, claiming the region needed to be "liberated" from its theocratic and feudal system. Major uprisings followed in 1959, the late 1980s, and again in 2008, each prompting violent crackdowns by Chinese forces. Critics say Tibet—birthplace of the Dalai Lama—has effectively become a police state, with international observers largely shut out except during tightly managed government tours. Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the United Nations Human Rights Office with emailed requests for comment. Observers say the crackdown has only intensified since Chinese President Xi Jinping came to power in late 2012. This tightening of control has extended beyond public spaces into the classroom. Tibet's education system is now predominantly residential, with as many as 900,000 children between the ages of 6 and 18 estimated to be enrolled in state-run boarding schools, the group estimates. At least 100,000 children as young as 4 have been placed in boarding preschool. These most vulnerable of Tibetans are being subjected to an intense state-directed Sinicization campaign "in order to cement the transformation of Tibetan children's identity and allegiance," according to a new report by the U.S.-based Tibet Action Institute, which based its findings on interviews with Tibetans who escaped to India, and secret communications with individuals still living in the region. While separated from their families, students receive an education delivered exclusively in Chinese and focused on Chinese history, cultural heritage and national identity. "But when these children return home, they cannot speak in Tibetan with their family members. They only communicate in Chinese and it becomes difficult at home. The government aims to change these Tibetan children to Chinese by removing Tibetan identity," the report quoted one source as saying. The report describes the system as a violation of both domestic and international law. It also claims knowledge of "numerous cases of abuse and negligence." One parent cited "poor" food quality, while a former student now living in exile said students were beaten if their dormitories were found to be not clean enough during inspections. Gyal Lo, an activist and educational sociologist with the Tibet Action Institute, said in the press release accompanying the report: "China's colonial boarding schools are meant to indoctrinate, not educate Tibetan children. Chinese authorities are deliberately taking our children away and disconnecting them from their roots. "Within a generation our language and culture could be lost, all because the Chinese government sees Tibetan identity as a threat to its control of our nation." Guo Jiakun, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said on April 1 during a regular press conference: "We reject groundless vilification of Xizang's human rights, and religious and cultural cause, and oppose foreign officials' interference and sabotage in the name of performing their duties in Xizang." The Tibet Action Institute called on the United Nations and foreign governments to demand China "immediately conduct a public investigation into the alleged abuses, deaths, and mental health concerns at Tibetan boarding schools, to abolish the coercive system of boarding schools and preschools, and to enable Tibetan children to access high-quality mother tongue education while living at home." Related Articles American Drone Company Claims Major Breakthrough Over Chinese CompetitorsParaglider Flies into 'Death Zone,' Miraculously SurvivesFootage Shows China and Ally Flexing Military MusclesChina Reacts to Trump Tariffs Bombshell 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Newsweek
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
China's 'Colonial' Schools Erasing Tibet Culture: Rights Group
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Chinese government is reportedly seeking to tighten its control over Tibet by targeting its youngest residents. At "colonial boarding schools across the regions, students are increasingly denied access to their native language and culture—with many subjected to neglect and physical abuse," according to a report released Thursday by the U.S.-based advocacy group Tibet Action Institute. Why It Matters The People's Republic of China seized control of Tibet—which it refers to as Xizang—in 1950, claiming the region needed to be "liberated" from its theocratic and feudal system. Major uprisings followed in 1959, the late 1980s, and again in 2008, each prompting violent crackdowns by Chinese forces. Critics say Tibet—birthplace of the Dalai Lama—has effectively become a police state, with international observers largely shut out except during tightly managed government tours. Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the United Nations Human Rights Office with emailed requests for comment. What To Know Observers say the crackdown has only intensified since Chinese President Xi Jinping came to power in late 2012. This tightening of control has extended beyond public spaces into the classroom. Tibet's education system is now predominantly residential, with as many as 900,000 children between the ages of 6 and 18 estimated to be enrolled in state-run boarding schools, the group estimates. At least 100,000 children as young as 4 have been placed in boarding preschool. Students pass a poster showing Chinese President Xi Jinping at Nagqu High School in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, on June 1, 2021. Students pass a poster showing Chinese President Xi Jinping at Nagqu High School in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, on June 1, most vulnerable of Tibetans are being subjected to an intense state-directed Sinicization campaign "in order to cement the transformation of Tibetan children's identity and allegiance," according to a new report by the U.S.-based Tibet Action Institute, which based its findings on interviews with Tibetans who escaped to India, and secret communications with individuals still living in the region. While separated from their families, students receive an education delivered exclusively in Chinese and focused on Chinese history, cultural heritage and national identity. "But when these children return home, they cannot speak in Tibetan with their family members. They only communicate in Chinese and it becomes difficult at home. The government aims to change these Tibetan children to Chinese by removing Tibetan identity," the report quoted one source as saying. The report describes the system as a violation of both domestic and international law. It also claims knowledge of "numerous cases of abuse and negligence." One parent cited "poor" food quality, while a former student now living in exile said students were beaten if their dormitories were found to be not clean enough during inspections. What People Have Said Gyal Lo, an activist and educational sociologist with the Tibet Action Institute, said in the press release accompanying the report: "China's colonial boarding schools are meant to indoctrinate, not educate Tibetan children. Chinese authorities are deliberately taking our children away and disconnecting them from their roots. "Within a generation our language and culture could be lost, all because the Chinese government sees Tibetan identity as a threat to its control of our nation." Guo Jiakun, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said on April 1 during a regular press conference: "We reject groundless vilification of Xizang's human rights, and religious and cultural cause, and oppose foreign officials' interference and sabotage in the name of performing their duties in Xizang." What's Next The Tibet Action Institute called on the United Nations and foreign governments to demand China "immediately conduct a public investigation into the alleged abuses, deaths, and mental health concerns at Tibetan boarding schools, to abolish the coercive system of boarding schools and preschools, and to enable Tibetan children to access high-quality mother tongue education while living at home."
The Independent
29-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
China accused of ‘indoctrinating' Tibetan children from age of four with state-run boarding schools
Rights activists have accused Chinese authorities of indoctrinating Tibetan children and eroding their culture by forcing them to attend 'colonial' boarding schools. The Tibet Action Institute, a movement advocating for Tibetan independence founded by Tibetan-Canadian activist Lhadon Tethong, published a new report on Thursday warning that schools are teaching children as young as four to be loyal to the Chinese Communist Party. The activists estimate one million children in the Tibet Autonomous Region and Tibetan districts study at such boarding schools, though the number is difficult to confirm. The group has claimed that the schools are a smaller part of a broader strategy to dilute Tibetan identity and assimilate Tibetans into the majority Chinese culture, with the Xi Jinping-led government perceiving Tibetan identity as a 'threat'. China has shuttered village schools across Tibet and replaced them with centralised boarding schools over the last dozen years, leaving parents with little choice but to send their children to such facilities. Many students come from remote farming villages and live at the schools full-time. Through these boarding schools, the report warned, the Chinese government was trying 'to deracinate Tibetan children from their culture, language, and identity'. The report found students were restricted from enrolling in Tibetan language classes or engaging in religious activities. Tibetans view the practice of their language as the fundamental guarantee of their future as a distinct people within the broader Chinese region. The group said it documented numerous instances of negligence and abuse in Tibetan boarding schools. "Tibetan children's lives are being irrevocably altered to serve the purposes of the Chinese government," the Tibet Action Institute said after conducting 15 in-depth interviews with Tibetans between 2023 and 2024. It added: "The separation from family and deliberate reshaping of children's identity in boarding schools is causing emotional and psychological harm, including attachment trauma and alienation." The report quotes a Tibetan who fled to India saying that "the indoctrination process begins from a very young age," when children are removed from their parents. "Children cannot study Tibetan and Tibetan history. They are taught the Chinese language and the history of China written by Chinese writers," the interviewee was quoted as saying. Another person alleged that the materials on classroom walls were in Chinese, including pictures of leaders such as Mr Xi, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. "Xi Jinping Thought" is taught in classes as part of the curriculum, the person said. "Essays and drawings were judged based on how much we were able to praise the Party, the state, and the army." The group found that in 2022, a 13-year-old Tibetan girl with underlying medical conditions died after her family persistently tried to reach her with prescription medicine at her boarding school. The school first neglected to provide the medicine, and then failed to seek medical attention, it added. China has long sought to eradicate any possibility of unrest in regions home to sizeable ethnic populations by imprisoning dissenters, reshaping societies and religions to align them with the views of the Communist party. The approach has hardened in the past decade under the leadership of Mr Xi, who has been accused of a brutal crackdown on the Uyghur community in the Xinjiang region north of Tibet. The Chinese government has repeatedly denied allegations of human rights abuses in Tibet, as well as other regions like Xinjiang. Xu Zhitao, vice chair of the Tibet region's government, rejected similar criticism in 2023, arguing that China opened the boarding school system to improve education for children from remote areas. 'The claim that Tibetan children are forced to go to boarding schools is deliberate smearing with an ulterior motive,' he told reporters at the release of an official report on the Communist Party's policies in Tibet. He said the curriculum at the schools included Tibetan language and culture. 'These are all implemented to effectively secure our Tibetan children's rights to access high-quality education, and it is an important expression of the development and progress of human rights in Tibet.' The Chinese government and Tibet's government-in-exile offer competing versions of whether the remote, mountainous territory was historically ruled as part of China, or whether it has legitimate claims to independence or autonomy. "A generation of Tibetan children is being harmed by China's colonial boarding school policy – socially, emotionally, and psychologically,' said Lhadon Tethong, the co-founder and director of Tibet Action Institute. 'The lifelong negative impact on each of these children and their families, and on the future health of Tibetan society overall, cannot be overstated. The international community must step up all efforts to urgently push the Chinese government to abolish this abusive and coercive system.' In February 2023, a group of UN experts raised alarm over reports of Tibetan children being separated form their families. "We are alarmed by what appears to be a policy of forced assimilation of the Tibetan identity into the dominant Han-Chinese majority, through a series of oppressive actions against Tibetan educational, religious, and linguistic institutions," the UN experts said. The rights group urged the UN and concerned governments to call on the Chinese government to conduct a public investigation into the alleged abuses, deaths, and mental health concerns of Tibetan children in Chinese state-run boarding schools.
Nikkei Asia
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Nikkei Asia
China's 'colonial boarding schools' erode Tibetan identity, report says
TOKYO -- An activist group that exposed the proliferation of what it calls China's "colonial boarding schools" in Tibet four years ago has published new findings, documenting how they erode the Tibetan language, culture and identity. The Tibet Action Institute on Thursday published a report titled "'When They Came to Take Our Children': China's Colonial Boarding Schools and the Future of Tibet," based on fresh interviews and other research.
