Opinions

By Khedroob Thondup

For years, the debate over China policy in Washington has been framed as a test of toughness. The real question, however, is not who can sound tougher in a campaign speech but who can build a sustainable strategy that advances American economic, technological, and security interests over the long term.

By Khedroob Thondup

The Chinese Communist Party’s 20th Central Committee convened its closely guarded Fifth Plenum in Beijing from October 26 to October 29, 2026, at a moment when China was facing slowing economic momentum, persistent financial strains, and mounting geopolitical pressure. Yet the leadership’s chosen theme was not economic stimulus, technological innovation, or foreign policy. Instead, the meeting centred on a familiar priority under Xi Jinping: strengthening Party discipline, deepening self-governance, and reinforcing political loyalty. According to official accounts, the plenum focused on a draft decision concerning “strengthening full and rigorous Party self-governance with perseverance,” with Xi presenting both a Politburo work report and the key policy document under review.

By Khedroob Thondup

The relationship between Tibetans and Taiwanese has never happened by accident. It has grown through shared values, spiritual kinship, and a mutual understanding of what it means to live in the shadow of a powerful neighbour. Yet no institution has nurtured this delicate, meaningful relationship more than the Office of Tibet.

By Khedroob Thondup

The unsettled India–China border is not a problem waiting for a clever diplomatic solution. It is a structural friction point, engineered and sustained by Beijing’s long‑term strategy of salami slicing — the incremental nibbling away of territory, facts on the ground, and political narratives. As long as this strategy remains central to China’s rise, the border will not stabilise. It will simmer, flare, and recede in cycles, but never resolve.

By Khedroob Thondup
When the earthquake struck eastern Tibet, the first tremor was geological. The second was political. As homes collapsed and families dug through rubble with bare hands, Tibetans across the plateau did what they have always done in moments of crisis: they mobilised. Villagers organised rescue teams, monasteries gathered supplies, and diaspora networks tried to send aid.

By Khedroob Thondup
For decades, Beijing has pursued the project of Sinicisation in Tibet—an attempt to erase Tibetan identity and replace it with a homogenised Chinese one. Schools are stripped of the Tibetan language, monasteries are surveilled and hollowed out, and Tibetan children are sent to boarding institutions where Mandarin dominates. Yet despite the intensity of these campaigns, Sinicisation in Tibet is destined to fail.

By Khedroob Thondup

In the high grasslands of Golog, where nomadic families have long relied on community schools to preserve their language and culture, three doors have been slammed shut. The Golok Tadrak Orphan School, the Ra‑Gya Jigme Gyaltsen Grassland Girls’ School and a small village school in Jasag have all been forcibly closed by Chinese authorities. These closures are not isolated administrative decisions; they are part of a deliberate campaign to erode Tibetan identity by dismantling the very institutions that nurture it.

By Khedroob Thondup
For sixty-seven years, Tibet has endured the heavy hand of Communist China’s occupation. If Tibetans were ever given a genuine choice, the majority would not choose to remain under Beijing’s rule. The lived experience of generations—marked by broken promises, cultural suppression, and political disenfranchisement—has forged a collective conviction: independence is not optional; it is essential. For me personally, the idea of accepting Chinese rule is unthinkable.

By Khedroob Thondup

The petrol bomb attack on the Central Tibetan Administration’s office in Pretoria is not random violence—it bears the unmistakable fingerprints of Beijing’s transnational repression strategy, aimed at silencing Tibetan voices even beyond Asia. The timing, method, and target align with China’s broader campaign to intimidate diaspora communities and undermine institutions linked to the Dalai Lama.

By Khedroob Thondup

The question of whether Tibetan lamas living in exile should return to Tibet on invitations orchestrated by Beijing’s United Front Work Department (UFWD) is not a matter of mere travel. It is a test of political integrity, spiritual responsibility, and communal survival. The stakes are profound: a visit risks transforming revered spiritual leaders into instruments of propaganda, undermining both the exile community and Tibetans inside Tibet.