Opinions

By Khedroob Thondup

Since 1950, Tibet has endured Beijing’s heavy hand, but under Xi Jinping the repression has metastasised into something far more sinister. Xi has not merely continued the policies of his predecessors—he has elevated them into a comprehensive system of tyranny, stripping Tibetans of their culture, faith, and dignity.

By Khedroob Thondup
Broken Promises and Betrayed Autonomy. Seventeen-Point Agreement: Signed under duress, this treaty promised Tibet autonomy. Within years, Beijing shredded those commitments, replacing them with direct rule and military suppression. 1959 Uprising: Tibetans rose in mass resistance, only to be crushed by overwhelming force. Tibet’s spiritual and political leadership was silenced inside the country.

By Khedroob Thondup

For more than six decades, Beijing has clung to Tibet with a grip that is both suffocating and self-defeating. Six million Tibetans live under policies of suppression, surveillance, and cultural erasure. Yet when one strips away the rhetoric of “national unity” and “territorial integrity,” the question becomes painfully clear: what has China truly gained by holding Tibet? The answer, in truth, is very little—while the costs have been immense.

By Khedroob Thondup
For decades, Tibet’s future has been entangled in the geopolitical contest between Beijing’s claims of sovereignty and the Tibetan people’s struggle for cultural and religious survival. Yet one institution has endured across centuries of upheaval: the Ganden Phodrang, the traditional office of the Dalai Lama. As the world anticipates the eventual succession of the 15th Dalai Lama, the United States faces a critical choice. By recognising the Ganden Phodrang as the legitimate authority to select the next Dalai Lama, Washington can safeguard Tibetan religious freedom, strengthen international norms, and enhance global recognition of Tibet’s unique civilisational identity.

By Khedroob Thondup
The question of whether Tibetan lamas in exile should visit Tibet if permitted by Beijing is not simply a matter of travel. It is a profound test of spiritual fidelity, political calculation, and communal unity. On the surface, such visits promise a long-awaited homecoming, a chance to reconnect with sacred landscapes and ease tensions. Yet beneath that promise lies the risk of exploitation, division, and propaganda.

By Khedroob Thondup
The sweep of history reminds us of a simple truth: no empire, however mighty, is permanent. Rome, the Ottomans, the British Raj—all believed their dominion eternal, only to discover that power is cyclical, not absolute. Today, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) exercises seemingly unassailable control over the Tibetan Plateau, integrating it through modernization, surveillance, and demographic engineering. Yet the long arc of history suggests that rigid, coercive assimilation strategies ultimately face systemic limits.

By Khedroob Thondup
For sixty-seven years, Tibet has remained under Chinese occupation—a reality that has reshaped the Himalayan plateau and reverberated across the world. To imagine Beijing voluntarily loosening its grip on Tibet without seismic shifts inside China itself is to misunderstand both the strategic calculus of the Chinese state and the symbolic weight Tibet carries in the Chinese Communist Party’s narrative.

By Khedroob Thondup Executive Summary. The United Front Work Department (UFWD) is a central organ of the Chinese Communist Party

By Khedroob Thondup

In the long arc of Tibetan history, the Chinese Communist Party has sought to erode the spiritual foundations of Tibetan identity. Yet, despite decades of repression, the Tibetan people’s devotion to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and their deep-rooted belief in religion remain unshaken. These are not fragile sentiments that can be legislated away; they are enduring strengths that continue to define Tibet’s resilience.