China’s Tibetan Proxy Leaders Have ‘Little to No Credibility’, Says ICT Report

By Tenzin Chokyi

DHARAMSALA, 22 May: China is facing a “credibility crisis” in cultivating loyal Tibetan leaders within occupied Tibet, as part of its efforts to gain the trust of the Tibetan people by proxies to legitimise its colonial rule, says advocacy group, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT). 

Tibetan leaders in occupied Tibet, who are on China’s payroll, have little to no credibility among the Tibetan people, according to ICT’s latest report. The advocacy group attributes this to China’s recent policies and training programs, which focus heavily on ideological indoctrination and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party(CCP). 

The report draws a stark contrast with Tibetan leaders in earlier eras who worked with the CCP, such as Bapa Phuntsok Wangyal, Ngabo Ngawang Jigme and the 10th Pachen Lama,  arguing that despite political disagreements from the Tibetan people,  the leaders have shown their dedication to Tibet in their different ways.

It is noted that the number of Tibetan leaders in the upper echelons of the CCP’s decision-making structure remains low, with only three Tibetans holding top-level positions within the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

“Outside of TAR, no Tibetan heads the government, the People’s Congress or the CPPCC of Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan, which have the majority of the Tibetan population”.

Yan Jinhai, the Head of the TAR people’s Congress, Karma Tseten, Head of TAR government and Phakpalha Gelek Namgyal, who despite being 85, continues new his dual position as vice chairman of the national CPPCC and the Chair of TAR CPPCC, are listed as Tibetans with the highest positions in TAR.

The report contends that neither of the top three nor any of the current batch of Tibetans who are in leadership positions has established any credibility among the Tibetan people. 

The “crisis of credibility” within the CCP is linked to the large number of allegedly corrupt officials in recent years, particularly in ethically sensitive regions like Tibet. The report argues that China is politicising its anti-corruption campaign as a tool to apprehend Tibetan officials primarily for their political stances rather than genuine malfeasance. 

A total of 37 senior officials in the Tibetan region who have been sentenced or are being persecuted are listed in the report. The list includes officials from the Provincial, Prefectural and County levels. 

The report further links the crisis to China’s growing reliance on Tibetan lamas to control Tibetans. This dependence is seen as an ironic indication of the crisis, given China’s claim that it “liberated” Tibet from the “three feudal lords,” with lamas explicitly being one of those groups.

It is stated that the continued agenda to cultivate a select group of lamas and monks could potentially be used as tools in the search and recognition of Tibetan reincarnations.

The report expresses grave concerns that China’s stated commitment to the rule of law in Tibet is a stark contradiction to the prevailing reality.

It argues that China’s assertion of governing Tibet under the rule of law is a fundamental misrepresentation. The actual situation, it argues, is one of rule by law, where the Party-state, which is not accountable to the people, wields laws as instruments to enforce and legitimise its control over the Tibetan population.