Chinese authorities have interrogated and detained local Tibetans who posted photos and messages online mourning the loss of an influential Tibetan Buddhist leader said to have died while in custody in Vietnam, two sources from the region told Radio Free Asia.
Officials in Gade county in Golog prefecture of Qinghai province have placed the monastery of Tulku Hungkar Dorje, who died aged 56, under round-the-clock police surveillance, conducting random inspections of locals’ phones to curb information sharing about his death, said the sources. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
On April 3, Lung Ngon Monastery in Gade county confirmed that its abbot, Tulku Hungkar Dorje, had died on March 29 in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City. His followers say the Buddhist leader, who had been missing for over eight months, had fled to Vietnam to escape Chinese government persecution for his work as an educator and promoter of Tibetan language and culture.
Since April 2, authorities from Golog prefecture and Gade county have been conducting inspections at the monastery and local village, imposing tight restrictions and forbidding public memorial services for the abbot, the sources told RFA.
“After Tulku Hungkar Dorje’s death, local Tibetans have faced comprehensive restrictions. Many local residents who expressed condolences or shared photos of the Rinpoche on social media have been summoned for questioning by Chinese authorities,” said the first source.
“Several Tibetans have also been detained, although detailed information cannot be obtained due to the strict controls and scrutiny,” he added.
Tulku Hungkar Dorje was renowned as a philanthropist, educator and environmentalist, who promoted Tibetan language and culture. Followers and rights groups say he was a victim of transnational repression by China and have demanded the Vietnamese government allow an independent investigation into his death, which they say took place under suspicious circumstances after he was arrested in a joint operation led by local Vietnamese police and Chinese government agents.
Vietnamese authorities have not publicly commented about the case.
Monks from Lung Ngon Monastery who travelled with Chinese officials to Vietnam on April 5 to retrieve the Tulku Hungkar Dorje’s body were initially refused permission to view the body of their abbot and from participating in meetings held at the Chinese embassy in Vietnam, Tibetan rights groups said, citing sources familiar with the matter in the region.
However, on April 10, the monks were allowed to view Tulku Hungkar Dorje’s face, but were not allowed to view the rest of his body, said Ju Tenkyong, director of the Amnye Machen Institute, a Dharamsala-based Tibetan center for advanced studies.
Currently, there is no clear information about the status of Tulku Hungkar Dorje’s body, which is reportedly at Vinmec Central Park International Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Tenkyong said.
Tibetans across the globe have united in their call for a thorough probe into the death of the respected Buddhist teacher, holding peaceful marches in several countries, including in India and the U.S., with demonstrations outside the Chinese and Vietnamese embassies and consulates in New Delhi and New York as well as candlelight vigils, prayer ceremonies, and formal petitions.
Closure of Tibetan language schools
Tulku Hungkar Dorje was a renowned Tibetan educator in a region where Chinese authorities are accused of stifling Tibetan language and culture and seeking to assimilate Tibetan children into the larger ethnic Han culture.
The abbot founded several schools and vocational centers to provide free education for children of local nomadic families. These schools, which included the Hungkar Dorje Ethnic Vocational High School and Mayul Center for Studies, were reportedly shut down shortly after he went missing last year, sources told RFA.
In another indication of the trend of Chinese authorities suppressing Tibetan education, a prominent school, also in Golog prefecture, announced Tuesday it was reopening but would not be teaching Tibetan language and culture as before.
In July 2024, Chinese officials shut down Ragya Gangjong Sherig Norbuling School, a reputed Tibetan vocational school run by prominent Buddhist teacher, Jigme Gyaltsen, citing lack of compliance with provincial communist party standards. The closure sparked widespread concern among Tibetans at the time over Beijing’s efforts to eradicate Tibetan language and culture.
On Tuesday, Gyaltsen told hundreds of monks, students, and local Tibetans at a public event that the vocational school will focus on providing practical training on technology and technical skills to enable Tibetans to keep pace with the current tech-driven era.
Tibetan netizens welcomed the reopening and praised Gyaltsen as “invincible” and “indestructible.” One also expressed hope that the “glory of Tibetan language and script will shine as before.” However, sources told RFA the school will reopen without its Tibetan language and cultural departments, which it was famed for.
Translated by Tenzin Norzom. Edited by Tenzin Pema and Mat Pennington.
