LETTER
(TibetanReview.net, May10’26) – I read with interest your news item titled US Highlights China’s Atrocities on Tibetans Ahead of President Trump’s Visit to China (May 7, 2026). It mentions China’s pressures on Nepal and strong US financial support for Tibetan refugees in Nepal as well.
It should be remembered that a few weeks ago, the Chinese Ambassador met with Nepal’s Home Minister Sudan Gurung and warned him that if invited to the inauguration of the recently re-elected Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala, he should turn it down. Ambassador Zhang Maoming warned that if he attends the inauguration, the Chinese people’s feeling will be hurt, and it will damage the good relations between the two countries.
It is generally the head of the government or foreign minister who attends a friendly foreign country’s inauguration function, if invited, never the Home Minister.
So, why did Mr Zhang direct his warning at Nepal’s Home Minister?
Mr Gurung, who has since resigned, is not known to have any connection with Tibetan refugees. His problem is his surname “Gurung”, which is considered to have a historical Tibetan origin that dates back from the 7th Century, when the Tibetan emperor Songtsen Gompo deployed troops to guard the empire’s vast territories. “Gurung” is seen as a distortion of the Tibetan term for “guard”.
Soon after Mr Zhang called on Gurung to issue the warning, the latter was accused of being involved in some questionable investment decisions that he had reportedly taken before he joined the Government. And it led to his resignation. Was big-brother China behind this?
– Tenzing Chhodak
Woodside, New York