(TibetanReview.net, Jul18’26) – Apparently in order to implement its post-Ethnic Unity Law order, which officially came into force on Jul 1, China is reported to have launched a new round of demolitions at what was until not long ago one of the world’s largest centre for Buddhist learning, located in eastern Tibet’s Kardze Prefecture, Sichuan Province. The centre already stands greatly diminished due to several rounds of expulsions of large numbers of its monk, nun, and lay-students, and the demolition of their residences, carried out since 2001.
A new round of demolitions that will impact at least 1,060 residences of monks and nuns has begun at Serthar Larung Five Sciences Buddhist Academy, popularly known as Larung Gar, in eastern Tibet in Serthar (Chinese: Seda) County, said Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) Jul 17, citing a source with knowledge of the matter.
ICT said that because of China’s strict control on flow of information, the source was unable to find out yet what official reasons have been given by the Chinese authorities for the latest clampdown. However, the move has come as China’s Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law officially came into force on Jul 1. The law provides for the assimilation of China’s ethnic minority groups with the Han-majority Chinese, penalizing people both within and outside the country resisting or criticizing the move.
The centre itself continued to remain under heavy restrictions both for it residents and visitors, with full Party-government control on its administration and policing.
Regarding this, ICT noted that earlier this year, a traveller to Serthar said in a vlog post in Chinese, “Let me briefly summarize the biggest changes in Serthar in 2026. The one word that stands out to me is restrictions. There are restrictions everywhere: restrictions on where you can go, restrictions on how long you can stay, and even restrictions on the operating hours of the shuttle buses. Altogether, these measures don’t make the experience particularly visitor friendly.”
Founded in 1980 by the late charismatic Tibetan Buddhist master Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok, with support from the former Panchen Lama, to revive Buddhist scholarship and meditation in the wake of Mao Zedong’s turbulent Cultural Revolution, Larung Gar grew in size and reputation over the decades as one of the most influential centres for the study of Tibetan language, culture and religion, even attracting thousands of Chinese Buddhist practitioners in addition to Tibetans.
China moved to downsize Larung Gar in 2001, demolishing the dwellings of the then estimated 8,000 monks and nuns, including Chinese practitioners, to halve their strength, said the ICT report.
Amid continuing restrictions imposed since then, the centre continued to attract even more students, whose strength grew to around 10,000 over the next five years. This led China to carry out more expulsions and demolitions in 2016 and 2017 to again halve their strength to roughly 5,000, ICT said, citing an order from Beijing, a copy of which was obtained and translated by Human Rights Watch.
It noted that in Feb 2017, six UN experts reported that they had made a joint submission to China, stating that the developments at Larung Gar violated international human rights law and “seem to be concerted attacks on tangible and intangible cultural heritage, which constitute serious violations of cultural rights of current and future generations.”
Chinese Buddhists were stated to have been especially targeted since mid-2019, restricting their enrolment and activities and, since Nov 2021, segregating them from the others.