To Palden Gyal* this article is a personal and deeply moving reflection that links the self-immolations of Loga Rangzen la and Thupten Ngodup la—spanning nearly three decades—as enduring symbols of Tibetan sacrifice, resistance, and the struggle to preserve Tibetan...
OPINION
Tenzing Chhodak* is amused that China can’t avoid using the name “Tibet” despite having supposedly made it a taboo in official usage.
When I first learnt that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had decided to use the Chinese word “Xizang”...
OPINION
In the backdrop of the recent cancellation of the International Association for Tibetan Studies (IATS) conference, which was scheduled to be in Kathmandu over Aug 23-29, Ifrah Khalil Kawa* reflects on how contemporary geopolitical power increasingly extends beyond territorial...
OPINION
Ashu Maan* examines the escalating dispute between the exiled Dalai Lama’s Gaden Phodrang Trust and the Chinese government over who has the authority to select the 15th Dalai Lama, and how this succession battle could result in a split...
OPINION
Ifrah Khalil Kawa* explores how artificial intelligence is reshaping the preservation and transmission of Tibetan cultural memory across generations in exile, while also reflecting on the ethical questions surrounding digital archives, cultural stewardship, and community ownership of memory.
In the...
OPINION
As China makes its move to assimilate Tibet, including by nationalizing the Dalai Lama reincarnation recognition process, the question is, does the rest of the world see a geopolitical calculation to be managed, or a shared human responsibility to...
OPINION
While the Dalai Lama succession question sits right at the center of China's quest to redefine and remake Tibet in its own image, spiritual legitimacy can’t be granted by government order; states can compete for influence, but the next...
OPINION
Professor Nawang Phuntsog* laments what he sees as the Central Tibetan Administration’s (CTA) seemingly lukewarm commitment to Tibetan schooling in exile and proposes a model of teacher capacity-building to transform education from within. He underscores the need to elevate...
OPINION
Gyaltsen Choedak* says China’s Regulations on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, which came into force on Jul 1, symbolize an ongoing struggle over language, memory, culture, and identity, with China being bent on erasing them all in this latest...
OPINION
Since language is inseparable from cultural and religious identity to the Uyghur, Tibetan, and Mongolian communities, China's requirement that they adopt Mandarin in school education and public institutions under its new law strikes at the very survival of these...
