(TibetanReview.net, Jun02’22) – It was previously reported to have happened in several Chinese ruled Tibetan areas across the Tibetan Plateau. And now residents of a county in the Tibetan prefecture of Karze (Ganzi), which is now part of China’s Sichuan Province, have been ordered to provide to the authorities the telephone, social media account, and other details of their relatives living abroad. Details of their Covid-19 vaccination are especially being sought, according to the Tibetan Service of rfa.org Jun 1.
The Tibetans in Draggo (Chinese: Luohuo) County would forfeit their housing subsidies and be excluded from other types of government support systems should they fail to provide such information correctly, the report said.
Local officials were going from door to door to collect these data, the report cited an exile Tibetan with local contacts as saying.
On the Covid-19 vaccination status, the information should include proof of vaccination and details of additional doses, the report said. It is not clear why the authorities are especially seeking these particular vaccination details.
For failing to provide these information, as well as the cell phone numbers and social media accounts of their relatives living abroad, the residents face removal from their household registries and denial of all types of state assistance, the report said.
China is known to track the activities of Tibetans and other critics of its rule living abroad and being armed with such details would not only make their job much easier but also enable it to exert pressure through relatives living under its rule.