(TibetanReview.net, Aug20’26) – Latest satellite images are stated to confirm reports that China has been carrying out large-scale demolitions at the famed – and the world’s largest Buddhist learning centre – located in a Tibetan County and prefecture in Sichuan Province. This has come as China began implementing its so-called Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law in its latest forced assimilation move that targets ethnic minorities and their cultural roots. Such demolitions have especially meant the expulsion of large numbers of various categories of students – monks, nuns and lay students and practitioners from other parts of the PRC as well as from other countries.
Citing satellite imagery analyzed by Radio Free Asia (RFA), rfa.org said Aug 18 that Chinese authorities had over the past month continued and expanded demolition at the Larung Gar Buddhist Academy, located in Serthar County of Kardze Prefecture, which at its peak in the early 2000s was stated to be home to 40,000 Buddhist monastics.
The report said the demolitions followed reports of new expulsion of thousands of Tibetan monks and nuns from the centre last year.
The demolitions have been carried out at different phases since 2001 and this time, at least 1,060 residences belonging to monks and nuns are targeted for demolition, starting from around Jul 13, the report said, citing Tenzin Pema, director of strategic communication at the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), and formerly RFA Tibetan director.
“RFA’s Aug 14 imagery appears to show clearance spreading around the academy’s central area, supporting our Jul 17 report that a new demolition campaign began around Jul 13,” Tenzin Pema has said. “The current campaign raises fears of another major assault on Tibetan Buddhist religious, cultural, and educational life.”
The report said that satellite imagery captured on Aug 14 confirms that approximately 2.5 acres (1 hectare) had been cleared from a residential area of the academy since the demolition started. Dump trucks and excavators remain visible at the site, and demolition is scheduled to be completed by Aug 20, the report cited sources familiar with the situation on the ground in Serthar as saying.
Larung Gar is now about half of what it was at its peak after the expulsions and demolitions that have been carried out over the years. This included the expulsion of about 5,000 monks and nuns and the demolition of nearly 5,000 dwellings.
Unlike in past years, this year’s demolitions were stated to include residences of monks and nuns who did not receive any prior public notice. Besides, current plans are stated to include the continuation of the demolish of additional residences next year.
Tight restrictions on visitor
In order to curtail information about the expulsions, demolitions, and intrusive administrative restrictions on the learning centre from reaching the outside world, the authorities are stated to have restricted visitors.
The report said Serthar County Public Security Bureau had been reminding tourists that they must only travel to Larung Gar via official arrangements and were prohibited from entering on their own. Authorities have also warned visitors not to trust information provided by people with no connection to the local area and prohibited individuals from bypassing restricted areas or crossing mountains to enter the site independently.
Visitors are said to be allowed to remain for no more than 90 minutes and must travel in designated shuttle buses. They are also required to rent a small electronic tracking device for 200 yuan ($29). The device is stated to be used to monitor visitors’ movements, enforce time limits and restrict access to certain areas.
Telephone conversations with individuals in and around Larung Gar are believed to be closely monitored by Chinese security authorities, making residents reluctant to speak openly.
Local people are seen to be increasingly afraid to answer questions directly about conditions at Larung Gar. In fact, this level of surveillance is no longer unique to the area but has become common across many parts of Tibet, the report said.
Established in 1980 with support from the late 10th Panchen Lama to revive Buddhist scholarship in the aftermath of the devastation wrought by the decade-long Cultural Revolution (!966-76), Larung Gar grew into what may have been the world’s largest centre for Tibetan Buddhist learning. Over the decades, it became one of the most influential centres for the study of Tibetan language, culture, and religion, attracting thousands of Chinese Buddhist practitioners, in addition to Tibetans.