(TibetanReview.net, Apr16’22) – China has banned hotels from providing accommodation to a Tibetan activist as he travels across Qinghai Province to promote among the local population the study and use of their mother tongue in the face of a Han civilizational assimilation onslaught by Beijing. The activist, Tashi Wangchuk, was earlier jailed for five years for allegedly inciting separatism for his language rights advocacy and was released after completing his term on Jan 28, 2021.
“On his way from Yulshul to Siling, he had stopped by various Tibetan schools in Golog, Rebgong and Malho to advocate for the use of Tibetan language in Tibetan schools,” the Tibetan Service of rfa.org Apr 15 quoted a source as saying, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
The source has said the 35-year-old activist was denied accommodation in or removed from hotels in Rebgong (Chinese: Tongren) and Malho (Huangnan).
In Rebgong on Apr 7, he was told by the hotel which he had checked into half an hour earlier to leave, citing a police order not to let him stay.
Following it, he was denied accommodation in other hotels as well on the following two days too for the same reason.
Undaunted, Tashi Wangchuk went to a police station in Malho prefecture to file a complaint, only to be denied entry. He was stated to have been told that no one in the police station could talk to him.
He later even went to Rebgong county’s Commission for Discipline Inspection to file an appeal, to find it closed.
Tashi Wangchuk continues to be under police surveillance as a part of his five-year jail sentence. Chinese courts typically impose deprivation of rights terms on political prisoners on the completion of their jail sentences.
The resident of Qinghai’s Yulshul (Yushu) Municipality was stated to have posted photos and videos of his visits to Tibetan schools in Darlag (Dali) County in Golog (Guoluo) prefecture and Rebgong, where Chinese authorities were reported to have clamped down on Tibetan language teaching in schools and coaching centres.
But “after April 10, all the details that he posted on his Weibo social media account were deleted by the Chinese authorities, so it’s difficult to learn anything now about his well-being,” the source has said.
Tashi Wangchuk is currently said to be staying at his brother’s place in Qinghai’s capital Siling (Xining) amid continuing concern for his personal security.