(TibetanReview.net, Aug28’21) – Chinese police in Qinghai Province have taken into custody on Aug 24 two Middle School Tibetan students in Qinghai Province for their online social media postings that criticised the government’s enforcement of a compulsory switch to Chinese language medium for teaching all subjects.
They had used the social media platform WeChat to express their opposition to the new mode of teaching, set to begin in September, said the Tibetan Service of rfa.org Aug 27.
Gyuldrak and Yangrik, both 19 and residents of Darlag county in Golog (Chinese: Guoluo) Prefecture, were Middle School students, the report said, citing a local Tibetan source.
The source has said parents had been instructed to collect the newly introduced Chinese-language textbooks.
The two detained students were stated to be held in the Darlag County police station after being taken away.
Sinicization of all aspects of Tibetan life, including in education and religion, is part of China’s renewed policy focus under current President Xi Jinping. It has led to closing down of privately-run schools teaching Tibetan language and culture, arrest of teachers, and protests.
