(TibetanReview.net, Dec08’25) – Chinese authorities in Golog (Chinese: Guoluo) prefecture of Qinghai province had taken away on Dec 4 the abbot of a monastery and the founder-head of a vocational school in Chigdril (Jigzhi) County without assigning any reason; he has disappeared ever since, reported the Tibetan-language tibettimes.net Dec 8, citing a Tibetan contact with knowledge of the situation. He is stated to be vice-chair of the county-level Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s political advisory body.
Chogtrul Dorjeten, the Abbot-head of Woesel Thegchog Choekhorling at Minthang Township, was picked up while en route from the monastery to his home, the report said. The source did not know whether it was the police or secret service personnel who carried out the apparent arrest.
The report said Chogtrul Dorjeten, also known as Chogtrul Thubten Yeshe, was also the head of the local Dorjeten Nationalities Vocational Training School founded by him and which the authorities have closed down, with all its students sent home. Local Tibetans are said to suspect that he was arrested in connection with his running of this school under President Xi Jinping’s intensified Sinicization drive in Tibetan and other ethnic minority areas.
The Chinese authorities were stated to be closing down all privately-run schools in the area, as elsewhere. The Dorjeten Nationalities Vocational Training School was stated to have more than 400 students, including many very young novice monks.
The report said the vocational school was established in 2010 on requests by the local people and with full state approval. It had a junior, a middle, and a senior level sections. It also had a newly established nunnery. A hotel and a foundation were set up for raising funds for running the school.
Chogtrul Dorjeten was stated to also serve as the principal of the Nyenpo Yutsel Junior School, the chairman of the Minthang Township children’s Golog Gesar Epic choir group, the chairman of the Mayang Lhakhar Chugmoe Gesar Cultural Heritage Promotion Centre, the founding head of the Kusum Khadoe Duling Nunnery, and the Chairman of the Qinghai Nyenpo Yutsel Teacher-Staff Foundation,
Besides, the report said he is vice-Chair of the Chidgril County CPPCC in apparent recognition of him as a prominent figure in the fields of religious and culture.
Spread over an area of 96,000 sq metres, the Dorjeten Nationalities Vocational Training School was stated to have 66 teachers, with a total 1,300 students having graduated from it thus far. The school taught foundation courses in Tibetan, Chinese, English, mathematics, politics, ethics, physical training and so forth. The school also taught specialised subjects such as linguistics, thangka art, Tibetan Medicine, Gesar cultural art, traditional performing arts, traditional tailoring, and tourism management services.
Chogtrul Dorjeten was born on Oct 25, 1967, at Akyong Khangsar in Minthang Township. He received intensive education in sutra and tantra from numerous great teachers, including the revered Chöje Dampa Yizhin Norbu. He earned the degree of Khenpo, master of the Vinaya and Abhidharma, at the famed Larung Five Sciences Buddhist Institute in Serta. He was recognized as the reincarnation of the Zhichen Chogtrul Goser Khyenrab Gyatso.