(TibetanReview.net, Apr27’26) – Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), the western half of Tibet proper, remains the only People’s Republic of China territory where access is banned for non-mainland Chinese foreign visitors, including especially diplomats, journalists, researchers, and others, unless they obtain special permits in addition to their Chinese visas. The restrictions are even more severe for overseas Tibetans seeking to visit their homeland, noted the US State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs in its latest annual report to the Congress made under the Reciprocal access to Tibet Act of 2018. The Act mandates reciprocal denial of access to visitors from China in addition to the possibility of imposing sanctions on responsible officials.
Restriction on travelling to Tibetan areas outside the TAR, though less severe, are seen to be just as daunting.
Chinese government regulations and procedures that have historically impeded travel to the TAR and Tibetan areas outside the TAR for US diplomats and officials, journalists, and tourists remained in place in 2025, said the report which was released on Apr 24. International visitors’ travel to the TAR continued to require the approval of TAR government travel permits.
Even in Tibetan areas outside the TAR where diplomats and officials did not require a permit, Chinese security forces intimidated and harassed US diplomats, officials, and other foreign visitors through conspicuous surveillance. Besides, Tibetan Americans regularly have faced restrictions on their travel to these Tibetan areas. And access even to these Tibetan areas for journalists remained restricted and limited, the report said.
The report, which covered the calendar year 2025, said that the TAR continued to be the only area of the PRC that the authorities required foreigners, including diplomats and other foreign officials, to formally request permission to visit.
In 2025, Consular officials from the US Embassy in Beijing were permitted to make the first official visit to the TAR since 2019. The five-day visit included meetings with the TAR Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) and major tour operators, and visits to hospitals and cultural sites visited by U.S. citizens. The report did not give any further information about the visit but said a single visit is not a full return of consular access, and that the US Embassy in Beijing had requested additional visits to the TAR in 2026.
Regulations imposed by Beijing control travel of international visitors to the TAR for tourism, a restriction applied to no other provincial-level entity in the PRC, the report noted. Since 1989, international visitors have been required to obtain an official confirmation letter issued by the TAR government before entering the TAR. The TAR government reports to and is accountable to the Chinese central government. Most confirmation letters are arranged through travel agencies officially registered with the Chinese government, which mandate designated tour guides to accompany international tourists while in the TAR. Foreigners rarely obtained permission to enter the TAR by road.
Besides., authorities deny access to the TAR for many international tourists during periods they deem politically sensitive, such as the anniversary of the Mar 10, 1959, Tibetan Uprising and the Dalai Lama’s Jul 6 birthday.
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US citizens of Tibetan heritage undergo a stricter screening process than other US citizens when applying for Chinese visas or travel permits to visit the TAR, the report noted. Their applications are processed through the United Front Work Department (UFWD) and often require a letter from a relative or host in the Tibetan area, an in-person interview with the Chinese Embassy or Consulate, and submission of personal documents such as naturalization certificates, birth certificates, school and work records, affidavits, and other materials.
Even when a permit is finally granted, Tibetan Americans reported more frequent harassment by security officials in Tibetan areas than in other parts of the PRC. Some Americans with Tibetan heritage reported being interrogated at local UFWD offices and being forced to download invasive Chinese apps on their phones. Some members of the Tibetan American community reported they self-censored their behaviour in the United States out of fear of retribution against themselves or their family members in Tibet.
Despite these barriers, ethnic Tibetans also reported increased access to the TAR compared to previous years, particularly for those who hold United States or European passports, the report said.
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Journalists and human rights monitors are especially targetted with denial of access. The report noted that Chinese regulations did not regularly require international journalists to obtain prior permission to travel to any part of the country other than the TAR. The government rejected almost all US journalists’ requests to visit and report from the TAR, the report said, citing the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC), the professional organization for the international press corps based in China.
According to the FCCC, Chinese officials refused at least five requests by foreign journalists to visit the TAR. Ninety-three percent of correspondents who attempted to travel to the TAR and other Tibetan areas of the PRC faced difficulty in reporting. While the government occasionally organizes press tours of the TAR, they do not provide opportunities to report independently, the report said.
Although journalists were permitted to travel to Tibetan areas outside the TAR, they have been subjected to invasive surveillance, physically blocked from certain areas, and intimidated by the government. According to the FCCC’s 2024 annual report, foreign journalists experienced harassment while reporting in Tibetan areas outside the TAR, the report noted.
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The report said Access to Americans in Tibet improved slightly compared to 2024, with the US consular officials being able to perform some routine consular functions during a visit in Sep 2025. While the PRC arranged tours for foreign diplomats and held events in the TAR, such arrangements are strictly arranged and managed by the government and are designed to prevent meaningful interaction with the people of the TAR.
Besides, in addition to the permits and other restrictions described above, approved visitors still faced additional access barriers once they arr in the TAR. The report cited travel agents operating in the TAR as saying some areas of the TAR were generally closed to visitors and required supplemental permission from the TAR Public Security Bureau. Tourists planning to visit certain border areas, such as Mount Everest, sometimes required a separate permit from the Military Affairs Office.
The Chinese government has not disclose its decision-making process for granting permission to travel to the TAR, nor shared the names of officials involved in issuing travel permits to US citizens to visit the TAR.
China appears to consider any official request for a visit from the US, and by extension other counties as well with great sensitivity. The report said: “The TAR FAO required a diplomatic note for any official visit. Once the TAR government received a request, it reportedly informed a foreign affairs leading committee, consisting of representatives at the prefectural, provincial, and central levels from the UFWD, Ministry of State Security, Ministry of Public Security, People’s Liberation Army, and MFA. This committee reviewed requests, although rarely provided specific responses.”