China is accelerating dam building on the upper reaches of the Machu or Yellow River despite evidence from Chinese scientists of the risks of geological disasters and serious environmental problems.

Rare protests against the construction of a new hydropower dam in Tibet that risks catastrophic impacts on the world’s highest and largest plateau and downstream in China have been met with violent paramilitary reprisals.

This report uncovers the Chinese government’s escalated digital surveillance in Tibet, marked by the compulsory installation of the ‘National Anti-Fraud Centre’ app on smartphones.

Since October 2021, residents of Drago County in Tibet have been under siege, with their cultural and religious heritage coming under attack and locals being detained, tortured and subjected to “re-education”.

Despite the controversy surrounding the 2008 Olympics, protest in the West was muted, with little action taken by governments and Olympic associations. The decision to award the 2022 Winter Olympics to Beijing has reopened the debate about what can be done to challenge a host government which is anticipating a second opportunity to ‘sportswash’ its extensive human rights violations.

The scientific consensus in China and beyond demands a critical rethink of climate policies. This briefing will highlight how indigenous stewardship of land would better achieve the stated goals of protecting the environment.

On the evening of 17 February 2018, a fire broke out at the Jokhang Temple in the centre of old Lhasa. The blaze was captured on camera and made international news. It also raised fears of serious damage to the Jokhang, one of the most revered sites in all of Tibetan Buddhism.

In July 2016, regional authorities and Chinese workers began carrying out a plan to drastically reduce the population of Larung Gar, the largest Tibetan Buddhist institute in the world.

On 7 March 1989, a decree imposing martial law on Lhasa was issued by Chinese Premier Li Peng and China’s State Council.

On 24 July 2016, 26-year-old Nyima Lhamo, niece of deceased Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, arrived in Dharamsala, northern India, to the safety of exile. She had undertaken a risky and dangerous journey escaping from Tibet in order to tell her story and reveal the truth about her uncle’s death.

This report examines the role of Tibetan Buddhist institutions in Tibetan resistance. In particular, the report will focus on several monasteries and one nunnery spanning all three traditional provinces of Tibet (Amdo, Kham and U-Tsang) to provide an overview of the breadth of resistance activities.

This report has been produced by Tibet Watch as a tribute to all the Tibetans who have suffered torture as a consequence of their ongoing resistance to the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

The people of Tibet have a deep and heartfelt commitment to their homeland and protests against China’s environmental exploitation on the Tibetan plateau have long been a feature of Tibet’s resistance to the occupation.

This report was inspired by the discovery of She is Crying on the Hill, a blog post by a Chinese traveller named “December” which presents, and comments on, images of other Chinese tourists photographing Tibetans at the Taktsang Lhamo temple in a highly intrusive and aggressive manner.

A peaceful Tibetan protest was brutally supressed and the crowd fired upon by security forces in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP) on 12 August 2014. The Tibetans involved were protesting the arbitrary arrest of a local village leader, Wangdak, who had been detained the previous evening.

Tibetan monk and human rights activist Golog Jigme is now an exile. A perilous 20-month journey across the Tibetan plateau and the Himalayan mountains brought him to safety in May 2014. He had endured six years of constant surveillance by the Chinese state, been imprisoned three times and experienced torture so brutal it almost killed him.

During the past year, Driru County has become one of the focal points of Tibetan resistance to the Chinese occupation. The repercussions have been severe and reprisals against individuals are still being reported. Driru County was the site of a mass uprising in 1969, which was brutally repressed, but since then the area has been relatively quiet.

Since 2009, over 125 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in self-immolation protests against China’s occupation of Tibet. Nine of these have taken place in Dzoege (Ch: Zoige/Ruo’ergai) County, Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.

Seven years ago, on 13 July 2001, the Chinese government was triumphant when Beijing won the award of hosting the 2008 Olympic Games. The international kudos of hosting an Olympic Games is immense, as are the potential profits.

During the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese government was responsible for the destruction of more than 6000 monasteries in Tibet. The contents of these monasteries –religious images and statues – were destroyed or looted, and millions of ancient and priceless manuscripts burnt. This is recorded fact.

This report examines the rapid growth that has been generated in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) through the extremely heavy government spending and investment strategies of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).