August 20, 2025
UPDATE 01/09/2025: Following Xi Jinping’s departure from Lhasa on August 21, Gonmo Kyi was released from detention at the Yak Hotel and received medical examination and treatment at three hospitals in Lhasa, according to Tibet Watch sources. While she sustained no serious damage to her head or spine, the impact of her fall caused damage to her joints and other medical problems.
UPDATE 26/08/2025: According to Tibet Watch sources, after Gonmo Kyi jumped from the second floor of the Yak hotel, local police did not allow her to be taken to hospital. She received medical treatment in the hotel, and the entire building was cordoned off by security personnel, with no one allowed to enter or exit, most likely to isolate the family while Xi Jinping is in Lhasa and during the sensitive political anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
- Gonmo Kyi, sister of imprisoned Tibetan businessman Dorje Tashi, has been injured after jumping from the second floor of the family’s hotel in Lhasa this morning (August 20) while being detained by local police. According to a series of videos from Tibet, Gonmo Kyi was deeply distressed following repeated obstructions by many local officials from visiting her brother, who has been serving a life sentence since 2008 and has been severely tortured in prison.
- According to Tibet Watch sources, the authorities recently removed Dorje Tashi’s brother Dorje Tseten from his Lhasa home to another location in Lhoka (Shannan) prefecture south of Lhasa. The aim is likely to keep him away from Lhasa, as China’s leader Xi Jinping arrived in Lhasa today for official ceremonies for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
- Xi Jinping’s rare visit to Lhasa signals China’s high strategic interest in the region and follows heavy militarisation in Lhasa at the time of the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday last month, in the context of a systematic campaign to eliminate the religious leader’s influence and ‘Sinicize’ Tibetan Buddhism.
According to the videos, on August 18, Gonmo Kyi attempted to request permission to see Dorje Tashi at Chushur (Qushui) prison. Security police monitoring her activities detained her, holding her in the Yak Hotel, owned by her imprisoned brother before his properties were seized after his arrest. “I don’t even have the right to see the prisoner,” she said in a video statement that day. “Local police dragged me back and forth like an animal and detained me inside the guesthouse.”
Police continued holding her at the guesthouse the following day, preventing her from leaving. In a video yesterday (August 19), Gonmo Kyi stated: “Local police put me in here [Yak Hotel] like a prisoner.” In the video, several people in civilian clothing can be seen blocking the door of the guesthouse. In today’s video, Gonmo Kyi is seen on the ground after apparently jumping from the second floor, with an individual in a face mask telling her not to film or photograph the scene.
Videos taken by Gonmo Kyi show several people in civilian clothing guarding the entrance to Yak Hotel.
In a further video, Gonmo Ki explained: “Lhasa city officials have put a ‘black hat’ [a political term for someone persecuted by the authorities] on an innocent person and are ending his life in prison. Even though the country’s constitution clearly states that family members have the right to visit prisoners, I haven’t been allowed to see the prisoner, so I am desperate and jumped.”
Gonmo Kyi’s act highlights years of systematic denial of visitation rights to Dorje Tashi’s family. Prison authorities have repeatedly blocked family members from seeing the 51-year-old businessman, who was among Tibet’s most prominent entrepreneurs and a Communist Party member before his arrest. Gonmo Kyi says that she has not even been allowed to write a letter to her brother.
In videos taken 20 August 2025, Gonmo Kyi can be seen lying on the ground following her jump from the Yak Hotel. She states to the camera that she has injuries to her arms, legs, and waist. Medical personnel stand over her and order bystanders not to film or take photographs.
Intensified pressure as Xi Jinping arrives in Lhasa for political anniversary
Gonmo Kyi, her brother Dorje Tseten, and her husband Choekyong have all been under constant surveillance by Chinese authorities in Lhasa. But Gonma Kyi’s action today and her brother’s removal from Lhasa coincide with a rare visit of China’s leader Xi Jinping to Lhasa to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region which China promotes as having ‘liberated’ Tibetans.
Security in Lhasa was already heightened during the period of the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday on 6 July, involving the deployment of armed forces with live ammunition, round-the-clock checkpoints and bans on traditional religious observances including prayer ceremonies and burning incense.[1] It has now been escalated still further with Xi’s arrival. Also in the delegation are powerful policy chief and ideologue Wang Huning, who is heavily involved in China’s Tibet policy, Li Ganjie, head of the United Front Work Department and Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The harsh treatment of Dorje Tashi is indicative of his status as a leading businessman, formerly one of Tibet’s super elite, who had received awards from the Chinese Communist Party. Prison guards reportedly wept and attempted to shield him from interrogators sent from Beijing, who appeared to be sent from a specialist team or unit of the feared ‘Guobao’ or secret police.
Dorje Tashi was imprisoned and interrogated initially in a ‘black jail’ due to charges that were reportedly fabricated against him and his brother by a top official in the Chinese Communist Party.[2]
In April, prison officials refused to allow Dorje Tashi’s brother Dorje Tsetan, and Chinese lawyer Wang Fei to visit, citing an unexplained “violation of prison rules.” The visit had been properly scheduled over a month in advance with all required documentation, apparently contravening Chinese regulations that require authorities to arrange meetings promptly or provide clear explanations within 48 hours for delays.
Family members have not been permitted to see Dorje Tashi (Chinese transliteration: Duoji Zhaxi) ) for several years despite repeated attempts. Even his lawyer has been limited to just a single video call in the past year. Dorje Tsetan, who himself served six years in prison in connection with his brother’s case, described the denial of access as “unbearable.”
As a result, Gonmo Kyi has previously staged sit-ins in front of the People’s Court in Lhasa and was severely beaten by police in April 2024 following solo protests in front of the Tibet Higher People’s Court, where she called for a retrial.
Dorje Tashi’s current condition in prison remains unknown due to the systematic denial of access to family members and legal representatives.
Dorje Tashi was detained in July 2008 during China’s crackdown across Tibet and sentenced to life in prison at a secret trial by the Lhasa Intermediate People’s Court, which also ordered confiscation of all his property, including the Yak Hotel. While authorities convicted him for loan fraud, an expert legal opinion by a Beijing law firm concluded it was “impossible” for the evidence to merit such charges or a life sentence.
Tibet Watch calls on international governments to do the following:
- Raise immediate concern about Gonmo Kyi’s welfare and safety. As a matter of urgency, Dorje Tashi’s family should be allowed to visit him, consistent with Chinese regulations.
- Press the government of China and regional authorities in Tibet to release Dorje Tashi and investigate his case.
An investigation should encompass the following:
- Dorje Tashi was tortured during interrogations in 2008 and was subsequently subjected to inhumane, cruel and degrading treatment while in custody, both in detention centres and in prison;
- a number of senior officials, including Norbu Dondrub and others, instigated officials to carry out the detention, investigation, prosecution and conviction with a view to ensuring imprisonment of the defendants, as well as interfering in subsequent appeals and investigations into the case;
- police investigating the cases tampered with at least one witness, detaining him in order to get more convenient testimony;
the judges in the case convicted Dorje Tashi for loan fraud despite the reported facts that the loan was repaid in full, that the bank did not pursue any case against Dorje Tashi, that Dorje Tashi was as he claimed the legal owner of company presented as collateral for the loan, and that even if the loan collateral had been fabricated the case should in law have been tried as a lesser offence of embezzlement not fraud; - the judges in the case imposed a life sentence in this case despite having imposed a 15-year sentence four months earlier on two persons convicted for the same offence in a case involving an amount 40 times greater than that in Dorje Tashi’s case;
- relatives of the prisoner have not been allowed to visit him in recent years.
Endnotes:
[1] Tibet Watch report, August ,1 2025, https://tibetwatch.org/the-dalai-lamas-90th-birthday-in-tibet/
[2] Turquoise Roof report, August 23, 2023, https://turquoiseroof.org/leading-tibetan-businessman-fights-for-life-in-prison-as-siblings-seek-to-secure-release/
