China intensifying cultural repression in Tibet: Report
Colombo: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to undertake coercive measures aimed at erasing distinct Tibetan identity, including language, religion, and culture, a report said on Saturday.
Satellite imagery, it said, revealed Chinese authorities’ removal of the sacred ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ mantra carved into rocks on hills, replacing it with the Chinese flag, while Tibetan nomads were forced to swap traditional Mani prayer flags for Chinese ones and participate in the political indoctrination sessions
“The cultural repression in Tibet reached a new low after Chinese authorities burnt traditional prayer flags under the pretext of fire hazard control. The incineration of the flags comes on the heels of earlier incidents involving the removal, replacement, or manipulation of traditional Mani prayer flags found throughout Tibet. Locals labelled it as an escalation in Beijing’s efforts to erase visible Tibetan religious traditions,” a report in leading Sri Lankan media outlet Ceylon Wire News detailed.
“The past few years have witnessed several incidents of removal and demolition of Mani flags and wheels by Chinese officials for unreasonable, illogical and dubious reasons. As the Tibetans celebrated the 90th birthday of the spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, Chinese authorities imposed several restrictions on the movement and religious practices in the region. Those who refused to be a part of Beijing’s ‘re-education programme’ — a national assimilation plan — were subjected to arbitrary detention on fabricated charges, long-term imprisonment, and systemic social exclusion,” it added.
Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist of religions, described the incidents of Tibetans being forced to remove prayer flags and hand them over to police for destruction as both “offence and sacrilege”.
“The CCP is trying to destroy Tibetan religion and culture, leaving only a ‘Disneyfied’ version for the benefit of naive tourists. This effort is decade-old, but has increased under Xi Jinping. The prayer flags are the very soul of Tibet. Even those who are not Buddhist should protest this new manifestation of cultural genocide,” the Ceylon Wire News quoted the Italian expert as saying.
According to the report, around 300 Buddhist stupas were destroyed in Tibet’s Kham province in mid-2025.
The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) condemned the demolition as a brazen act of cultural vandalism that left the Tibetans across the globe deeply traumatised.
“Chinese officials have cynically justified the destruction by claiming the stupas were built on ‘government land’ and violated unspecified regulations. The stone debris from the sacred structures has been completely cleared, erasing all traces of these centuries-old symbols of faith,” it said.