China Erases Tibet in Latest White Paper

China released its latest white paper on Tibet, Human Rights in Xizang in the New Era, on March 28. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) calls this date "Serf Emancipation Day." It is the anniversary of the CCP's dissolution of Tibet's legitimate government in 1959.

After 70 years of control, China's legitimacy in Tibet remains an unresolved international issue. This situation is highlighted by the fact that this is China's 18th white paper on Tibet. That is more than any other country has produced about the territories it claims. Over-issuing white papers only reinforces the image of a fragile regime resorting to propaganda and disinformation.

The white paper shows how far the CCP will go to impose its blatant lies on both its people and the international community. It falsely portrays the Chinese People's Liberation Army as liberators of Tibet from imperialist forces and feudal lords. Beijing has assaulted and distorted the very concept of human rights to legitimize the genocide it committed — and continues to commit in Tibet and other occupied territories. It does not become an aspiring superpower to stoop so low, distorting reality and historical facts, and spreading disinformation.

Erasing Tibet Through Language

This time, unlike previous white papers, China has made a deliberate effort to avoid using the word "Tibet." Instead, it has adopted its own nomenclature of Xizang for Tibet. This reflects a deliberate policy shift: erasing historical Tibet — U-Tsang, Amdo, and Kham — and replacing it with the Tibet Autonomous Region, which Beijing has now renamed the Xizang Autonomous Region.

*CCTV Screenshot announcing the white paper without using the name Tibet. March 28, 2025*

The latest white paper consists of eight chapters and a concluding remark. It focuses on themes of human rights and effectively safeguarding people's democratic, economic and social rights, culture, religious freedom, and the environment. There are many facts, however, that it hides.

Compare it to the first white paper on Tibet, issued in 1992. That one had the title, "Tibet - Its Ownership and Human Rights Situation." No matter the tall tales and mendacity of the contents, it at least talked about Tibet.

A Façade of Rights

The 2025 white paper opens with the statement:

It is a common human aspiration for every individual to fully enjoy their human rights. This is also the goal of the Chinese people of all ethnic groups, including those in the Xizang Autonomous Region.

If only that were true.

Yes, the statement echoes the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which China is a signatory, and even the Chinese constitution. But does the regime practice what it preaches?

Over 157 Tibetans have self-immolated, demanding those very rights China says it is safeguarding. Liu Xiaobo, the 2010 Nobel Peace Laureate, died seeking them for the Chinese people. People are still tortured or disappeared for simply possessing a photo of the Dalai Lama. Or for talking about the importance of Tibetan language, culture, and religion. The regime disparages His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Tibetans as separatists and anti-China. It even tries to misinform the Chinese people.

China has hidden the 2008 Tibetan proposal — the Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People — from its own citizens. This peaceful "Middle Way" approach to coexistence with China remains censored, contradicting the government's claim of transparency and pluralism.

Unity by Force, Not Consent

The white paper's language also frames all non-Han peoples as simply "Chinese." However, China is not a unified nation-state. It is a neo-colonial empire composed of forcibly incorporated peoples. There are supposed to be five distinct nationalities with fifty-six ethnic groups, including Han Chinese. All these nationalities are not Chinese people ー there are Tibetans, Mongolians, East Turkistan (Uyghurs), Manchu, and others. Even by Marxist-Leninist logic, these are not "ethnic minorities." Historical records and even the Great Wall show where "China" historically ended.

*China's white paper on Tibet, released on 28 March 2025*

In addition, it claims Britain invaded "Xizang" twice after the Opium Wars, "posing a significant threat to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity." That is false. The British entered Tibet once, in 1903, under the Younghusband expedition. At the time, China itself was occupied by the Manchu Qing regime, which had no administrative presence in Tibet. Tibet negotiated and fought alone.

Another false claim: Tibetans enjoy full democratic rights. If that were so, why is it that no Tibetan has ever been appointed as the Party Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region? All key leadership positions remain in Han Chinese hands.

Meanwhile, the Tibetan exile community — unacknowledged by Beijing — has built democratic institutions respected around the world.

Silenced Voices and Stolen Childhoods

The white paper boasts about transparency and public participation via internet platforms through which people can express their opinions. Yet, this is all propaganda. For example, the area was locked down during the recent Shigatse earthquake. Over 20 Tibetan netizens were banned from sharing information. If the right to information were respected, people like Gonpo Kyi would not be blocked from learning about the fate of her brother, Dorjee Tashi. There should not be cases of people disappearing and dying in and after custody.

On education, the white paper claims Tibetan language rights are protected and that boarding school attendance is optional. In reality, nearly one million Tibetan children are separated from their families and culture and placed in Chinese-run boarding schools where Tibet's own language and history are not on the curriculum.

In 2020, Mandarin was made the primary language of instruction in all primary and secondary schools. If Tibetans were truly protected, why was Tashi Wangchuk imprisoned for peacefully advocating for the preservation of the Tibetan language?

If what China says were true, it would let the international rapporteurs visit these boarding schools to see for themselves.

Undermining Faith and Religion

According to the paper, "Xizang allows religious groups to manage their own affairs." That should mean that Tibetans enjoy religious freedom. Yet, in Tibet, there is no religious freedom. Major monastic centers like Larung Gar and Yachen Gar have been demolished. Religious statues have been torn down. Children are barred from monasteries. Orders like No 5 (2007) and No 19 (2024) give the CCP power to interfere in reincarnation and religious appointments — something no true religiously free society would accept.

If it respects religious freedom, China must reveal the whereabouts of the disappeared Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. And it must explain the death of highly respected Tibetan monks, like Hungkar Rinpoche, who died in Vietnam.

Nature Exploited

In Chapter VI, the paper goes on to praise China's environmental stewardship in Tibet. But for centuries, Tibetans have had their own environmental protection laws. They have lived in harmony with nature, protecting the flow of fresh water to Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

What has China done? It has dammed most of the rivers flowing from Tibet, endangering the entire region. The dams have caused enormous ecological damage and displaced more than 23 million people. They put the riparian rights of other nations at the mercy of China's "open and close water-tap p o licy."

Meanwhile, Tibetan environmentalists like Tsongon Tsering, Karma Samdup, Dhongye, and Anya Sengdra, have been imprisoned and tortured for speaking out. If China truly valued environmental rights, it would free these activists.

A Lie Repeated a Thousand Times…

The white paper ends by claiming "Steady Improvement in the Legal Protection of Human Rights" and the rule of law. In reality, Tibetans continue to be arbitrarily arrested, tortured, and sentenced without due process. Before it can speak legitimately about the rule of law in Tibet, China must first reveal the whereabouts of the Panchen Lama. Likewise, it must explain what happened to Tulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche and Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche, and account for the current status of Tashi Wangchuk and Dorjee Tashi.

Perhaps the most revealing line in the paper is this: "A lie repeated a thousand times is still a lie." This directly contradicts Mao Zedong's infamous dictum: "A lie repeated a hundred times becomes the truth." The CCP has been following Mao's dictum for seven decades. Intentionally or not, by reversing it, the report acknowledges that the content of its white paper is, in fact, a lie.

'Voice for the Voiceless'

The paper closes by claiming, "The ultimate human right is that people can lead a happy life." His Holiness the Dalai Lama, has said many times, "If Tibetans in Tibet are happy, then we have no argument."

In his book Voice for the Voiceless, he writes: "If China wants Tibet to stay with China, then China must create the necessary conditions for this. The time has come now for the Chinese to show the way for Tibet and China to live together in friendship."

If the Chinese leadership is serious about resolving the Sino-Tibetan conflict, it should heed the Dalai Lama's words. He explained, "Tibet today remains an occupied territory, and it is only the Tibetan people who can confer or deny legitimacy to the presence of China on the Tibetan plateau."

Instead of issuing white papers filled with disinformation one after another, China should engage with Tibetans in meaningful dialogue. Only by respecting Tibetans' sentiment and talking with them directly can there be a mutually agreeable and lasting solution.

Author: Tsewang Gyalpo Arya

Dr Arya Tsewang Gyalpo is the former Secretary of the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) and former Director of the Tibet Policy Institute (TPI). He is currently the Representative of the Liaison Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for Japan and East Asia. His books include, Harnessing the Dragon's Fume and The Ancient Tibetan Civilization. The views expressed above are the author's own.