(TibetanReview.net, Jul04’24) – Belying its not-too-frequently stated bogus claim that there is little love for the Dalai Lama in Tibet today because Tibetans supposedly love the state-party, China is reported to have greatly strengthened its social media clampdown in Tibet ahead of the exile Tibetan spiritual leader’s 89th birthday. The fact that he has travelled to the USA for knee surgery has added to the impetus of the clampdown.
The Chinese government is intensifying its already stringent social media restrictions on Tibetans to keep them from celebrating the Jul 6 birthday of the Dalai Lama, reported the Tibetan service of rfa.org Jul 2, citing two Tibetan sources.
The Dalai Lama is already a byword for ban in Chinese ruled Tibet and those found to keep his photos and anything else related to him have faced arrest, beating, torture, and imprisonment.
But during the past three weeks, authorities have more frequently and rigorously checked the cell phones of Tibetan travellers to ensure they have not downloaded any photos of him, the report cited the sources, who live in western China, as saying, requesting anonymity for safety reasons.
Police were stated to have summoned Tibetans who were on the radar of local authorities to warn them not to contact family members living outside Tibet Autonomous Region.
Tibetans have played cat-and-mouse game with the Chinese authorities in marking the Dalai Lama’s birthday while circumventing the ban, which is routinely enforced with greatly increased strictness ahead of what is a momentous day to the Tibetan people.
The Chinese tightening of restrictions is even more stringent this time because of the news about the Dalai Lama’s travel to the United States for a knee surgery. “Many may have downloaded his photo to their phones to pray for a speedy recovery,” the report cited the sources as saying, referring to the authorities’ heightened suspicion.
Also, Chinese authorities are stated to have turned down visa requests by some Tibetans who planned to travel to the US, after being asked if they were going to see the Dalai Lama there.
The report said Chinese authorities had also prohibited Tibetans across the Tibetan Plateau region from communicating with the outside world about the Dalai Lama’s upcoming birthday.
One of the sources has noted that while travelling from Lhasa to Shigatse, Tibet’s second largest city, authorities closely monitored his mobile phone. “I am questioned about whether I possess a photo of the Dalai Lama or if I have been in contact with anyone,” he has said.
The report also said that in Golog (Guoluo) prefecture of Qinghai province, which is the main part of the historical Tibetan province of Amdo, Chinese officials and monastery heads appointed by them have ramped up propaganda efforts, telling Tibetans to exercise caution and self-control on social media.