Tibetan Language Advocate Speaks Up Again After Prison Release

Tashi Wangchuk was jailed for 5 years before he was let go last January

A Tibetan activist is again speaking out against language restrictions after spending five years in prison for discussing the issue with Western media, RFA has learned.

Tashi Wangchuk, a resident of Yulshul township in western China’s Sichuan province, was released on Jan. 28, 2021, after completing a prison term for “inciting separatism” and is now subject to near-constant monitoring by authorities.

Wangchuk, who is around 35 years of age, called this month on Chinese authorities to allow the use of Tibetan in schools, government jobs and other sectors of Tibetan public life, but was summoned and questioned on Jan. 17 by local police, the language rights advocate said on his social media Weibo account next day.

“One of the questions I was asked under interrogation was who had given me the responsibility to advocate for use of the Tibetan language,” Wangchuk said.

“I think that the officials in Yulshul city and the police bureau are just using their power to stop the public from addressing these problems and advocating for the use of their own language.

“This is how the Tibetan language has been endangered, and this is how I am raising awareness among government officials of the language rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China,” he said.

With no exams allowed in the Tibetan language for Tibetans applying for government jobs, young Tibetans have no choice but to study Chinese in their schools and ignore their own language, Wangchuk wrote on his Weibo account on Jan. 3.

“The situation has become so bad that some of them later can’t even read or write in Tibetan,” he said.

Wangdhen Kyab — a senior researcher at London-based Tibet Watch — told RFA that it had once been required that officials in government offices in Tibet learn and understand the Tibetan language.

“But now the situation has completely changed, and the Tibetan language has become increasingly marginalized under China’s so-called Bilingual Education Policy,” he said.

“Even after spending five long years in a Chinese prison, Tashi Wangchuk continues to advocate and fight for the Tibetan language, which shows that this is not a matter of concern only for an individual or his family, but for the long-term protection and survival of the Tibetan language.

“Tashi Wangchuk has spoken up fearlessly about this, and we can see that he will continue to do so despite the Chinese government’s constant harassment and warnings,” Kyab said.

While China claims to uphold the rights of all minorities to access a bilingual education, Tibetan-language schools have been forced to shut down, and school-age children in Tibet regularly receive instruction only in Mandarin Chinese.

Similar policies have been deployed against ethnic Mongolians in China’s Inner Mongolia and Muslim Uyghurs in northwestern China’s region of Xinjiang.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago.

Language rights have become a particular focus for Tibetan efforts to assert national identity in recent years, with informally organized language courses in the monasteries and towns deemed “illegal associations” and teachers subject to detention and arrest, sources say.

Reported by RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. https://www.rfa.org

Scared Tuxedo Kitten Rescued from Bottom of 10-Feet Pipe in California

In an abandoned field, California’s Alameda Police Department (APD) Animal Control Officer Emily Crum found a tiny, terrified tuxedo kitten that had fallen about ten feet down a metal pipe.

Read More

Clumber Spaniel

The Clumber Spaniel has a robust build, large bones, and a strong chest.The straight, soft coat of the Clumber Spaniel is medium in length. Coats are flat and thick.The coat is mostly white with sporadic orange or lemon markings on the legs, ears, and face.

Read More

Data Science

Data science is a multidisciplinary field that uses machine learning, statistics, and data analysis to analyze data and extract insights and data.Data science uses systems, algorithms, and scientific methods to extract useful information and insights from raw data.

Read More

UN Security Council Meets on Situation in Middle East, Including Palestinian Question

Noa Furman, Deputy Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, addresses the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

Read More

When Two Coyotes Crossed Paths with Bear,Larger Coyote Protects Smaller One

Richard Hurwitz, a homeowner in Tarzana, Los Angeles, said that his ring camera recorded a bear coming into contact with the two coyotes.The larger of the two coyotes repeatedly confronted the bear as it stayed near the smaller coyote, he said, despite the bear’s apparent advantage.

Read More

Cocker Spaniel

The medium-sized sporting dog breed known as the Cocker Spaniel was originally breed to flush and retrieve game birds.They have long, straight coats. Their colors include cream, tan, red, black, and a combination of tan and white.

Read More

Data Mining

Discovering significant patterns, relationships, and insights in large volumes of data is known as data mining. It uses methods from data management, machine learning, and statistics to reveal signals that aren’t readily apparent through simple reporting or searches.

Read More

Hong Kong Court Verdict Aims to Erase Tiananmen Memory,1989 Student Protester Says

A Hong Kong court this month convicted two leaders of a dissolved pro-democracy group to erase the memory of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, a pro-democracy activist who was a student leader during the 1989 event told Radio Free Asia.

Read More