China’s recent denigration of Tibetan elections lays bare its ignorance of Tibetan democracy and exile legitimacy, and its hollow claims to democratic values.
– By Dr Tsewang Gylapo Arya for Japan Forward, 23 April 2026
The Global Times, an official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), recently derided the February voting of exiled Tibetan leaders, president and parliamentarians, saying, “Election without a land—an institutional illusion created by separatist groups in exile.”
Although such commentaries are presented as the views of “Chinese experts,” their blindness to democracy and to the Tibetan diaspora’s elections and their growing recognition worldwide call their expertise into question.
The Global Times article opens by disparaging the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) and its leadership, calling it “an illicit organization that violates China’s Constitution and laws.”
Yet it should be noted that the CCP itself has recognized the CTA as the so-called “Tibetan government-in-exile” and its purpose as “Tibetan independence.”
Who Violated the Constitution First?
There is a saying in India, “a thief scolding the policeman instead of the other way around.” This is exactly what the CCP regime is doing. Just recently, they established the Ethnic Unity and Progress law and claimed it was in accordance with the Chinese Constitution, but it was not. Here, it says the Tibetans violate China’s Constitution and laws.
Article 4 of the People’s Republic of China’s Constitution and the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law (Articles 21, 37, and 49) ensure complete regional autonomy and freedom for the minority nationals to preserve their identity, language, and culture. The 17-point Agreement that the regime imposed on the Tibetans in 1951 also promised these rights.
It was in fact the CCP’s violation of the aforementioned documents that coerced Tibetans to revolt in 1959, the 1980s, and 2008. Instead of redressing the ills, Beijing exploited the upheavals to brutally eliminate dissent while ruling the land with an iron fist.
In 1959, H.H. the Dalai Lama and some 80,000 escaped to India, Nepal, and Bhutan and organized themselves in exile to look after the refugees. At the same time, they garnered support from the international community to fight the injustice and repression in the homeland.
Today, after more than 75 years, under the leadership of the Dalai Lama and the CTA, the Tibetans have come a long way, preserving what is being destroyed in Tibet and establishing a vibrant democratic community admired around the world.
Democracy and Freedom in Exile
China frequently boasts of democratic reforms, freedom, and development in Tibet. The irony is that, without democracy in mainland China itself, it is hard to see how it can extend it to Tibetans.
The regime brags of democracy and claims that former serfs have become masters. But the reality is that even after 76 years of “democratic reforms,” no Tibetan has become the party Secretary of the Autonomous Region. It had always been Chinese. This is a cruel reminder to the Tibetans that they are under foreign subjugation.
Tibetans have no right to elect their leaders in the homeland, while the Tibetan diaspora community is thriving with democracy and freedom.
The Global Times article goes on to say, “The election is increasingly detached from the Tibetan people it claims to represent.” That may be true. But the primary cause of this situation is the Chinese occupation of Tibet, which, according to the UNGA Resolution 1723 of 1961, is illegal and against the UN Charter of Human Rights.
Despite the CCP’s claims of increased Gross National Product, social stability, and public services, Tibetans in Tibet are not free. Since 2008, the number of Tibetans escaping Tibet has dropped to almost zero. Not because Tibetans are happy and prosperous, but because there is no freedom of movement, borders are sealed, and Tibetans are denied passports to travel.
The CCP’s Hidden Hand
The article further asserts a decline in participation compared with the last election, dissatisfaction with Penpa Tsering (elected president of the CTA), and doubts about the election’s integrity. It must be noted that in all six General Elections held since 2001, the participation has been more than 50%, with the 2021 election at the top with 76%.
The decline this time is not due to a “weakening exile community,” as Xiao Jie of the China Tibetology Research Center claims. It is widely believed that the dip stems from CCP influence in undermining the voting process beyond its borders. For example, there were reports of ballot boxes being forcibly confiscated in Nepal, where China wields considerable influence.
As for claims of dissatisfaction with President Penpa Tsering, his securing more than 61% of the vote in the first round without campaigning is clear evidence of voter confidence in his leadership.
Regarding claims of election integrity, Tibetan diaspora elections have won international recognition for their fairness and peaceful conduct.
The So-Called Chinese Experts
In the same article, Professor Li Haidong is quoted as saying, “Such an election has no basis in either international law or domestic law, and therefore carries no legal validity.”
But on what authority does China speak about the law? The occupation of Tibet and the ongoing repression violate both international and domestic law. The UN Charter has ensured freedom, democracy, and self-determination for all nationals, and Tibetans are forced to exercise these rights in exile.
Pronouncements like “it carries no legal validity” from a professor at China Foreign Affairs University are therefore unbefitting. If the election is not valid, why does China have to beg the neighboring countries not to acknowledge and endorse the Tibetan leadership’s election result?
Zhu Weiqun, former executive head of Beijing’s United Front Work Department and former head of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee, was also one of the key persons in the Sino-Tibetan Negotiation (2002–2010). He was known for his anti-religious opinion and vituperation against the Dalai Lama.
“The CTA cannot conceal an obvious fact: its so-called ‘voters’ are in no way representative of the Xizang people […] There has never been, and will never be, any room for any form of Tibetan independence,” Zhu notes in the article.
One thing is very clear: if a Chinese leader like Zhu Weiqun harbors such a view on Tibet, the Dalai Lama, and the CTA, it is not surprising that the Sino-Tibetan Negotiations of 2002-2010 failed.
First, voters in the diaspora do not represent people of Xizang; they represent Tibet of the three provinces of U-Tsang, Amdo, and Kham. “Xizang” is a Chinese fabrication and a mere meronym of Tibet.
Second, regarding Tibetan independence, he should read Prof. Hon-Shiang Lau’s book, Tibet Was Never Part of China Since Antiquity, and the CTA’s Memorandum for Genuine Autonomy. These would clarify the historical context and what Tibetans seek in relation to China. The arguments have also received support from several Chinese scholars.
Who is Aging and Weakening?
In the article, Xiao Jie of China Tibetology Research Center derogates the Tibetan Diaspora as “aging leadership” and a “weakening exile community.”
Yet as a research fellow, he should know how much the Dalai Lama is being revered around the world for his contribution to peace, compassion, and non-violence.
The Tibetan exile community is not weakening. In all these 66 years in exile, what the CCP has destroyed and continues to destroy in Tibet has all been meticulously preserved in exile and shared with the international community. The Tibetan diaspora is thriving with vibrant democracy and has become an icon for all repressed communities around the world.
Xiao Jie further claims that “leaders such as Penpa Tsering lack the religious authority, family networks, and aristocratic background that once conferred influence within the exile circle.”
Since when have Chinese experts started looking for these qualifications in leadership? What was the proletarian revolution all about? Was it not to overthrow the traditional bourgeois social system based on social status? So, what the Professor is saying is against the basic principle of the proletarian revolution.
Nations Belong to the People
There have been foreign visitors such as Lee Camp, S.L. Kanthan, and Mark Logan who have made favorable comments on the current situation in Tibet. What they say may be true, but only in the sense that it reflects what they were shown and told by the CCP. Their affiliations are also evident from their social media posts.
But there are other recent visitors (name withheld on request), who reported, “Monasteries, Tibetans, and developments are there, but it is all guarded by surveillance cameras and police. Cheerful and frolicking young novice monks of yesteryears are missing. Once friendly and smiling Tibetans in the monasteries and Bakhor areas have now become suspicious, and visitors are not allowed around without local guides. It’s like you are in a beautiful garden with a nagging fear of being stung.”
Tibet has become a showpiece, like a beautiful cut flower, without any substance or real roots. Monasteries and nunneries are under the control of the CCP cadres. Children and young people are prohibited from visiting and joining monasteries. All Tibetan schools are closed and replaced with Chinese colonial boarding schools, where around one million children as young as 4 are forcefully indoctrinated under the regime’s assimilative policy.
The Tibetan language is likewise discouraged. Those promoting the native language are arrested and tortured under false charges. Laws have been enacted to justify the repression and forced assimilation of minority nationalities. To name a few, these include Religious Order No. 5, Religious Order No. 19, the Patriotism Law, and the Ethnic Unity Law. This is the reality behind the development and social stability that the CCP regime and its foreign guests are flaunting.
H.H. the Dalai Lama has on many occasions said that we are all guests on this planet, and we all need to leave after some time and hand over the planet to the next generation. Nations belong to the people, not to the kings, governments, or political parties. It is the welfare of humanity and the sentient beings that is more important than perverted nationalism and patriotism.
The war and the killings that we are seeing right now are all because of our false view of national interest. We must put humanity first before any race, religion, or nationality.
Tibetans, both inside and outside Tibet, and their supporters aspire to the freedom and well-being not only of Tibetans, but also of the Chinese people and other ethnic minorities. They, in fact, hope for a global community espoused by H.H. the Dalai Lama, where humanity could live in peace and harmony.
* Dr Tsewang Gylapo Arya is the former Secretary of the Department of Information and International Relations and former Director of the Tibet Policy Institute. 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.
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