Chinese colonialism? Beijing forcing 1 mn Tibetan children into boarding schools, erasing cultural identity

More than one million Tibetan children and adolescents have been forcibly placed in Chinese government-run boarding schools across Tibet, where they are subjected to abuse, neglect and political indoctrination, according to a new report released Friday by the Tibetan Action Institute (TAI).

Among them, at least 100,000 are preschoolers between the ages of 4 and 6, the report said. Citing interviews with Tibetan parents and fieldwork conducted by researchers, the report accused Chinese authorities of using the boarding school system to carry out what it called “student colonisation” and erase Tibetan cultural identity.

“As the Chinese govt manoeuvres to co-opt the institution of Dalai Lama by interfering in the reincarnation process, it is simultaneously targeting Tibetan children through assimilationist policies that threaten Tibet’s survival as a distinct people,” TAI said in a statement.

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Dr. Gyal Lo, a Tibetan sociologist who contributed to the report, said the initiative is part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s strategy to undermine Tibet’s 4,700-year-old civilisation. Gyal Lo, who fled Tibet in 2020, said he personally visited more than 50 residential preschools in the Tibetan provinces of Amdo and Kham, estimating that around 100,000 Tibetan children in the preschool age group have been separated from their families and housed in these institutions.

In addition, the report estimates that another 900,000 children and adolescents aged between 6 and 18 are also being kept in similar residential schools.

TAI said the children are prohibited from speaking Tibetan, taught exclusively in Mandarin, and instructed using only government-approved history and ideology.

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“In boarding schools, the indoctrination process begins from a very young age. The children are restricted from speaking their mother tongue - Tibetan - taught in Chinese language, forced to learn and speak Chinese and taught only state-approved history,” the report said.

The schools also subject children to constant messaging emphasising the centrality of Chinese identity and culture, and loyalty to the Communist Party of China, the report said.

The group also highlighted that monks and nuns under the age of 18 have been forcibly transferred to these institutions in recent years, contributing to the Chinese government’s broader crackdown on Tibetan religious and cultural life.

There was no immediate comment from Chinese authorities on the findings of the report. Beijing has previously denied allegations of cultural repression in Tibet, saying its policies have improved economic development and education access in the region.