Keir Starmer: Defend Tibetan Rights in China Visit

URGENT: Defend Tibetan Rights in Upcoming China Visit

Dear Prime Minister,

We write on behalf of 148 International Tibet Network members [1] including UK-based Tibet organisations and Tibetan community members, ahead of your first official visit to China. While we recognise the government’s desire for a “stable and pragmatic” relationship with China, this must not come at the cost of silence regarding the systematic erasure of Tibetan culture, religion, and environment. As a leader who has dedicated much of your career to the defence of international law and human rights, you understand better than most that engagement without accountability is not diplomacy but complicity.

Your visit coincides with a moment of profound crisis for human rights in Tibet [2]. In February 2025, Freedom House awarded Tibet a global freedom score of 0 out of 100, ranking it the least free place on earth, lower than even North Korea [3]. This is not merely a human rights issue; it is a rapidly accelerating campaign of erasure.

Over the past year, Chinese authorities intensified their crackdown and expanded policies that reveal a consistent pattern of repression, targeting Tibetans for practising their culture, religion [4], language, and way of life, systematically undermining their identity. [5]

Since January 2022, 24 different UN Special Procedures mandates, including those for Human Rights Defenders, Freedom of Religion, Arbitrary Detention, and Cultural rights,[6] have documented a harrowing pattern of repression designed to dismantle Tibetan identity. These experts have raised “grave concerns” regarding the forced assimilation of nearly one million Tibetan children into a mandatory residential school system [7], alongside extensive labour transfer programmes [8], and the erosion of traditional livelihoods and language. The UN has further denounced the criminalisation of human rights and environmental defenders [9] and Beijing’s interference in religious succession, specifically the reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama and the ongoing 30-year disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama. [10]

These issues and their urgency have already been raised multiple times by the British Government, including during China’s Universal Periodic Reviews and UN Human Rights Council sessions [11]. The UK has on multiple occasions raised the seriousness of human rights in Tibet as key priority issues during formal statements and recommendations.

At the same time, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) repression of Tibetans is no longer confined to Tibet but communities around the world, including in the UK, are increasingly subjected to acts of transnational repression.[12] Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hongkongers and Chinese dissidents increasingly report persistent surveillance and harassment linked to Chinese state actors. With the recent Sunday Times expose [13] revealing an unchecked surge of unregistered Chinese diplomatic officials in London, and the looming threat of China’s “mega embassy” at Royal Mint Court, the UK is becoming a playground for transnational repression. If the UK government allows Beijing to surveil and harass UK-based Tibetans and Hongkongers with impunity, it fails in its primary duty to protect its own citizens.

The UK government has stated that its China policy is to cooperate where possible, compete where necessary, and challenge where required. This framework only works if the “challenge” is robust and public. History shows us that Beijing treats silence as a green light for further escalation. To ignore the plight of Tibetans is to signal that the UK’s commitment to the rule of law is negotiable.

It is therefore essential that you use this first visit to China to raise these issues directly and robustly with the Chinese leadership to seek accountability for these abuses and challenge the Chinese government’s attempts to undermine the international human rights system. It also means striving for a just and lasting settlement of the Tibet-China conflict that upholds Tibetans’ rights, not least their legal and fundamental right to self-determination.

We call on you to:

• Address Political Status: Explicitly call for a return to substantive, direct dialogue between the Chinese government and representatives of the Tibetan people. This dialogue must be grounded in the Tibetan people’s rights under international law. The UK has the opportunity to lead the international community in seeking a just, lasting political resolution that recognises the unique status and rights of the Tibetan people.
• Release Human Rights Defenders: Demand the immediate and unconditional release of all Tibetan human rights and environmental defenders. Remind the Chinese leadership that the UK has raised specific concerns about arbitrary detention and the treatment of human rights defenders.
• Ensure Cultural and Religious Survival: Demand an immediate end to the coercive residential school system that separates nearly one million Tibetan children from their families. The UK must call for the reopening of private Tibetan schools and a right for Tibetan parents to choose.
• Seek information about the 11th Panchen Lama: Demand verifiable proof of life and the immediate whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, missing for over 30 years. [14]
• Environment and Consent: Call for an immediate moratorium on all mining and hydropower projects in Tibet until China can prove it has obtained the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) of the Tibetan people.

The world is watching how the UK balances its economic ambitions with its legal obligations. We urge you to lead with the same commitment to international law that has defined your professional life. By raising these issues robustly, you can ensure that the UK-China relationship is grounded in accountability and respect for the inherent dignity of the Tibetan people.

Yours sincerely,

On behalf of the following listed International Tibet Network Member Groups:

Appendix: Urgent Cases of Human Rights Violations (2025-2026)

• Tulku Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche, a highly respected Tibetan Buddhist leader of Lung Ngon Monastery in Tibet, died in late March 2025, at the age of 56, while in joint China- Vietnam custody in Ho Chi Minh City, after fleeing persecution in Tibet. His body was cremated in secrecy and without the consent of his family or monastic community in April, despite urgent international appeals for an independent investigation. https://tibetnetwork.org/un-rights-experts-question-vietnam-and-china-on-the-suspicious-death-of-senior-tibetan-lama/

• China’s state-run boarding school system has separated an estimated one million Tibetan children from their families, undermining intergenerational transmission of language, culture, religion, and community life. This system has been widely criticised by UN experts as coercive and assimilative in nature. Recent reports from Chinese state media itself confirm that this destructive campaign has now aggressively permeated the earliest ages, reaching even primary school children through intensified “red” re-education; a systematic attempt to impose uncritical devotion to Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party and its propaganda. The evidence of overt militarisation is profoundly alarming and constitutes a severe form of abuse:
  • State-run television recently paraded young Tibetan children marching in fatigues, performing the ritual of raising the red flag on a parade ground and practising defence drills such as diving for cover under their desks.
  • Kindergarten children are being forced to absorb ‘red stories’ that explicitly glorify the brutality of the People’s Liberation Army and demand unquestioning loyalty to Xi Jinping and the Communist Party.
    https://savetibet.org/the-indoctrination-of-tibetan-elementary-students-how-the-communist-party-enforces-red-re-education-with-mao-worship-and-military-training/

• In 2025, the Chinese government continues to assert that it alone has the authority to control the recognition of Tibetan Buddhist reincarnations, including that of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, directly interfering in religious affairs and violating the right to freedom of religion. Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama on 2 July 2025, ahead of his 90th birthday, reaffirmed that only the Gaden Phodrang Trust has authority to determine his reincarnation. His Holiness declared that “no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter.”
  Five UN Experts expressed “grave concern” in a formal communication over Chinese laws and policies that assert state control over Tibetan Buddhist practices, particularly the reincarnation of religious leaders
  https://tibetnetwork.org/protecting-tibetan-religious-rights-addressing-chinas-reincarnation-policies/

• In August 2025, scholar monk Shersang Gyatso took his own life following a crackdown that included raids, searches for Dalai Lama images, and bans on traditional religious ceremonies. In July 2025, young Tibetan singer Asang was detained after posting a song in tribute to the Dalai Lama; he has since been released but remains barred from social media.
  https://tibetnetwork.org/religious-crackdown-tibet-briefing2025/

• At least 80 Tibetans were arrested by Chinese authorities following anti-mining protests in Kashi Village, Kham, Tibet, in December 2025. The protests erupted in response to the launch of a gold mining project at a site known as Serkhok (“Gold Valley”), a pasture traditionally used by Tibetan nomads to sustain their livestock-based livelihoods.
  https://www.savetibet.eu/mass-detentions-following-protest-against-gold-mining-in-eastern-tibet/

• Tibetan community leader and environmental defender A-Nya Sengdra, arrested on 4 September 2018, was expected to be released in September 2025 after serving a seven-year sentence. His prison term has now been arbitrarily extended to February 2026, for reasons that remain unknown.
  https://tibetnetwork.org/joint-statement-crackdown-in-tibet/
• Gonpo Kyi, who has tirelessly campaigned for the release of her brother, businessman Dorjee Tashi, has faced repeated harassment and violence. In August 2025, after enduring relentless surveillance and obstruction of her rights, she attempted to protest by jumping from the second floor of her brother’s hotel in Lhasa. Dorjee Tashi is currently serving a life sentence on fabricated charges, maintaining his innocence despite torture during interrogation.
  https://freetibet.org/latest/gonmo-kyi-injured-in-jump-from-lhasa-hotel-while-detained-by-police/

NOTES: 

1. The International Tibet Network is a global coalition of 140+ Tibet-related non-governmental organisations. Its purpose is to maximise the effectiveness of the worldwide Tibet movement. https://tibetnetwork.org/
2. GEOGRAPHICAL NOTE: ‘Tibet’ refers to the three Tibetan provinces of Amdo, Kham and U-Tsang. In the 1960s, the Chinese government split Tibet into new administrative divisions: the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), and Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures within Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces. When the Chinese government references Tibet, it is referring to the TAR.
3. Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2025, assigns Tibet a Global Freedom Score of 0 out of 100 for both 2025 and 2024, reflecting the most severe level of repression. In previous years, Tibet received a score of 1 out of 100, indicating a long-standing but worsening absence of political rights and civil liberties. https://freedomhouse.org/country/tibet/freedom-world/2025
4.  International Tibet Network, 2025, Imprisoned For Celebrating His Holiness the Dalai Lama- Advocacy Briefing –https://tibetnetwork.org/religious-crackdown-tibet-briefing2025/
5.  International Tibet Network, September 2025, Tibetan Environment Activist’s Sentence Extended by China Amid Widening Crackdown – https://tibetnetwork.org/joint-statement-crackdown-in-tibet/
6. Since January 2022, 24 different UN Special Procedures mandate holders have raised serious concerns regarding the situation in Tibet. These include the mandates on Arbitrary Detention, Business, Climate change, Cultural rights, Development, Disappearances, Education, Environment, Executions, Freedom of opinion and expression, Freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Housing, Human rights defenders, Independence of judges and lawyers, Indigenous Peoples, Internally displaced persons, Minority issues, Racism, Religion or belief, Slavery, Terrorism, Torture, Trafficking in persons, Women and girls.
7. OHCHR, February 2023, China: UN experts alarmed by separation of 1 million Tibetan children from families and forced assimilation at residential schools https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/02/china-un-experts-alarmed-separation-1-million-tibetan-children-families-and
8. OHCHR, April 2023, China: “Vocational training” programmes threaten Tibetan identity, carry risk of forced labour, say UN experts |  https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/04/china-vocational-training-programmes-threaten-tibetan-identity-carry-risk
9. UN Human Rights Experts Question China’s ‘Deliberate Attempt” To Forget Tibetan Human Rights Defenders https://tibetnetwork.org/un-human-rights-experts-question-chinas-deliberate-attempt-to-forget-tibetan-human-rights-defenders/
10. UN experts raise grave concerns about China’s planned interference the Dalai Lama https://tibetnetwork.org/un-experts-raise-grave-concerns-about-chinas-planned-interference-the-dalai-lama/
11. UN Human Rights Council 60: UK Statement for the Item 4 General Debate – GOV.UK
    https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/un-human-rights-council-60-uk-statement-for-the-item-4-general-debate
    Joint statement on the human rights situation in Xinjiang and Tibet – GOV.UK https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/joint-statement-on-the-human-rights-situation-in-xinjiang-and-tibet
    China’s Human Rights Abuses in Tibet atUN Human Rights Review – International Tibet Network https://tibetnetwork.org/china-upr-tibet/
    Tibet at the 60th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council https://savetibet.org/tibet-at-the-60th-session-of-the-united-nations-human-rights-council/
12. Amnesty International reports on PRC transnational repression and UK Foreign Affairs Committee inquiries documenting intimidation of Tibetans, Uyghurs and dissidents. https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/138330/default/
    BBC News 26 July 2025. UK condemns Hong Kong cash offer for help in arresting activists  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdx069we39xo
    Sky News, September 2025  Hong Kong activists with bounties on their heads say they don’t feel safe in the UK  https://news.sky.com/video/hong-kong-activists-with-bounties-on-their-heads-say-they-dont-feel-safe-in-the-uk-13435767
13. The Times, 22 December 2025, China’s battle for a giant ‘spy base’ in London,
    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/invasion-of-spies-inside-the-fight-to-build-chinas-new-embassy-t5q0h6w86
14. Missing for over 25 years: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UNLgYWIjsjW626CX4F7Tv7W1EyrRoI0k/view?usp=sharing