ICT’s Bhuchung K. Tsering speaks outside the Chinese Embassy on March 10, 2026.
On March 10, 2026, thousands of Tibetans and supporters of Tibetan freedom gathered in cities and towns to remember the sacrifice and courage of Tibetans’ 1959 uprising against China’s invasion and annexation of their homeland. The commemorations also honored Tibetans who have died as a result of China’s illegal occupation of Tibet and underlined the threat the Chinese Community Party (CCP) poses to Tibet’s unique linguistic, cultural and religious heritage.
In Washington, DC, activists including volunteers from the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), joined members of the Capital Area Tibetan Association at the Chinese Embassy and read statements from six bipartisan Members of the U.S. Congress demanding that the PRC end its campaign of cultural erasure in Tibet. Letters from Senators Jeffrey Merkley (OR) and Jacky Rosen (NV) and Representatives Christopher Smith (NJ), James McGovern (MA), Joe Wilson (SC) and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (CA) expressed their solidarity and support for the Tibetan cause. The advocates then marched peacefully through the northwest portion of the city to raise awareness about the 1959 uprising. Tibetan communities across the country, including in New York City; Madison, Wisconsin; Portland, Maine; and Boulder, Colorado, held demonstrations as well.
Tibetans and Tibet supports march through Washington, DC on March, 10, 2026.
International demonstrations
Similar events were held across Europe. In Brussels, rallies were larger than in 2025 and included significant numbers of young Tibetans from the Belgium diaspora. Messages from two Belgian parliamentarians were read aloud. In Amsterdam, ICT leaders spoke to a crowd of approximately 150 Tibetans and allies at the Royal Palace, where attendees celebrated the recent discovery of a 1655 Dutch map that testifies to the historical independence and distinct nationhood of Tibet.
In Dharamsala, India, the Central Tibetan Administration, the internationally recognized voice of the Tibetan people in exile, held its commemoration ceremony in the Tsuglagkhang Courtyard, where Sikyong Penpa Tsering hoisted the Tibetan flag and welcomed remarks from Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, former European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pottering, Czech Senate Vice President Jiri Oberfalzer, German Parliamentary State Secretary Michael Brand and Latvian parliamentarian Juris Vilums. Thousands of exiled Tibetans attended. Oberfalzer spotlighted the historical independence of Tibet and Brand called for the PRC to immediately release the 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima.
In New Delhi, Tibet groups including the Tibetan Youth Congress peacefully protested at the Chinese Embassy against CCP policies restricting political and cultural freedoms in Tibet and forcibly relocating Tibetans. In Taipei, where approximately 300 marchers gathered, organizers connected the global struggle for Tibetans’ human rights to countering PRC aggression against Taiwan and spotlighted Beijing’s ongoing campaign of cultural erasure in Tibet.
Globally, Human Rights Watch noted that, 67 years later, “the repression of Tibet remains unrelenting,” and called on the international community to “use this moment to challenge China’s enforced silence surrounding Tibet, by pressing for information about” arbitrary detentions, deaths in custody and the PRC’s denial of access to Tibetan areas.