Blackmail, forcible assimilation, gross religious freedom violations, and cultural genocide against Tibetan Buddhists are among the crimes documented in the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) 2025 annual report. The report was released earlier this week.
The report studies China’s heavy-handed repression of Buddhism in Tibet, a formerly independent country currently occupied by the People’s Republic of China. It also documents America’s support for the Tibetan people and includes recommendations on how to support religious freedom in Tibet.
“This report confirms what Tibetans inside Tibet say every time they have a chance,” said International Campaign for Tibet President Tencho Gyatso. “The Chinese Communist Party sees Tibetan Buddhism as a threat and ruthlessly oppresses it. The international community must put greater pressure on Beijing to end their efforts to hollow out and destroy Tibetan Buddhism.”
Egregious violations
USCIRF notes that Chinese officials “persisted in restricting religious activities of Tibetan Buddhists,” including incidents in which authorities banned the admission of new monks at a Tibetan monastery, prohibited religious activities during the Saga Dawa festival in Lhasa, and forced residents to remove religious symbols displayed outside their homes.
The report also includes the closure of Tibetan monastic schools and the transfer of students into China’s colonial boarding school system to “forcibly assimilate them,” while Tibetan Buddhists are subject to arrest for mentioning the Dalai Lama.
Sinicization is used as a pretext to commit “gross religious freedom violations against Tibetan Buddhists,” and the report notes that this repression extends outside the borders of the People’s Republic of China, with Tibetan diaspora communities subjected to “surveillance, blackmail, and threats against their families living in China to force them into silence.”
American support and recommendations
The USCIRF report covers extensive engagement by the United States on the issue of religious freedom in Tibet, including the activities of former Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Uzra Zeya, multilateral engagement at the UN and other forums, and the passage of the Resolve Tibet Act.
It calls on Congress to prohibit lobbying by Countries of Particular Concern, specifically naming China and noting that lobbyists representing Chinese official interests are working in Washington despite China’s “cultural genocide of Tibetan Buddhists.”
The report further recommends that the White House promptly nominate or appoint a well-qualified individual to fill the “key role” of the Special Coordinator on Tibetan Issues at the State Department, and to provide the financial resources and staff needed to elevate religious freedom in Tibet in engagements with foreign governments.
Full report
The full text of the United States Commission on International Freedom 2025 annual report can be found here.