The Dharamshala-based Tibetan government-in-exile has raised alarm over a fresh wave of demolitions allegedly launched by Chinese authorities at Larung Gar Buddhist Academy, the world’s largest Tibetan Buddhist institute in eastern Tibet, describing the action as an assault on Tibetan identity.
Event Context
The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), while raising concern, said the latest round of demolitions at one the largest Tibetan Buddhist centres in the world represents a further tightening of restrictions of religious practice and comes amid an escalation in the Chinese government’s coercive assimilation policies in Tibet after the China’s new Ethnic Unity and Progress Law went into effect on July 1.
“Since 2001, Chinese authorities have repeatedly targeted Larung Gar for demolitions, forcing monks, nuns and lay practitioners to leave and destroying vast swaths of living quarters in an effort to severely reduce the size of the centre,” ICT has said.
Founded in 1980 to revive Buddhist scholarship and mediation, Larung Gar grew in size and reputation over the decades as one of the most influential centers for the study of Tibetan language, culture and religion.
Team Analysis
Following the demolitions in 2001 and 2016–2017, which saw over 7,000 monastic dwellings destroyed, and thousands of residents forcefully evicted—the government of the People’s Republic of China, has continued to tighten its grip on the Tibetan Buddhist Institute.
“While China’s unlawful demolition of Tibetan heritage and blatant disregard for Tibetan identity have been ongoing since the occupation, the timing of this renewed physical destruction is noteworthy. It occurs just weeks after China implemented its new “Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress” on 1 July 2026. Rather than fostering unity, this legislation serves as a coercive legal weapon designed to accelerate the forced assimilation of Tibetans,” the report by CTA says.
Spokesperson of Dharamshala-based Tibetan government-in-exile, Tenzin Lekshay, said the latest demolition at Larung Gar marks a dangerous escalation in China’s systematic assault on Tibetan identity. “It is the inevitable consequence of the so-called Ethnic Unity Law, which seeks to erase Tibet’s distinct religious, cultural, and linguistic heritage under the guise of national unity,” he said.
“The harder China presses to dismantle Tibet’s civilisational heritage, the greater the damage to its own moral standing and global credibility. Beijing must understand that Tibet’s heritage is not merely the foundation of Tibetan identity—it is a repository of universal values of compassion, wisdom, and non-violence that belong to humanity,” he added.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), said that the renewed demolitions signal that the Chinese government’s campaign against Larung Gar is far from over. “It signals the continuation of a long-term policy aimed at reducing the institute’s monastic population, tightening state control over Tibetan Buddhist institutions, and reshaping religious practice in line with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) policy of the sinicisation of religion,” it said.
source
The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), while citing sources, said in a report that demolitions began around July 13. According to the report, at least six residences have already been torn down as of July 15, and in the coming weeks and months, they said that the authorities are set to systematically destroy an estimated 1,060 quarters belonging to monks and nuns.
