Ruili · Full chronicle and history

On October 24, at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, a group of Xinjiang students gathered in front of the camera. One female student cried while delivering a patriotic speech, and the video was met with ridicule from netizens after it circulated.

Recently, the Chinese government successively closed the Lajia Town Girls' School and the Golog Daozha Welfare School (the filming location of the movie "Son of Light") in Golog Prefecture, Qinghai. The two schools retained many educational approaches for passing down Tibetan culture; primary school students were transferred to the local central primary school, and middle school students may be moved to the distant Golog Xining National Middle School and Golog Haidong Middle School, sparking Tibetan concerns about the deprivation of their right to pass on their national culture.

A netizen revealed that taking photos at Potala Palace Square in Tibet will get you taken by police into a police booth for registration and investigation — one registration per photo taken.

Zhang Yi, a dissident from Wuhan, was arrested by Chinese Communist Party authorities on suspicion of "inciting secession" after showing a photo of the Dalai Lama to a Tibetan woman at Sera Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet. His family learned on October 8, 2026 that the Lhasa Public Security Bureau had transferred the case to the procuratorate for review and prosecution. Zhang Yi remains detained at the Lhasa Detention Center, and his lawyer has not yet been granted access to the case files.

On October 1, 2026, the CCP's National Day of Mourning, an inverted blood-red five-star flag appeared at the entrance of Kunming Trinity International Church, and related photos subsequently spread online.

On October 1, in front of the General Buddhist Temple in Ruili, Yunnan, several monks in robes lined up neatly facing the national flagpole and held a flag-raising ceremony accompanied by the national anthem. The video sparked heated discussion among netizens.

British human rights organization Tibet Watch released a report claiming that Chinese authorities are building an air control system in Tibet, ranging from police drones to anti-drone equipment, drawing the attention of British lawmakers.

On August 11, 2026, a monk at the Serta Larung Gar Five Sciences Buddhist Academy in Garze, Sichuan held up a portrait of the 10th Panchen Lama to protest forced demolition, and was subsequently taken away, his whereabouts unknown.

China's chosen Panchen Lama attempted to attend an international conference on Tibetan Buddhism, but was ultimately rejected by the organizers.

From mid-July 2026, the Larung Gar Buddhist Institute in Seda, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, has once again been hit by large-scale forced demolitions. The authorities plan to tear down about 2,000 monastic residences and forcibly send away non-local monks and nuns, while the military and police maintain a tight blockade and surveillance.

On July 1, 2026, Zhang Yi, a leader of the 1989 student movement, was taken away by police while sightseeing at Sera Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet, after showing a Tibetan woman a photo of the Dalai Lama on his phone. On July 28, the Lhasa Municipal Procuratorate approved his arrest on suspicion of inciting secession.

The NPC of China passed the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, which comprises a preface and 7 chapters with 65 articles; Beijing said it establishes norms and legal responsibilities for the cause of ethnic unity and progress.

In 2026, China introduced the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, which stipulates that if overseas organizations or individuals "sabotage ethnic unity" or incite separatism, China can pursue their legal liability; outside observers believe this is legislation responding to pressure from the US and the West over Tibet and Xinjiang.

The Chinese government intervened in the reincarnation process of the Panchen Lama. The Panchen Lama designated by the Dalai Lama was taken away by the Chinese side, after which China selected and promoted a Panchen Lama of its own.