Dharamshala — Two Tibetan officials have been expelled from their government posts after Chinese authorities discovered their involvement in a secret WeChat prayer group dedicated to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The group was created to pray for the Tibetan spiritual leader during his knee surgery in the United States in 2024. Tibetans who secretly pray for the Dalai Lama, possess his photographs, or own his teachings and books can lead to arbitrary arrest, brutal torture, and long prison sentences.
According to the reliable source to TPI, Two Tibetan officials have been expelled from their government posts in Lithang County, Eastern Tibet, in 2024, after Chinese authorities discovered their involvement in a secret prayer group dedicated to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, during his knee surgery in the US.
When His Holiness the Dalai Lama underwent knee surgery in the US, on June 28, 2024, Tibetans inside and in exile, as well as people of all faiths worldwide prayed for His Holiness. Grand prayer services were also held in Dharamshala and across the globe. However, for Tibetans inside Tibet, following the discovery of secret prayer service for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Chinese authorities subjected local Tibetans to arbitrary arrests and summarily expelled officials from their government posts for demonstrating loyalty to the exiled spiritual leader. The Chinese government strictly enforces these bans out of fear that deep devotion to His Holiness will undermine Beijing's political control and influence over the Tibetan population.
In recent years, the few Tibetan officials working in the Chinese government have frequently been expelled from office for various reasons. Most of them are unwilling to criticise His Holiness the Dalai Lama or act as puppets for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). For instance, seven Tibetan staff members were removed from their government posts in Lithang between 2025 and 2026. However, due to the tight information control imposed by CCP authorities, the exact details and specific reasons for their expulsion remain unknown.
China has detained two Tibetan monks for possessing the Tibetan national flag and sharing photos of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Samten Gyatso and Jamyang Samten, both from the Chukha-Ma Monastery in Machu County, Kanlho (northeastern Tibet), were taken into custody by Chinese police in early 2025. The Chinese authorities strictly ban the possession and sharing of the Dalai Lama's image, as well as the Tibetan flag. Paradoxically, while the Chinese government criminalises these expressions of devotion, it still insists on controlling and selecting the next reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama.
China-Tibet: The one-thing you need to know:
Over the past 70 decades, there has been ongoing political repression, social discrimination, economic marginalization, environmental destruction, and cultural assimilation, particularly due to Chinese migration to Tibet which is fueling intense resentment among the people of occupied Tibet.
The communist-totalitarian state of China began its invasion of Tibet in 1949, reaching complete occupation of the country in 1959. Since that time, more than 1.2 million people, 20% of the nation's population of six million, have died as a direct result of China's invasion and occupation. In addition, over 99% of Tibet's six thousand religious monasteries, temples, and shrines, have been looted or decimated resulting in the destruction of hundreds of thousands of sacred Buddhist scriptures.
Until 1949, Tibet was an independent Buddhist nation in the Himalayas which had little contact with the rest of the world. It existed as a rich cultural storehouse of the Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings of Buddhism. Religion was a unifying theme among the Tibetans -- as was their own language, literature, art, and world view developed by living at high altitudes, under harsh conditions, in a balance with their environment.
