Norsang and Sabha Ville, Nagchu County, Tibet. Photo: TPI

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Dharamshala, India — Chinese authorities arrested six Tibetans in 2019, one of whom died after years of torture in Chinese jails, after they refused to participate in the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Chinese Communist Party's authoritarian regime's founding.

Norsang, a 37-year-old Tibetan man, died in a Chinese prison after years of torture. Other details are unknown due to the Chinese authoritarian regime's tight control over the internet and media in Tibet, a source told TPI recently, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Norsang was one of six Tibetan men detained by Chinese authorities on September 20, 2019, in Tarchen Township, Nagchu, central Tibet, after refusing to engage in the 70th-anniversary celebrations of the Chinese Communist Party's authoritarian regime.

The six Tibetans, identified as Manpa Tsegyal, Yangphel, Dudul Lhagyay, Norsang, Shewang Namgyal, and Sithar Wangyal and they were arrested in Tarchen Township in Nagchu, Tibet, on September 20, 2019. Five Tibetans were released after seven days in Chinese detention, but Norsang went missing; information about him has remained undisclosed since then, and it was only recently learned that he had died.

Norsang was 35 years old when he was arrested in 2019, and he and his wife had seven children, including an unborn child. He is a courageous man who has never wavered in his devotion to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and has spoken out against China's oppressive policies in Tibet.

According to TPI’s previous report, the authorities have stepped up efforts to prevent protests by Tibetans and further tightening control over Tibet in preparation for the 70th anniversary of Chinese communist rule in China. Six Tibetans have been arrested in central Tibet after refusing to take part in government events to mark the 70th anniversary of the PRC.

They reportedly refused to obey official instructions to wave Chinese red flags, sing patriotic songs and praise the Chinese Communist Party ahead of celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Numerous events have been held across Tibet in preparation for the anniversary. Every Tibetan restaurant, shop, home, monasteries, and school has been forced to display large Chinese flags and banners praising the CCP and Xi Jinping.

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 nation in the Himalayas which had little contact with the rest of the world. It existed as a rich cultural storehouse — 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.