In Tibet, some embrace their native language even under China's sweeping new 'ethnic unity' law

LHASA, Tibet (AP) — Kalsang Lhamo traces a series of vertical strokes, slow but firm, practicing Tibetan calligraphy. A 73-year-old retired nurse, she has spoken Tibetan all her life but never learned to write it. Now, in classes at a center for older adults, she immerses herself in the script.

Lhamo also speaks and writes Chinese, which China mandated as its primary language for schools and government agencies in a sweeping new “ethnic unity” law implemented July 1. Under the new regulations, acts deemed to incite division among China’s 56 ethnic groups are prohibited, and schools, families and other institutions are expected to foster patriotism, national unity and a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation.

The law has been widely criticized as a way to further erode the rights of Tibetans and other minorities, and for the authority it gives Beijing to target activities it considers separatist, even outside China. The Chinese government has dismissed foreign criticism as “ideological bias.”

In Tibet — a remote Himalayan region officially designated autonomous but tightly controlled by Beijing — the stakes are particularly high. This year, China is marking the 75th anniversary of what it calls the “peaceful liberation” of Xizang — the Chinese name for Tibet — an event many Tibetans in exile and other critics regard as an invasion.

Some Tibetan activists say the new law represents more forced cultural assimilation and extended control over ethnic minorities. Rights groups say language policies have already been implemented in other minority regions, including expanded Mandarin education for Uyghurs in Xinjiang and the replacement of some Mongolian-language instruction with Mandarin in Inner Mongolia .

“Minority communities that seek to maintain their culture will be pushed toward a double life of public conformity and private reservations,” wrote James Leibold from La Trobe University and Tenzin Dorjee from the advocacy group Tibet Action Institute in Foreign Affairs magazine.

The Associated Press last month joined a government-organized trip to Tibet , including stops in the regional capital, Lhasa, and the city of Shannan, where authorities arranged visits to palaces, Buddhist temples, tourist sites, local businesses and the eldercare center where Lhamo studies. Government officials accompanied the foreign journalists throughout the visit, and AP journalists were not free to move around or conduct reporting independently. The AP retained full editorial control of its content.

Reminders that Tibet is part of China are everywhere, from Chinese airport welcome messages and billboards promoting ethnic unity to Chinese national flags and President Xi Jinping portraits in public squares and buildings.

Some Tibetans, like Lhamo, have found ways to embrace their language and identity, even as critics say the new law pushes China's majority Han culture. In Tibet, that can mean studying the Tibetan script, speaking it at home and with family members, preserving traditional weaving and attending Buddhist rituals.

At the Jokhang Temple, one of Tibet’s holiest religious sites, Tibetans and Han Chinese visited. Some rested outside. Most people in Tibet practice Tibetan Buddhism.

“As a Tibetan, I think it’s important to preserve our language and our culture,” said Qongqiu Quco, a 19-year-old student who came with her aunts, some of them Buddhist nuns.

“Everyone in our ethnic group hopes that our culture can be passed down to future generations,” said Quco, an aspiring teacher who speaks Tibetan much of the time. But at school, she noted, students speak different Tibetan dialects, so they use Mandarin.

For Tibetan Buddhists, the Dalai Lama is their spiritual leader. But at Jokhang Temple, there are no signs or references to the current Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile since fleeing to India after a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.

The succession of the 14th Dalai Lama, who established a government-in-exile unrecognized by Beijing, has become one of the most contentious issues surrounding Tibet. The Dalai Lama has said his successor could be born outside China and that only his office has the authority to recognize his reincarnation.

Beijing says the selection must comply with Chinese law and receive government approval. China has long accused the Dalai Lama of promoting separatism.

The Potala Palace, one of Tibet's most revered sites and once the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas, also had no public reference to the current leader. Thousands visit daily — tourists from across China and local Buddhist believers who pray and leave offerings, including money.

Today, the Chinese national flag flies there.

Benno Weiner, a professor and historian on modern China and Tibet at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, said many effects of the policy shift have already been visible for years — particularly stripped-away education and language rights.

“I don’t think the law itself changes things,” he said. “I think it sort of codifies and sort of summarizes a trend that’s been going on.”

Beijing says the policies improve educational opportunities and ensure equal access for ethnic minorities.

The same week as AP's government-organized trip, China’s No. 4-ranked Communist Party leader, Wang Huning, toured Tibet, where he said the priority in governing the region was maintaining stability. He called for the implementation of the unity law and urged authorities to “guide Tibetan Buddhism to adapt to socialist society,” according to a report by state news agency Xinhua.

On its trip, AP visited a traditional Tibetan medicine facility; artisan workshops and cultural centers with traditional crafts, including ceramic making and textile weaving; and a Tibetan opera performance, where workers and performers spoke about the importance of preserving local traditions.

Weiner noted that the Chinese government’s approach to cultural preservation often emphasizes elements seen as less politically sensitive and suitable for tourism.

“The parts of culture that they want to protect and maybe even enhance are the sort of anodyne or nondangerous clothing, certain celebrations that are not religious in many cases,” he said. “Things that maybe not that coincidentally also attract tourists.”

At the Tibet Museum, an exhibit highlights Tibet’s historical links with Chinese dynasties over centuries, a narrative Beijing uses to argue that Tibet has long been part of China. Many Tibetans in exile dispute that, arguing that Tibet was independent for much of its history.

Laba Ciren, the Communist Party's official in charge of the museum, spoke to journalists about the new law. “It only brings benefits and does not have any negative effects,” he said.

Access to Tibet is tightly restricted for foreigners. But for those who do arrive, a first observation — after the thinner air, with Lhasa Gonggar International Airport at 3,600 meters (11,800 feet) elevation — might be the official welcome messages.

Some signs are written in Chinese and Tibetan. But outside the terminal, a large sign, in Chinese, says simply: “Xizang welcomes you.”

From highways to city streets in Lhasa and Shannan, billboards promoting ethnic unity are a constant presence. In part, one reads, in Mandarin and then Tibetan: “Forge a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation.”

In Lhasa, Lhamo retired 22 years ago. With her children grown, she tries to make it to classes at the center every day — writing, grammar, poetry — in part because she wasn't able to attend school as a child.

“Our mother tongue is the Tibetan language,” she said proudly.

Associated Press video producer Olivia Zhang contributed.