A favourite topic among Chinese economists is comparing provinces. Since all 31 provinces and ‘autonomous regions’ annually publish a statistical report, usually at least 1,000 pages each, there is plenty of basis for comparing growth, consumption, productivity, which industries are flourishing, wealth accumulation, and much more. Yet, Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) established in 1965 is […]
One winter we went to Pong Dam, an earth-fill dam in Himachal Pradesh, India, known for its wildlife—especially birds that nest in winter and migrate from as far away as Russia and Tibet. When evening fell and the sun went down, we started a bonfire. As the fire crackled, I heard tiny popping sounds and […]
The ‘Roof of the World’ or Tibet, presents one of the most formidable challenges to modern governance and statecraft. Spanning about 2.5 million km2, with an average elevation beyond 4500 metres, Tibet comprises of Amdo, Kham, and U-tsang with Tibetan inhabitants. In 1965, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) established the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), […]
Surveillance in Tibet is often described as ‘Orwellian’, reflecting the alarming reality of China’s extensive digital population control system. This apparatus represents one of the most sophisticated and comprehensive forms of surveillance seen in the modern world. Across the Tibetan plateau, what has been systematically established transcends traditional coercive measures; it is a multi-layered, artificial […]
Introduction The expansion of China’s colonial boarding school system in Tibet represents one of the most far-reaching sociocultural transformations in the region’s modern history. While Chinese officials present these institutions as vehicles for ‘poverty alleviation’ and ‘modernisation’, a growing body of scholarship argues that their design reflects settler-colonial logics aimed at restructuring Tibetan identity, language, […]
Sacred Authority, State Power and India’s Strategic Geometry: The Dalai Lama Institution in a Global Context[1] Camera crews and journalists from across the world, from local Himalayan TV to French radio and the BBC, arrived early at a conclave of Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders coinciding with the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday in July 2025. As […]
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