Chinese authorities have detained prominent Tibetan Buddhist leader Choktrul Dorje Ten Rinpoche and forcibly closed a Tibetan-medium vocational school he founded in Amdo, marking another escalation in Beijing’s campaign against Tibetan language education and cultural preservation, according to the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT).
Sources close to the Rinpoche told ICT that he was detained around December 4 while traveling alone from his monastery to his home. His whereabouts remain unknown, and authorities have provided no information regarding the agency responsible for his detention or the charges against him. The abbot is being held incommunicado, raising serious concerns about his safety and due process.
Choktrul Dorje Ten is the abbot of Osel Thegchok Chokhorling Monastery and the founder and principal of the Dorje Ten Ethnic Vocational and Technical High School in Chigdril (Jiuzhi) County, Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai. Founded in 2010 with official approval, the school was among the few remaining privately run institutions offering Tibetan-medium instruction. It was forcibly closed between October and November, with more than 400 students—about half of them monks and nuns—sent home.
“This detention and school closure are a painful reminder that the CCP onslaught against Tibetan language learning is reaching the last schools that had thus far escaped,” said Tencho Gyatso, president of ICT. “Tibetan is no longer meaningfully supported in schools, and even monasteries are barred from offering supplementary language classes. China is severing Tibetans’ connection to their language, culture, and history.”
ICT believes the detention is linked to policies targeting privately run Tibetan schools at a time when authorities are pushing Chinese-language dominance. Although no wrongdoing has been cited, the Rinpoche had previously been detained in November 2024 and released under strict surveillance, barred from leaving Qinghai—making this latest arrest particularly alarming.
Born in 1967, Choktrul Dorje Ten studied extensively in the Nyingma tradition and earned the title of Khenpo at Larung Gar Buddhist Academy, itself long targeted by demolitions and expulsions. Ironically, Chinese authorities once praised him for promoting education and vocational training. Beyond his monastic leadership, he has held numerous community and cultural posts, including roles connected to Gesar cultural preservation and local consultative bodies.
The shuttered school spanned 96,000 square meters, employed 66 teachers, and has produced more than 1,300 graduates. Its curriculum—delivered primarily in Tibetan—combined core subjects with training in Tibetan medicine, thangka painting, traditional arts, and tourism services.
Rights groups warn that the case reflects a broader, accelerating effort to eliminate Tibetan-language instruction across the plateau. As international scrutiny grows, advocates are urging governments and UN bodies to press China for information on the Rinpoche’s whereabouts and to halt the systematic dismantling of Tibetan educational and cultural institutions.
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