As Zhang Yadi toured remote villages in the Chinese province of Sichuan last year, she updated her friends with messages and photos of lush forest landscapes, colourful streets and locals wearing traditional Tibetan clothing.
The largely Tibetan parts of the province have become a popular tourist destination for holidaymakers. But the 22-year-old, on a break from her studies in Europe, told friends she was saddened by what she saw.
While she could hear conversations in Tibetan everywhere, all of the signage was in Mandarin Chinese. Every shop and restaurant she passed appeared to be Chinese owned, not Tibetan. Every lamp-post was decorated with Chinese flags; an endless river of red flowing above them against a cloudy summer sky.
It felt to her like Tibetan culture and identity was being erased. The experience started her on a path that would end with her arrest and disappearance.
She always spoke about the problems in China faced by Mongolians, Tibetans and UyghursKalsang Yarphel
It appears to be the latest example of Beijing targeting activism taking place overseas. Last year the Chinese authorities put a bounty on a 19-year-old in Leeds for her activism in support of democracy in Hong Kong.
China introduced a draft law this month that bans actions that “damage ethnic unity” even if they take place overseas. It has also increasingly pushed foreign institutions to refer to Tibet as “Xizang”, the country’s name in Mandarin, according to Human Rights Watch.
Tibet, now an autonomous region of China, was annexed in 1951. More recently, Beijing has been accused of forcefully assimilating Tibetans. A series of mass protests against Chinese occupation in 2008 were followed by heavy censorship and imprisonment.
Growing up a Buddhist, Zhang became increasingly interested in the Tibetan form of the religion at high school in China and began practising it soon afterwards. Her friends say she also became more aware of the plight of ethnic minorities.
Chinese tourists dressed in Tibetan costume pose for a photo before the Dalai Lamas’ traditional winter residence, the Potala Palace, in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. Photograph: CNS/Getty
After arriving in France in 2022, she became outspoken about human rights abuses, and last year began writing for a pro-Tibetan newsletter run by the activist group Chinese Youth Stand For Tibet (CYST).
“She always spoke about the problems in China faced by Mongolians, Tibetans and Uyghurs. She says she was really upset in school because she couldn’t really share what she felt,” says Kalsang Yarphel, Zhang’s Tibetan partner of two years.
“But once she started writing [for the pro-Tibetan newsletter] and saw that people around her really appreciated her work and her heart, she was less depressed,” he says.
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Zhang returned to China this summer and had planned to travel into more Tibetan regions, but she was arrested in late July. Neither her family nor friends have had any contact with her since then.
She is believed to be being held in a detention centre in her home city of Changsha, in central China on suspicion of “inciting separatism”. The charge is being widely used to convict Tibetans and Uyghurs as part of Beijing’s escalating crackdown on separatist movements. If found guilty, Zhang faces a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Kalsang Yarphel says her arrest came as a big shock. “It’s really hard,” he says. “My head is burning.”
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I don’t think she expected this heavy charge … we are not advocating separatism. I don’t want her to be in jail for nothingGinger Duan
Ginger Duan, founder of CYST and a close friend of Zhang, says she might have felt a sense of security travelling to Tibetan parts of China as a young Chinese student who has never had any hostile encounters with the authorities. She had travelled through Tibetan regions previously without any trouble.
“I don’t think she expected this heavy charge, because we [at the newsletter and CYST] are not advocating for separatism. I don’t want her to be in jail for nothing,” says Duan, who added that although the group has been targeted by authorities in the past, no contributor had ever been detained.
Zhang spoke about wanting Chinese people to better understand Tibetan culture and identity. “We [at CYST] would like to hold more discussions between Tibetans and Han Chinese people, so that the two sides can hear each other’s voices. I think this is so important,” she said, in a recording made in May and shared with the Guardian by friends shortly before she went to China.
Yicheng Huang, who was teaching Zhang the Tibetan language online, says activists outside China should have done more to prioritise her safety. “She’s very young,” he says. “She always had passion and ideas, always was courageous. And she believed in Buddhism. She didn’t realise how dangerous it was.”
The Dalai Lama at a ceremony near the Indian town of Dharamsala, where the Tibetan government in exile has been based since 1960. Photograph: N Kulkarni/AFP/Getty
Not long before Zhang’s arrest and disappearance, the Dalai Lama, who as Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual leader has long been a thorn in the side of Beijing’s attempts to suppress Tibetan identity, celebrated his 90th birthday.
In an act of defiance against China, he announced to Tibetan monks and leaders that he planned to remain in the role until he died, after which his inner circle would have the “sole authority” to locate his successor (the child in whom Tibetan Buddhists believe the Dalai Lama’s spirit is reborn). Beijing has insisted that the choice of the next Dalai Lama lies only with China, and has even enshrined this claim in Chinese law.
Maya Wang, at Human Rights Watch, says that although it is difficult to pinpoint what triggered Zhang’s arrest, the Dalai Lama’s announcement was likely to impact her case.
Zhang was due to begin graduate studies in anthropology at Soas University of London this month, and her friends say she aspired to work in the field of human rights.
A Soas spokesperson says: “We are aware of reports that a Chinese citizen who has been offered a place at Soas is missing and detained. We are following the case very closely and offering support to those impacted via the channels available to us.”
The Chinese embassy in London was approached for comment.
