Chinese authorities have sentenced Jampa Choephel, a Tibetan monk from Rebkong in Qinghai Province, to 18 months in prison for sharing teachings of the Dalai Lama on his WeChat account. The monk was detained on March 22, shortly after reposting the Dalai Lama’s speech on March 10—Tibetan National Uprising Day, a date that commemorates the 1959 Tibetan rebellion against Chinese rule.
The Rebkong City Police Department arrested Choephel and held him in Gura Tang prison before his secret trial in August. During the entire legal process, Choephel’s family was not informed and have since been warned not to inquire about his case, highlighting the opaque and repressive nature of the proceedings. On September 22, Choephel was transferred to a prison in Xining, the provincial capital, to serve the remainder of his sentence.
Jampa Choephel’s case reflects a wider crackdown on Tibetan monks, nuns, and intellectuals by Chinese authorities, targeting those who dare to express their religious or cultural identities. Sharing the Dalai Lama’s teachings, possessing his photos, or even discussing his speeches has been criminalized in Tibet for decades, viewed by the Chinese government as acts of separatism.
Originally from Rebkong Medpa, Choephel went into exile in India in 1986, studying at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamshala for ten years before returning to Tibet in 1996. He has since resided at Penkar Thang Monastery in Rebkong, dedicating his life to meditation, teaching Tibetan calligraphy, and sharing his knowledge of English. Despite his peaceful endeavors, Choephel was constantly monitored by Chinese authorities, who often issued warnings and surveilled his activities during significant religious events.
The conviction of Jampa Choephel is yet another example of Beijing’s broader effort to stifle any form of cultural and religious expression among Tibetans. Many Tibetans are routinely detained without due process for simply sharing information about the Dalai Lama or discussing Tibetan identity, with punishments meted out in secret trials that lack transparency and accountability.
