Archive · 16 Aug 2026
Tibetan man claims China harassing diaspora over ethnic unity law
A Tibetan man named Gaden lives in New Zealand.
He told a radio station there that he and other Tibetans are being watched and bothered.
He says this happens because they do not like a new Chinese law about ethnic unity.
Gaden says people are sometimes photographed from far away.
He says the law is meant to make Tibetan culture disappear.
He also says Tibetan prayer flags are being removed or burned.
Gaden mentioned a man who hurt himself with fire outside the United Nations building in New York.
He said some Tibetans are doing this because they feel very frustrated.
Gaden said Tibetans are peaceful people who just want their identity to be kept safe.
A report also said that China's actions in Tibet are like building an empire by forcing people to become the same.
History shows that such empires do not last forever.
A Tibetan man living in New Zealand, Gaden, told Radio New Zealand that his community is being spied on and harassed for opposing China's ethnic unity and progress law.
Gaden said people faced pressure from Chinese nationals, including being photographed from a distance rather than approached directly.
New Zealand's SIS threat assessment said diaspora community groups were being unfairly targeted by foreign states and proxies seeking to limit their democratic rights and freedoms.
Gaden described the law as an attempt to wipe out Tibetan culture, alleging that Tibetan prayer flags are being taken down, burned, or stamped on.
Gaden linked a recent death by self-immolation outside the United Nations headquarters in New York to Tibetan frustration over the law, and a European Times report compared the Chinese Communist Party's Tibet policy to empire-building through assimilation.
- Who
- Gaden, a Tibetan man living in New Zealand, speaking on behalf of the Tibetan community.
- What
- Claims that the Tibetan community is being spied on and harassed for protesting against China's ethnic unity and progress law.
- When
- No specific date is given; the report references a recent self-immolation outside the United Nations headquarters in New York.
- Where
- New Zealand (where the Tibetan man lives), Tibet, and outside the United Nations headquarters in New York.
- Why
- Gaden says the ethnic unity law is an attempt to wipe out Tibetan culture, leading Tibetans to protest and face alleged harassment.
- Source of report
- Radio New Zealand (RNZ)
- Complainant
- Gaden, a Tibetan man living in New Zealand
- Main allegation
- Surveillance and harassment of the Tibetan community
- Law opposed
- China's ethnic unity and progress law
- SIS assessment
- Diaspora groups unfairly targeted by foreign states and proxies
- Recent incident
- A man died after setting himself on fire outside the UN headquarters in New York
- Analyst view
- European Times report calls CCP Tibet policy empire-building through assimilation
- Quoted figure
- Khedroob Thondup, nephew of the Dalai Lama, cited the fall of past empires