Tibetan spokesperson's Twitter handle censored & hacked in alleged 'Chinese crackdown'

In what is being suspected as the Chinese Communist Party's [CPC] tough crackdown against pro-Tibetan figures, the official Twitter handle of the spokesperson and additional secretary, Department of Information and International Relations for the Central Tibetan Administration [CTA] mysteriously disappeared on Monday, January 17. In a statement to Republic TV on Jan 18, Tenzin Lekshay, a vocal critic of China’s larger campaign of a disproportionate crackdown on Tibetans, said that his Twitter account briefly disappeared earlier on Monday and later was found active, although heavily censored. The information on the account including the location was also altered.

Speaking to Republic TV, Tibetan spokesperson Lekshay revealed that he was contacted by an anonymous media figure linked to the Chinese state-affiliated media on another communication platform with a request to access a mysterious link that traced back to the People’s Republic of China. As he attempted to access the link, his Twitter handle was compromised. He chose not to name the media person for security reasons. 

“It may have been an attempt to hack the servers linked to the  Central Tibetan Administration [CTA],” he said, adding that mysterious links were rampantly fired to some of the other official accounts linked with his handle, all of whom he promptly cautioned.

The spokesperson for the Tibetan administration censured the CPC for its attempts to cut communications and stifle voices via a preventive control on the information in the Tibetan region. “This is deeply concerning,” he iterated accusing China. The account of a prominent Tibetan activist based in Dharmshala, Himachal Pradesh, Yeshi Dawa was also compromised. Dawa, a Tibetan-in-exile, has been widely engaged in activities related to awareness about various social and environmental issues in the Tibetan region all the while opposing Beijing’s oppressive acts in Tibet.

China’s Public Security Bureau in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) had earlier warned that the social activities among Tibetans and their local initiatives linked to environmental protection, language preservation, and dispute mediation, is considered a form of ‘organized crime.’ The censorship on Tibetan spokesperson Lekshay’s Twitter account bears similarity to the now taken down official handle of the Chinese Tennis player Peng Shuai on Weibo, which similarly remains active but the information and the posts where she accused the powerful former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual abuse mysteriously disappeared. 

China’s crackdown against the critics and its attempt to curtail the rights of Tibetans was derided by the Tibetan spokesperson in a statement to Republic, as he stressed that he would continue to take a stand against Beijing’s political campaign of suppression of dissent and enforcement of policies in Tibet. China’s attempts of curtailing the international support for Tibet by snapping the communication mediums, and strengthening its own political grip at the grassroots levels will be countered, Tibetan spokesperson Lekshay said.

TCA spokesperson demands that his Twitter platform must be 'reinstated immediately' 

He demanded that his Twitter account must be reinstated immediately, adding that he has raised an official complaint with Twitter. In the past, China had similarly cracked down on the Tibetan news sources and had dramatically escalated its intrusive measures to eliminate the pro-Tibetan opinions in line with CCP’s leader Xi Jinping policies to force the Tibetan population to demonstrate loyalty to the communist regime. 

On January 5, TCA spokesperson had published the revised edition of International Resolutions and Recognitions on Tibet that opposed the forced occupation of the People’s Republic of China of the Tibetans who “started  to build  a  new life  from  scratch  in  India.” The document sought global attention, including of the United States for support and intervention against the gross human rights violations of  Tibetans by CPC.  It also urged China to come to the negotiating table to peacefully resolve the  Sino-Tibetan conflict through dialogue.

Tibetan spokesperson Lekshay condemned China’s atrocities on the Tibetan activities, and its belligerent acts towards “Tibetan culture, tradition, and identity” after the CPC arbitrarily detained the Tibetans, and forcibly demolished the Tibetan Buddhist school, constructed in 2014 by scholars and monks of Gadhen Rabten Namgyal Ling Monastery. Chinese authorities also destroyed the Buddha and Manjushri Statues in Drakgo (Ch: Luhuo) county in Tibet’s traditional Kham province. The latter also accused Chinese authorities in Tibet of severely restricting freedoms of religion, expression, movement, and assembly citing a 2022 Human Rights Watch report.