Robert Barnett

The ruling is likely to cause a precipitous drop in the number of Tibetan senior high-school students studying Tibetan, since it will now be optional in the last 3 years of high school. Students in China rarely have time for subjects that don't contribute to their gaokao score. (10)

Tibetan will still be a compulsory class in Tibetan primary schools (grades 1-6) and junior high schools (grades 7-9), but not in senior high schools. (9)

Tibetan high school graduates who need a qualification in Tibetan language in order to join a college course on Tibetan medicine, language or literature will be allowed to take a separate Tibetan exam, but it will not count towards their gaokao score. (8)

He added that the policy change is because Tibetan-related university programs "face relatively limited enrollment quotas, narrow pathways for advancement, a narrow range of disciplines, and limited employment opportunities." He did not provide evidence to support these claims. (7)

Karma Tseten said the goal of removing Tibetan from the gaokao "is to correct the erroneous societal perspectives of prioritizing scores and academic advancement, and to truly achieve student success and social equity." It is unclear how the decision could help these aims. (6)

The announcement was made by Karma Tseten, governor of the TAR, at a high-profile press conference at China's State Council Information Office in Beijing on Tuesday Aug 5. It was made clear that the decision is not limited to the TAR but will apply throughout China. (5)

Till now Tibetan students could use their Tibetan paper grade for 50% of their gaokao marks, but ability in Tibetan will now not count. Tibetan will also not be one of the optional gaokao papers (ideology and politics, history, geography, physics, chemistry, and biology). (4)

This means that Tibetan will no longer be a paper in the gaokao. (3)

"Following relevant policy adjustments, Tibet, like other provinces and autonomous regions, has implemented a "single-paper [unified] exam" system. The unified exam covers Chinese, mathematics, and a foreign language (including English, Russian, Japanese, French, German, and Spanish)." (2)

China has announced that from next month, Tibetan will no longer be a subject in the annual National College Entrance Examination (高考 gaokao), China's most important test for high school students. According to the announcement (www.scio.gov.cn/live/2025/36...):

Making Minorities on the Sino-Tibetan Borderlands of Socialist China | Remote Inner Asia Colloquium

Benno Weiner's talk on the history of Sino-Tibetan borderlands, focusing on "pluralistic promises" vs "revolutionary impatience" in Amdo: Friday 18th Jul at 15:00 CET (9am EST, 2pm UK, 630 IST). www.remote-xuar.com/events/makin...

The best books to understand the plight of Tibetans in contemporary China Benno Weiner shares the 5 best books on understanding Tibetan plights in contemporary China. Have you read My Tibetan Childhood?

End of the year, new app, seems like a good time to share something I did for Shepherd back in summer. Particularly happy that three of the books are by Tibetan authors writing in Tibet/China.
@woeser.bsky.social @robbiebarnett.bsky.social

shepherd.com/best-books/u...

强力外交：中国在不丹的跨境村庄 摘要 2016年，中国开始在通常被认为属于不丹的领土上建造一个村庄。五年后，这个村庄的存在 才被外界观察者发现，或被外国政府注意到。 当时，中国已经在不丹的传统习惯边界内建立了另外两个村庄。这些也位于喜马拉雅山高地或 喜马拉雅峡谷的偏远地区。目前已有22个这样的村庄和定居点。从卫星图像来看，这些中国 村庄和聚居区由约 752 个住宅区组成，估计分为 2,284 个住宅单元，每个单元可容纳一个家 庭。为了...

As traffic to our site from Chinese readers grows, we continue to make available Mandarin translations where possible:

强力外交：中国在不丹的跨境村庄 摘要 turquoiseroof.org/download/%e5...

(Summary of @robbiebarnett.bsky.social's report: Forceful #Diplomacy: China’s Cross-Border Villages in #Bhutan) #不丹

Map3: China's 8 cross-border villages in Bji Gewog, western Bhutan, & areas claimed there by China. The Bhutan-Tibet (China) border is as shown on the 1:250,000 Map of Bhutan 2006. Names of valleys & sites of Chinese villages added. Map: Robert Barnett 2024.

Note that Map 2, based on Bhutan's official 2006 map, shows Menchuma as *within* Tibet (China). Previous Bhutanese maps & government statements showed Menchuma as part of Bhutan, suggesting Bhutan ceded the area to China at some time in the early 2000s. This has never been made public.

Map 2: China's 14 cross-border villages in Kurtoe Gewog, Lhuentse, northeastern Bhutan. The Bhutan-Tibet (China) border is as shown on the 1:250,000 Map of Bhutan (Dept. of Survey & Land Records), 2006. Names of valleys & sites of cross-border villages have been added.

3 Maps showing China's new villages in Bhutan.
Map 1: principal areas of Bhutan currently claimed by China. Most of the claimed areas in the west (parts of Bji gewog) & in the northeast (the Beyul and Menchuma) have now been annexed by China. Map: Foreign Policy/Robert Barnett.

Map 2: China's 14 cross-border villages in Kurtoe Gewog, northeastern Bhutan. The Bhutan-Tibet (China) border is as shown on the 1:250,000 Map of Bhutan (Dept. of Survey & Land Records), 2006. Names of valleys & sites of cross-border villages have been added : R Barnett 2024

3 Maps showing China's new villages in Bhutan.
Map 1: principal areas of Bhutan currently claimed by China. Most of the claimed areas in the west (parts of Bji gewog) & in the northeast (the Beyul and Menchuma) have now been annexed by China. Map: Foreign Policy/Robert Barnett.

Forceful Diplomacy: China’s Cross-Border Villages in Bhutan In 2016, China began constructing a village in territory generally understood to be part of Bhutan. It was five years before the existence of that village was discovered by outside observers or notice...

Time-lapse videos of construction at each site are here: turquoiseroof.org/forceful-dip... /5

China's explanation to CNN for its villages within Bhutan's traditional borders: “China’s construction activities in the border region with Bhutan are aimed at improving the local livelihoods”. (The only residents in those areas are the c. 7000 people China has paid to relocate there since 2017.) /4

China is building new villages on its remote Himalayan border. Some appear to have crossed the line | CNN Chinese construction is expanding on land that Bhutan’s official maps show as part of the Himalayan kingdom, as Beijing ramps up efforts under leader Xi Jinping’s national security drive to assert con...

CNN has a major report on China's villages in Bhutan: edition.cnn.com/2024/11/05/a.... It has the 1st quote from China's Foreign Ministry on the villages, not denying they're in disputed territory: “China and Bhutan have their own claims regarding the territorial status of the relevant region.” /3

Forceful Diplomacy: China’s Cross-Border Villages in Bhutan In 2016, China began constructing a village in territory generally understood to be part of Bhutan. It was five years before the existence of that village was discovered by outside observers or notice...

Details of China's construction programme on the Bhutan border are here, including lists and locations of the Chinese cross-border villages: turquoiseroof.org/forceful-dip.... /2

The Bhutan Anomaly - SOAS China Institute Research by Robert Barnett and others has found that China has been annexing Bhutanese territory in recent years.

China is close to achieving its objectives on its border with Bhutan. Its strategy can be called 'Friendly Annexation' - friendship-based diplomacy at the same time as annexing territory within its neighbour's customary borders. It seems to be working: blogs.soas.ac.uk/china-instit.... /1

Seminar at SOAS, Thurs Nov 21, 5pm on

"Text-mining Propaganda: Studying Tibetan Newspapers, 1950s to early 1960s".

Speakers: Franz Xaver Erhard (Leipzig University) & Robert Barnett (SOAS). Moderator: Marcus Gilroy-Ware @mjgw.bsky.social (Creative Digital Media, SOAS).

Details: soas.ac.uk/about…

The Tibet-Aid Project and Settler Colonialism in China’s Borderlands This year marks 30 years since China launched its ambitious Tibet-Aid Project (援藏计划), a vast and ongoing party-state effort to reshape the region. Unveiled at the 1994 Tibet Work Forum, the scheme pai...

In this new essay, James Leibold examines the expansion of the Tibet-Aid Project in Xi Jinping’s ‘New Era’ of Han-centric nationalism and explores how the project facilitates Han settler colonialism in the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

Forceful Diplomacy: China’s Cross-Border Villages in Bhutan In 2016, China began constructing a village in territory generally understood to be part of Bhutan. It was five years before the existence of that village was discovered by outside observers or notice...

Forceful Diplomacy: China’s Cross-Border Villages in Bhutan
In 2016, China began constructing a village in territory generally understood to be part of Bhutan. It was five years before the existence of that village was discovered by outside observers or noticed by foreign governments.