The Tibet Action Institute is a human rights organization that campaigns against censorship, propaganda in schools, and surveillance by the People’s Republic of China targeting Tibetan people. The organization also provides Tibetans with digital tools and strategies to create prevalent, nonviolent protests against the actions of the Chinese government. ¹

Background

Tibet Action Institute (TAI) is a human rights organization created in 2009 to assist Tibetans after large protests were held before the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The organization provides activists in Tibet with digital tools and strategies focused on nonviolent protests, and tools to defend against cyberattacks, censorship, and surveillance from the government of the People’s Republic of China. ¹

The organization was founded by Lhadon Tethong, who previously worked as executive director of Students for a Free Tibet from 2002 until 2009. She received the James Lawson Award for Nonviolent Achievement by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict in 2011, and as of July 2023, is co-chair of the International Tibet Network, a coalition of Tibet-related nongovernmental organizations. ²

The Tibet Action Institute received the 2019 Democracy Award from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a private nonprofit grantmaking organization that supports the development of democratic institutions around the world. Though formally private, the NED is almost entirely funded by the U.S. Congress. ²

Political Activities

The Tibet Action Institute has multiple campaigns, some related to censorship, and others related to the protection of children and education.

Chinese Boarding Schools

According to TAI, one million children from Tibet are forced to live in Chinese government-run boarding schools where students live separated from their families, are forced to speak Mandarin, and are separated from the Tibetan language and culture. ³

United Nations experts stated in February 2023 that they were “very disturbed that in recent years the residential school system for Tibetan children appears to act as a mandatory large-scale program intended to assimilate Tibetans into majority Han culture,” adding that this was against “international human rights standards.” It was also stated that the boarding schools are a “policy of forced assimilation of the Tibetan identity into the dominant Han-Chinese majority.” ⁴

Stop Apple Censorship

The Tibet Action Institute argues that American technology and computer company Apple is censoring applications on the version of the App Store available in China. Applications that have been removed from the App Store in China include the New York Times and more than 1,000 virtual private networks (VPNs) which allow users to change their IP address and location to hide their identity. ⁵

Apple trains Chinese app reviewers to reject or remove apps that mention topics Apple deems controversial in China. These topics include independence for Tibet and Taiwan, Tibetan spiritual and political leader the Dalai Lama, and the Tiananmen Square massacre. According to Apple, it removes apps to comply with Chinese law. ⁶

Apple stores its Chinese customer data on computers owned and operated by a Chinese state-owned company. Chinese government workers control and operate the data center, which holds digital keys that unlock Apple customer information. The data centers in question are not encrypted as China refused to allow it. ⁶

The company has also shared customer data with the Chinese government after it changed its Chinese iCloud terms to grant authorities the ability to access to data. ⁶

Confucius Institutes

Tibet Action Institute launched a campaign to end Confucius Institutes in the Boston area in 2017. ⁷ Confucius Institutes are educational institutions funded by the Chinese government. The institute’s stated purpose is to promote the language and culture of China; as of 2021, 525 institutes in 146 countries and regions enrolled more than nine million students. ⁸

According to a report compiled by the National Association of Scholars, Confucius Institute teachers, who are hired and paid by the Chinese government, are pressured to avoid topics like the Tiananmen Square massacre. The institutes also avoid discussing China’s human-rights atrocities and present Tibet as an undisputed territory of China. ⁹

TAI’s campaign against the institutes in Boston resulted in the closure of Confucius Institute programs at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, and Tufts University. The U.S. Department of State designated the Confucius Institute program as “a foreign mission of the PRC” in August 2020. ⁷

1. “What We Do.” Tibet Action Institute. Accessed June 29, 2023. https://tibetaction.net/about/.
2. “Untitled.” NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY. Accessed June 29, 2023. https://www.ned.org/2019-democracy-award/tibet-action-institute-tai/.
3. “Colonial Boarding Schools.” Tibet Action Institute. Accessed June 29, 2023. https://tibetaction.net/campaigns/colonialboardingschools/.
4. China: UN experts alarmed by separation of 1 million Tibetan children from families and forced assimilation at residential schools.” United Nations. February 6, 2023. Accessed June 29, 2023. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/02/china-un-experts-alarmed-separation-1-million-tibetan-children-families-and
5. “Apple.” Tibet Action Institute. Accessed June 29, 2023. https://tibetaction.net/campaigns/apple/.
6. “Apple’s Compromises in China: 5 Takeaways.” New York Times. Accessed June 29, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-privacy-censorship.html.
7. “Say No to Confucius Institutes.” Tibet Action Institute. Accessed June 29, 2023. https://tibetaction.net/campaigns/say-no-to-confucius-institutes/
8. Edwards, Lee. “Confucius Institutes: China’s Trojan Horse.” The Heritage Foundation. Accessed June 29, 2023. https://www.heritage.org/homeland-security/commentary/confucius-institutes-chinas-trojan-horse.
9. ^[1] Edwards, Lee. “Confucius Institutes: China’s Trojan Horse.” The Heritage Foundation. Accessed June 29, 2023. https://www.heritage.org/homeland-security/commentary/confucius-institutes-chinas-trojan-horse.