The Chinese government is imposing restrictions on publishing houses in Kham, Amdo, and Tibet Autonomous regions.
On November 10th, the Chinese government released the “White Papers” on Tibet. This report included information that more than 45,000 books and nearly 30 magazines and newspapers written in the Tibetan language have been published in the Tibet Autonomous region. In reality, over the past few years, the publishing houses in Tibet have been restricted and closely watched. The themes of individual books are especially limited.
A renowned Tibetan writer based in Tibet told Tibet Times, “Recently, the Chinese government is imposing severe restrictions on those publishing houses related to renowned Tibetan writers and particularly writers who have been to Chinese prisons. It is not permitted to publish books without approval from the Chinese government for thematic reasons.”
A concerned Tibetan informed Tibet Times, “The Chinese government has reduced subsidies for many publishing houses in Tibet Autonomous region. Books related to the Tibetan language, history, and Buddhism are restricted from being published, but many translation books about the history of the Communist Party of China and its leader’s achievements are published.
He added, “Despite the Chinese government declaring that many books in the Tibetan language are published and distributed in the Tibet Autonomous region, those books all are about Chinese ideology, not Tibetan language and culture. For instance, it’s all about ‘praising songs to the Chinese government,’ ‘Without the Communist party, there would be no new China’ and ‘Masses have to respect the Chinese constitution”.
The theme of books and newspapers in the Tibetan language is all about Xi Jin Ping’s thoughts on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era since the 18th National Congress of the communist party of China and promoting patriotism. Similarly, the website news in the Tibetan language is all about political propaganda as well as the beautiful landscape of Tibet and local products of nomads and farmers for tourist attraction. In terms of using the Tibetan language, if someone uses the Tibetan language on the most used social media platform like Kuaishu, it happens to be closed immediately.
Another Tibetan writer whose Tibetan literary work has been inspected for political reasons by the concerned Chinese authorities told Tibet Times, “Individual books or any other books, following the writer gives the text to the publishing house with details, the publishing house has to seek the permission for publishing from the news radio station of the province. That station secretly orders someone who knows Tibetan to inspect for political issues. If there is any political issue with the book, it has to be marked, but no right to make an amendment. As this inspection process is secret, it is hard to know whether this inspection work is given to one person or a few people. If there is no political issue with the book, it can finally be published.
China’s National News Radio Station implemented the regulations on publishing industry management on June 1, 2016. Individuals or any office must get permission to publish any literary material from concerned authorities at the local, county, or provincial level. It is mentioned that internal secret documents, nationwide banned materials, and external documents without approval are not permitted to be published.
