The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) continues to call on the Chinese government to provide unfettered access to Tibet for diplomats, UN experts, parliamentarians, independent media, and civil society. When granted access to Tibet by the Chinese government, official delegations should apply extreme caution and avoid amplifying Chinese state propaganda on Tibet, ICT said today, as the organization released “Guidelines for official visits to Tibet”.
The document provides essential criteria that official delegations should observe when visiting Tibetan areas. Such visits, in preparation, implementation, and assessment, should follow a “Do-No-Harm-Principle”.
“The international community and media have a responsibility to investigate and provide accurate assessments of the conditions Tibetan people face inside Tibet. Responsibility includes understanding the reality of how their visit and reporting can impact Tibetans after they leave” said ICT President Tencho Gyatso.
The guidelines serve two necessary principles. First, an antidote to the Chinese government’s orchestration of visits to serve their propaganda on Tibet, which misleads the international community. Gyatso added, “Unless challenged by facts, the PRC will continue its wanton persecution of peaceful dissent. Any inaccurate assessment of the complex architecture of repression will be manipulated to dismiss all human rights concerns.”
The guidelines also caution that China routinely depicts Tibet as “stable” and Tibetans as “happy” under Chinese authoritarian rule. Documenting and reporting these claims as disinformation is of critical importance, another reason that access to Tibet must be unfettered and unfiltered by propaganda.
Of paramount importance as well is that visits and subsequent reporting abide by the principle of ‘Do-No-Harm’. Delegations visiting Tibet must not amplify Chinese state propaganda, which actively works to hide the truth in Tibet from the world.
ICT has continuously urged for unfettered access to Tibet and has welcomed the US Congress “Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act (RATA)” in 2018, which was reauthorized in 2024. During the 2024 “Universal Periodic Review” at the United Nations Human Rights Council, several nations called on the Chinese government to grant open, independent and unrestricted access to Tibet, including through the UN OHCHR and special rapporteurs.