China tightens political grip on Tibet, Tibetans hold just 25.8 pc of senior posts: Report

China is tightening its political control over Tibet while reducing Tibetan representation in senior decision-making positions, according to a report by the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), which has called for greater international support for the Tibetan government-in-exile based in India.

The ICT’s annual Tibetan Leadership Report, released in Washington on Tuesday, said Tibetans occupied only 62 of 240 senior leadership positions across 10 party, government, security and judicial institutions at the provincial, prefectural and county levels in 2026.

This accounts for 25.8 per cent of the senior positions, while non-Tibetans occupied 178, or 74.2 per cent, the report said.

According to the report, no Tibetan serves as party secretary in any of the five provincial-level administrations covering Tibetan areas. Only four of 19 prefectural- and county-level administrations have Tibetan party secretaries.

The report also said no Tibetan holds the position of military commander or political commissar.

ICT calls for greater support to Tibetan administration

The ICT urged the US Congress to restore full funding for humanitarian assistance and other support for Tibetan communities in India and Nepal, as well as capacity-building programmes for the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).

The CTA, based in Dharamshala, represents the Tibetan diaspora and administers community services including education, healthcare and cultural preservation. The Dalai Lama remains the spiritual leader of Tibetans, while the Sikyong serves as the political head of the CTA.

Bhuchung Tsering, head of research and monitoring at the ICT, said India's support had provided the Tibetan community with a foundation to develop its institutions.

“India provides the Tibetans with the foundation to do whatever they want. That's why we have been able to build this foundation there and utilise that here,” he told PTI.

Tsering also urged the US Congress to pass the bipartisan Assuring the Future of Tibet Act (AFTA), which he said would strengthen the US relationship with the CTA and recognise it as the democratically elected representative of the Tibetan people.

He also called on the European Union to appoint a Special Representative for Tibet to improve coordination on Tibet policy and maintain regular consultations with the CTA.

Report flags assimilation policies

The ICT report said China was accelerating policies aimed at the forced assimilation of Tibetans through leadership appointments, legislation and Communist Party directives.

It said the “Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress Law” and “Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building” were being used as legal and ideological foundations for a governance model centred on political loyalty, centralised Party authority and national security.

According to the report, these policies have taken precedence over meaningful Tibetan representation in decision-making.

China administers Tibet through a centralised party-state system in which the top Communist Party official exercises ultimate authority, while the local ethnic Tibetan governor operates within that structure.

“As China further marginalises Tibetan participation in decision-making inside Tibet, the international community should strengthen engagement with the CTA as a democratic partner and representative of the Tibetan people,” Tsering said.