China avoids international scrutiny by silencing info about Tibetan deaths in flood disaster: Report

Lhasa, Sep 3 (AHN) China's refusal to share information regarding casualties following the devastation caused by flooding triggered by a glacial collapse in Tibet fits into the long-standing policy of Chinese authorities to suppress information whenever Tibetans suffer disproportionately. By not sharing information regarding the deaths of Tibetans in flooding, China has been avoiding international scrutiny and domestic sympathy, a report has detailed.

The devastation caused by flooding in Tibet was immediate and profound, as entire communities were left in shock and families were torn apart. Following the disaster, the first responsibility of the nation is to inform its citizens regarding the scale of the tragedy. By not revealing information regarding casualties, China has reduced Tibetan lives to abstractions and erased their suffering from public record, a report in Taiwan's Taipei Times highlighted.

"The refusal to announce casualties fits a long-standing pattern of Chinese authorities in Tibet suppressing information whenever Tibetans suffer disproportionately. Whether it is uprisings, self-immolations or environmental disasters, the state’s instinct is to conceal rather than confront. By silencing reports of Tibetan deaths, Beijing avoids international scrutiny and domestic sympathy. To acknowledge Tibetan suffering would be to admit that Tibetans are distinct, resilient and enduring — qualities the state seeks to erase," Khedroob Thondup, nephew of the 14th Dalai Lama, wrote in Taipei Times.

The flooding caused by the glacial collapse is a warning to the world. Tibet's fragile environment, already affected by climate change and reckless development, is a harbinger of crisis to come. According to the report, the international community must acknowledge that China's silence on the Tibet flooding is a cover-up of lives, not of numbers.

The massive flood that struck Nepal's Rasuwa originated in the Tibetan region of China on August 26. It swept through the transboundary Bhote Koshi River, leaving hundreds dead and causing massive destruction in the Himalayan nation.

Meanwhile, US-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused China of resorting to censorship and tighter controls on information amid deadly flash floods that have left people in Nepal and across the border in Tibet reeling from devastation.

According to HRW, the Chinese social media platform Weibo, which operates under Beijing's censorship demands, prominently pinned a memorial hashtag -- 'Mourning the victims of the Gyirong mudslide disaster' -- at the top of its trending topics, alongside eight other disaster-related hashtags.

The lead post featured a China Central Television (CCTV) news anchor essentially reading out a Politburo communique, in which Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly called on China's top leaders to observe a minute of silence for the victims.

"The victims' own voices are largely absent from the trending topics, which focus on the death toll, rescue operations, and the mechanics of the disaster," the rights body noted.

Citing reports, HRW said that journalists in China have been barred from the disaster zone and from interviewing families, leaving them dependent on official information narratives. It alleged that Chinese authorities have also punished at least 10 people for "rumourmongering" related to the disaster.

The rights body further said that Chinese official media relied on AI-generated images and videos purporting to show the likely origins of the mudslide. Referring to international media, it said the full original footage circulated globally -- showing Gyirong Port on the Chinese side of the border being overwhelmed by floodwater as people run for their lives -- was being censored.