HRF condemns the arrest of dozens of Tibetans peacefully protesting a planned mining project, which is part of a larger concerted effort by the Chinese Communist Party to extract natural resources while disenfranchising local Tibetan communities.

A @wsj exclusive reveals more than 60 Tibetans were arrested for protesting the site of a gold mine in a pasture area typically used for herding sheep and yaks in Kashi village, which is located in a Tibetan autonomous area in the western Chinese province of Sichuan. (Wall Street Journal)

The government asserted that the land planned for the mine belongs to the state and that any attempt to halt the project would be illegal. Communist Party  and local government representatives also sealed off the village, warning locals not to speak about the matter.

The CCP has continued to exploit Tibet’s rich natural resources while disrupting local and nomadic ways of life and tightening control over Tibetan communities to coerce them into assimilation.