Lhasa, July 24 (IANS) The detention of Zhang Yi, a Wuhan activist long monitored by the authorities in Tibet, has sparked concerns among Tibetan human rights activists and those who have followed his trajectory since the late 1980s. He was arrested on July 1 during his trip to Tibet after allegedly showing a picture of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on his phone.

The opaque handling of the case and the arrest indicates that the first day of implementation of China's new National Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law may have given local authorities an opportunity to demonstrate severity, a report in 'Bitter Winter' highlighted.

Zhang visited Lhasa with his younger brother after they received permission to travel to Xinjiang and Tibet after making repeated requests. During their visit, the two brothers visited the Sera Monastery in Lhasa and tried to borrow a prayer mat from a Tibetan. Since they could not communicate verbally, he showed a picture of Dalai Lama on his phone.

Shortly afterwards, the police intervened and arrested both men. Zhang Yi's brother was released after giving a statement. However, Zhang was placed under 15-day administrative detention. On July 18, Zhang's family received a call, where they were told that he had been placed under criminal detention for alleged "incitement." No formal notice has been issued yet and the place of his detention remains unknown. His family feared that the timing of the arrest, coinciding with the first day of implementation of China's National Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, may have made him a convenient target for showcasing severity.

According to the 'Bitter Winter' report, born in Wuhan in 1968, Zhang was a law student at Wuhan University during the 1989 protests and emerged as one of the student leaders in the city. After the crackdown, he was sentenced to two years in prison for “gathering crowds to disrupt traffic" and he served his sentence in Hongshan Prison, where he was tortured that left him permanently deaf in one ear. Following his release, he continued to express dissenting views and marked Tiananmen Square massacre, which led local authorities to identify him as a key individual for stability maintenance.

Earlier in 2018, he was placed under administrative detention after he shared a picture of the “symbolic tomb” of Liu Xiaobo online and helped organise commemorative activities. Later that year, he was violently intercepted and beaten by police officers from multiple jurisdictions after he did not agree to follow demands linked to "stability maintenance."

Earlier this month, Ryan Fioresi, Executive Director of the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), said that China is intensifying human rights abuses in Tibet and using a new law to place its forced assimilation policies on a legal footing.

He said the situation inside Tibet remained deeply troubling. He urged the United States and other governments to press Beijing to resume negotiations with the Dalai Lama or his representatives.

"The situation inside Tibet is quite grim," Fioresi told IANS in an interview. "The human rights abuses are escalating from the Chinese government."

Fioresi pointed to China’s Ethnic Unity and Progress Law, which came into force on July 1. He said the measure gave legal cover to policies aimed at weakening Tibet’s distinct identity.

"The Chinese government just implemented on July 1st, just a few days ago, the Ethnic Unity and Progress Law, which codifies many of Beijing’s forced assimilation policies into Chinese law," he said.

"Many of the stipulations in the Ethnic Unity and Progress Law contravene China’s own constitution and its international human rights commitments."

Fioresi said the International Campaign for Tibet had sought to draw global attention to the legislation. "We called on governments, the United Nations, interfaith leaders to speak out on this law, to shine a light on what China is doing to erase Tibetan identity and to urge Beijing to change these policies," he said.

--IANS

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