China Power | Diplomacy | East Asia

China Forced Nepal to Cancel an International Conference on Tibetan Studies

The incident reveals Beijing’s growing efforts to assert authority over Tibetan Buddhism – including in other countries.

The 17th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies (IATS) Conference, scheduled to be held at Kathmandu University, Nepal, from August 23-29, was cancelled on August 5 and later shifted online. The cancellation was done by the organizers, at the formal request of the Nepali government. 

The IATS conference is one of the premier academic forums for Tibetan culture, history, language and religion. The conference was set to bring together scholars from 40 countries, including India, China, and the United States – many of whom had already arranged and paid for costs to attend the conference in Kathmandu. The conference had been in planning for four years, as Nepal was selected to host the seminar in 2022. The abrupt cancellation of the conference on grounds of “security concerns” highlights both Beijing’s ironclad grip and bid to assert authority over Tibetan Buddhism. 

The cancellation came after Chinese officials expressed concerns over pro-Tibet activists using the platform for demonstrations. Notably, Nepal’s security agencies had ruled out the possibility of a security threat to the event. 

The pressure came not only from Chinese diplomats but, most remarkably, a religious figure. The Venerable Master Yinshun, former vice president of the Buddhist Association of China and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and abbot of the Chinese Temple of Nepal, visited Nepal on July 29. Following his visit, combined with diplomatic efforts by Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Zhang Maoming, around a dozen scholars from the Tibetan Policy Institute in India withdrew their participation from the conference. 

The cancellation of the conference is consistent with Beijing’s recent efforts to exert control over Nepal’s association with Tibetan Buddhism. This is seen in several pre-emptive and proactive measures taken by Beijing to curb Tibetan Buddhism’s influence in Nepal. Earlier this year, Zhang, China’s ambassador, warned the home minister of Nepal, Sudan Gurung, against any government-level participation by Nepal in the oath-taking ceremony of the penpa tshering held on May 27 in Dharamshala, India. The penpa tshering is the highest executive authority of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). Notably, the oath-taking ceremony was also attended by the 14th Dalai Lama.

The CTA functions as the government-in-exile for the Tibetan people globally. Around 91,000 Tibetans registered their vote for the 2026 elections that elected the penpa tshering across India, Nepal, Bhutan, Europe, the United States, and other parts of Asia and Africa. In a bid to delegitimize the elections and the support for the CTA, a Global Times editorial characterized the elections as illegal and the CTA as an illicit “separatist organization.” 

These efforts are not unique to Nepal. China has accelerated its efforts seeking to control narratives and perceptions related to Tibet around the world. Beijing’s bid for control over Tibetan Buddhism in particular comes at a crucial time: the Dalai Lama is now 91 years old, and he has announced........

© The Diplomat