Tashi Wangchuk

Tibet’s struggle for autonomy in China is “one of the frontlines” in America’s battle with the Chinese Communist Party, a senior State Department official said at a Tibetan New Year celebration. Albert Gombis, the acting under secretary of state for civilian security, democracy and human rights, made the remark at an event marking Losar, or Tibetan New Year, at the State Department on Tuesday.

Gyalo Thondup, an elder brother of the Dalai Lama who played a crucial role in the history of modern Tibetan, has died at his home in Kalimpong in northeast India aged 97. One of six siblings to the Tibetan spiritual leader, he leaves behind a legacy built on a lifetime of advocating against Chinese rule in Tibet.

Read RFA coverage of this story in Tibetan. A new book by the Dalai Lama documents for the first time in detail the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader’s 70-year struggle with China to secure a future for the Tibetan people. “Voice for the Voiceless: Over Seven Decades of Struggle with China for My Land and My People,” will be released on March 11.