Zhang Yadi was due to begin a degree in the UK but the activist vanished on holiday amid tensions over Dalai Lama
As Zhang Yadi toured remote villages in the Chinese province of Sichuan last year, she updated her friends with messages and photos of lush forest landscapes, colourful streets and locals wearing traditional Tibetan clothing.
The largely Tibetan parts of the province have become a popular tourist destination for holidaymakers. But the 22-year-old, on a break from her studies in Europe, told friends she was saddened by what she saw. While she could hear conversations in Tibetan everywhere, all of the signage was in Mandarin Chinese. Every shop and restaurant she passed appeared to be Chinese owned, not Tibetan. Every lamp-post was decorated with Chinese flags; an endless river of red flowing above them against a cloudy summer sky.
It felt to her like Tibetan culture and identity was being erased. The experience started her on a path that would end with her arrest and disappearance.
Her story appears to be the latest example of Beijing targeting activism taking place overseas. Last year the Chinese authorities put a bounty on a 19-year-old in Leeds for her activism in support of democracy in Hong Kong. Growing up a Buddhist, Zhang became increasingly interested in the Tibetan form of the religion at high school in China and began practising it soon afterwards. Her friends say she also became more aware of the plight of ethnic minorities.
After arriving in France in 2022, she became outspoken about human rights abuses, and last year began writing for a pro-Tibetan newsletter run by the activist group Chinese Youth Stand For Tibet (CYST).
“She always spoke about the problems in China faced by Mongolians, Tibetans and Uyghurs. She says she was really upset in school because she couldn’t really share what she felt,” says Kalsang Yarphel, Zhang’s Tibetan partner of two years. “But once she started writing [for the pro-Tibetan newsletter] and saw that people around her really appreciated her work and her heart, she was less depressed,” he says….
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