On July 2, 2026, Tibetan activist Lobsang Palden, widely known as Lobga Rangzen, died after he self-immolated outside the United Nations Headquarters in New York to protest China’s repressive rule of Tibet. This took place a day after China’s new so-called “Ethnic Unity and Progress” law came into effect on July 1, 2026. The law codifies the Chinese Communist Party’s forced assimilation policies and transnational repression on a massive and systematic scale and provides the legal architecture to accelerate the erasure of Tibetan history, culture, language, and identity.
Over 170 Tibetans are known to have self-immolated in protest against the CCP, with most of them taking place inside Tibet. Lobga Rangzen’s self-immolation is the first by a Tibetan on US soil. In a video message he posted online before his self-immolation, Lobga Rangzen called for united action on behalf of Tibet. He said “Communist China’s policies and activities in Tibet are targeted at completely destroying the Tibetan people,” and that China is denying the Tibetan people their human rights, including freedom of speech and the right to even display a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The international community, and the United States, must urgently heed his message and hold the Chinese government accountable for its policies of repression and forced assimilation in Tibet. The US government and Congress must sound the alarm on China’s repressive new “ethnic unity law,” call for its immediate repeal, and strengthen US support for the Tibetan people.
We’re asking for your help today: sign our petition to Congress calling on our leaders to publicly condemn China’s policies of forced assimilation, call for the repeal of China’s new so-called ethnic unity law, and co-sponsor new bipartisan legislation that strengthens US support for the Tibetan people and the Central Tibetan Administration.
