US Says China Restricts Access To Tibetan Region, Journalists Face Hurdles

WASHINGTON, DC- The US Department of State has said that Chinese government regulations and procedures continued to impede travel to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas for US diplomats and officials, journalists, and tourists, with restrictions remaining in place throughout last year.

In its latest annual report to Congress under the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018, the US State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs said that international visitors’ travel to the TAR continues to require approval through government-issued travel permits. In 2025, consular officials from the US Embassy in Beijing were permitted to make the first official visit to the TAR since 2019.

“Diplomats and officials did not require a permit to travel to Tibetan areas outside of the TAR. However, Chinese security forces intimidated and harassed US diplomats, officials, and other foreign visitors through conspicuous surveillance. Tibetan Americans regularly have faced restrictions on their travel to Tibetan areas. Access to Tibetan areas for journalists remained restricted and limited,” the report said.

The report added that although diplomats and other foreign officials are allowed to visit Tibetan areas outside the TAR, Chinese authorities used “conspicuous surveillance” to intimidate, monitor, and harass travelers to these regions.

The US State Department said Beijing heavily restricted and controlled access for American journalists to the TAR, noting that Chinese regulations generally do not require international journalists to obtain prior permission to travel to other parts of the country.

The report cited the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China, a professional organization representing the international press corps in China, as saying that Chinese authorities rejected almost all US journalists’ requests to visit and report from the TAR. According to the organization, at least five such requests by foreign journalists were refused.

It further noted that 93 per cent of correspondents who attempted to travel to the TAR and other Tibetan areas faced difficulties in reporting. While the Chinese government occasionally organizes press tours of the TAR, these do not allow independent reporting.

“When US journalists gained access to Tibetan areas, the Chinese government further suppressed their ability to report about Tibet by intimidating and preventing Chinese nationals from interacting with them. Group tours enabled the government to claim increased numbers and greater access to the region while maintaining strict control over the information conveyed,” the US State Department said.

The report also highlighted restrictions on foreign official access to monasteries in Tibetan areas of Kardze and Ngaba in Kham province.

During visits in recent years to Tibetan areas in Kham and Amdo, local authorities surveilled US diplomats and, in several instances, prohibited them from entering monasteries, blocked roads, prevented meetings with local residents, and monitored their conversations, the report added. (IANS)