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China’s latest gold-mining drive in Kham Zachukha has exposed a ruthless campaign to dispossess Tibetans of their sacred land and silence dissent through force and fear. Aggressive mining at Serkhok (“Gold Valley”) has cut into a traditional grazing ground and spiritually revered landscape, while peaceful protests have been met with raids, torture, enforced disappearances and a sweeping communications blackout. This weaponised model of “development” shows Beijing using mining, surveillance and repression to tighten its grip over Tibet and crush resistance to the destruction of the plateau’s fragile environment.
In November, residents of Kashi village in Sershul County discovered large-scale gold mining underway at Serkhok, a site central to local livelihoods and belief systems. Villagers confronted the miners and alerted local authorities, only to be told that the land fell under the state’s “complete ownership” and that Tibetans had no right to intervene.
For local communities, Serkhok is not merely an economic resource but part of a sacred plateau that sustains pastoral life and delicate ecosystems. Chinese authorities and companies, however, continue to present mining as “development” or “green energy”, even as grasslands are torn up, water sources polluted and the Himalayan environmental shield—relied upon by millions downstream—eroded.
Mass arrests and disappearances
China’s response to these peaceful environmental protests was an iron-fisted security operation. On the evening of 6 November, security forces carried out door-to-door raids in Kashi, detaining around 80 Tibetans and transferring them to Sershul County for interrogation. By early December, many had been released, but at least 18 were initially reported missing. Weeks later, seven Tibetans remained unaccounted for, their whereabouts unknown.
Testimony gathered by the Tibet Policy Institute and Tibet Watch points to severe torture and ill-treatment in custody. Released detainees reportedly suffered broken ribs, kidney damage and other serious injuries. Some were freed only after being forced to sign false “confessions”, underscoring the coercive nature of China’s so-called rule of law in Tibet.
To conceal the crackdown, authorities imposed a sweeping communications blackout. Internet and phone access were heavily restricted, and residents say speaking about the protests to anyone outside the area is treated as a “serious criminal offence”. Information emerged only because locals risked their freedom and safety to pass it beyond the region.
Surveillance has since intensified. Activists report that cameras now monitor even nomad tents, turning daily life into a constant state of observation. Police are reportedly visiting every household in Kashi, questioning residents about how news of the protest reached the outside world and warning that further disclosures will bring harsher punishment.
From Dharamshala, home of the Central Tibetan Administration, Tibetans in exile have condemned Beijing’s campaign of arrests, torture and environmental destruction in Zachukha. Tibet Watch researcher Sonam Topgyal describes a wider pattern of politically driven, unregulated mining across Tibet, where media access is barred, communities are silenced, and officials collude with private business interests.
Tibetan Youth Congress general secretary Tenzin Lobsang warns that mining carried out in the name of “green energy” is destroying Tibet’s environment and injuring local residents, many of whom remain hospitalised, with seven still missing. He urges the international community and human-rights advocates to oppose China’s destruction of the Himalayan belt, which functions as Asia’s water tower and climate regulator.
Tempa Gyaltsen Zamlha, deputy director of the Tibet Policy Institute, has appealed to governments and multilateral bodies to challenge China’s actions at Zachukha. He calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained Tibetans, an end to mining at Serkhok, and accountability for both the operating company and the officials who authorised and enforced the project.
What is unfolding in Kham Zachukha is not an isolated “law and order” matter. It reflects a systematic strategy of weaponising resource extraction, surveillance and fear to tighten Beijing’s control over Tibet’s land and people. Unless met with sustained diplomatic pressure, targeted sanctions and international solidarity, China is likely to read silence as a licence to deepen environmental destruction and human-rights abuses on the Tibetan plateau.
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