Tibetan leader’s death: CTA asks China, Vietnam for transparency
The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) has asked the Chinese and Vietnamese authorities to maintain transparency regarding the mysterious death of Tibetan spiritual leader, Tulku Hungkar Dorje. CTA officials have alleged that Tulku Hungkar Rinpoche passed away in the custody of Chinese officials in Vietnam.
The CTA in a press note issued here said that since late September 2024, Hungkar Rinpoche had been in hiding in Vietnam due to harassment he faced in Tibet from the Chinese authorities. On March 25, 2025, he was arrested from his hotel room at Saigon in Vietnam in a coordinated operation by the local police and Chinese secret agents. Hungkar was subsequently transferred to the local public security office on March 28, where he mysteriously passed away the same day, raising serious concerns about cross-border security cooperation, transnational repression and human rights violations that demand immediate and thorough investigation as well as accountability from both Vietnamese and Chinese authorities, the CTA added.
The CTA officials alleged that the suspicious death of Tulku Hungkar Dorje represented a troubling escalation in China’s systematic targeting of influential Tibetan figures, who promoted Tibetan culture, language and identity. His case highlighted the ongoing suppression of human rights in Tibet, where people live under constant fear of arrest for the slightest expression of Tibetan identity.
The CTA called on the international community to condemn the sudden death of the Tibetan spiritual leader. It said that on April 1, the administrative office of the Lungnon Monastery, Hungkar Rinpoche’s monastery in Tibet, summoned relevant individuals to be presented with his death certificate but they forbid these individuals from keeping the document or taking its photographs.
On April 5, five monks from the monastery, accompanied by Chinese government officials and delegates, travelled to Vietnam to retrieve Hungkar’s body. The same day, a meeting was convened at the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam, which was attended by Chinese officials, while five Tibetans from the monastery were not allowed.
It was unclear whether delegates from the monastery were able to view the actual body or transport it back to the monastery. At present, the body is reportedly at the Vinmec Central Park International Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, the CTA officials alleged.
Tulku Hungkar Dorje was a Tibetan spiritual leader whose life epitomized unwavering dedication to preserving Tibetan identity through education, healthcare and cultural initiatives. He was recognised as the reincarnation of Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje and had established tuition-free Hungkar Dorje Vocational Technical High School serving over 1,000 students. He had founded the Hungkar Compassion Medical Clinic to provide healthcare to underserved communities and created the Excellent Discourse Key Library to safeguard literary treasures, the CTA officials said.
The CTA alleged that last year, the Chinese government had forced Hungkar Rinpoche to host the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu, at his monastery, which he did not comply with wholeheartedly, as per the Communist Party’s wishes. In August 2024, high-ranking Chinese officials from Qinghai province interrogated him extensively and forced him to provide fingerprints, alleging he had composed long-life prayers for the Dalai Lama and failed to implement the Chinese government’s policies in his educational work at Golog, Amdo. These events precipitated his disappearance in late September 2024, followed by a period in hiding in Vietnam, the CTA alleged.
Himachal Tribune