Tashi Wangchuk
Tashi Wangchuk is a Tibetan cultural rights defender from Jyekundo County in Kham (Yushu, Qinghai Province). In the years prior to his detention, Tashi Wangchuk was alarmed by the Chinese government’s increasing restrictions on the use and teaching of the Tibetan language in schools. Tashi Wangchuk advocated for Tibetans’ right to use and develop their own language, which is guaranteed under the Chinese Constitution as well as under international human rights law. In 2017, the International Tibet Network awarded Tashi Wangchuk the ‘Tenzin Delek Rinpoche Medal of Courage’ to recognize “his courage and dedication to promoting Tibetan human rights and justice for the Tibetan people.”
Chinese human rights defenders work across a wide spectrum of issues, engaging with rights violators on numerous levels. Many of China’s most prominent and most stringently prosecuted defenders have worked to protect the health and well-being of victims of physically harmful government and corporate practice, including forced abortion, food health scandals, environmental pollution, and corrupt or negligent government action leading to preventable loss of life.
