The road ahead is not easy, but we cannot lose hope. We must keep our hopes so we can have a better day soon. Being Tibetans, we have solidarity and support for all our brothers and sisters who are victims of any authoritarian state.
For the state, how long can you suppress people? How long will you silence people with detention, with torture, and with guns and bullets?
So we must be committed. Then I say, as I said earlier, we shall overcome. Definitely, our day will come.
Tamo Gonpo Dhundup, a young MP of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, stated the above when The Vietnamese Magazine interviewed him on June 15, 2026. This was his message to Vietnamese human rights activists, independent journalists, and democracy advocates now facing an intensified campaign of transnational repression by the Vietnamese government.
Gonpo said that activists will face many challenges, with the next one being even more difficult than the last. However, they must remain committed to their causes and the reasons they chose their jobs, as he believes that better days will come.
Gonpo draws on his experience as an overseas Tibetan to send encouraging words to the Vietnamese people. He was born in India in 1994 and grew up with his exiled Tibetan parents in Dharamsala. He recalled his childhood and his education in India, where he began to fight for a free Tibet within his community, family, and in his heart.
When asked why he could be so dedicated to fighting for Tibet even though he was born outside his parents’ homeland decades after the Dalai Lama resettled in Dharamsala, he replied that the will to fight for Tibet is in the blood of every Tibetan, no matter where they are born or live.
More than that, the belief in and respect for the Dalai Lama also unites Tibetans in their shared struggle and common cause. Fighting for a free Tibet is the cause Gonpo committed to and the reason for his activism.
When asked about the cause he and other Tibetans continue to fight for, Gonpa said:
“There are innocent [Tibetan] people who are suffering under the Chinese occupation. So we have a moral responsibility to work for the cause of Tibet. This is the kind of upbringing from our family. The advice and the kind of education that we receive from our schools, along with all the community advice. We, the majority of Tibetan youth, grow up in that kind of community and remain committed to the cause. Our cause is to achieve a free Tibet, which is our goal. I was brought up with it, and it continues to grow with me as I grow up.”
Gonpa is now the MP for the Tibetan Parliament in Exile. Before being elected, he was the former president of the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC). TYC is a pro-Tibetan independence youth organization in exile and one of the most visible Tibetan activist groups. It is a worldwide Tibetan organization working to restore complete independence for Tibet, preserve Tibetan religion, culture, and traditions, and promote unity among Tibetans.
Tibetans Have Compassion for Vietnamese People
Tibetans are well aware of the human rights situation in Việt Nam, especially after the unexpected and sudden passing of Tibetan Lama Tulku Hungkar Dorje in Hồ Chí Minh City in April 2025.
Lama Tulku Hungkar Dorje was a highly respected figure in the Tibetan community. He traveled to Việt Nam sometime around March 2025 and died under suspicious circumstances. No public investigative report regarding his death has been released. Furthermore, Việt Nam hurriedly cremated the monk’s body without performing an autopsy. Tibetans believe his death has something to do with the Vietnamese and Chinese governments.
Gonpa believes that the death of Lama Tulku Hungkar Dorje was an example of transnational repression, given the close political relationship between Việt Nam and China. He also stated that China is a regime that uses such tactics very effectively and that Việt Nam will soon follow. However, Gonpa also stated that the victims of transnational repression must advocate for this issue and should raise their voices with the Western countries that can provide support.
Advocacy Must be Continued by the Victims
“These [Western] countries will not understand your cause because your cause is not their cause,” Gonpa said. “If you want to get their support, you must go talk to them. You must advocate your cause to them first, as they will not come to you, and your work is tiring. But you must be patient and continue your advocacy, as you must be committed to your cause.”
Gonpa stated that while Tibetans around the world respect the Dalai Lama, he and his colleagues must continue to advocate for a free Tibet in foreign countries. Although Western diplomats respect the Dalai Lama, their support does not mean that a free Tibet is their cause. “It is the Tibetans’ cause,” he emphasized, reaffirming that Vietnamese activists must not give up because foreign support only comes after tireless advocacy.
Gonpa pointed to the example of actor Richard Gere, the American film star and human rights advocate who has shown longstanding public support for Tibet. In Gonpa’s view, history will remember Gere not simply for his fame as an actor but for the moral clarity of his choice to stand with the Tibetan people.
Gere’s choice has come at a cost: Chinese pressure has reportedly limited promotional activities involving him in the Chinese market, resulting in financial and professional consequences. Yet Gonpa believes Gere made the right decision because genuine advocacy requires sacrifice before recognition.
For Tibetans, the lesson is clear: they must first stand firmly for their cause, even when doing so brings personal or financial loss. Only then can broader support from others follow. For Gonpa, this principle is the essence of advocacy—conviction first, support later.
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Foreign governments that maintain diplomatic relations with Việt Nam must treat transnational repression by Vietnamese authorities as a serious concern. This is no longer a distant or abstract issue: the European Parliament has recently taken up the matter as part of a broader effort to confront authoritarian governments that target dissidents beyond their borders.
In June 2026, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for an EU-wide strategy to counter transnational repression. Although the resolution did not focus on Việt Nam, a related European Parliament study mentioned the country’s alleged role in such practices, including the 2017 abduction of Trịnh Xuân Thanh in Berlin and Germany’s identification of Việt Nam as one of the states carrying out transnational repression on German soil.
The resolution came shortly after the June 10, 2026, Brussels conference, “Việt Nam’s Transnational Repression: Protecting Human Rights Defenders in Europe & Elsewhere.”
At the conference, advocates and international human rights organizations brought urgent attention to the risks faced by Vietnamese human rights defenders, independent journalists, and democracy activists—not only inside Việt Nam, but also in exile. Days later, the European Parliament adopted the resolution with 434 votes in favor, a signal that sustained advocacy can move democratic institutions to act.
This work will continue. Support rarely arrives before sacrifice; it follows those who are willing to first speak, organize, and bear the cost. The future will be brighter for Việt Nam’s human rights defenders, independent journalists, and democracy advocates. And, as Gonpa believes, freedom for Tibet will one day become a reality for its people as well.
