Reports of mass arrests and a communications blackout following protests against a gold-mining project in a Tibetan village have intensified scrutiny of the environmental and political costs of China’s resource extraction on the Tibetan Plateau—an area increasingly central to global supply chains for renewable energy.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Chinese authorities arrested dozens of Tibetans in early November after residents of Kashi village in the western Chinese province of Sichuan, protested the start of a gold mine in pastureland traditionally used by nomads to graze sheep and yaks.
The protests began after villagers learned that mining had commenced at a site known locally as Serkog, or “Gold Valley.” The Journal cited accounts collected from residents by Tibetans in exile and corroborated by the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamshala, though it said it could not independently verify the claims.
Tempa Gyaltsen Zamlha, Deputy Director of Tibet Policy Institute in Delhi, who is familiar with developments in the area said the situation on the ground has been “very serious,” particularly in Zachukha in eastern Tibet. “The Chinese government sent gold miners there, and the local Tibetans resisted this, which led to a confrontation,” he said, adding that around 80 Tibetans were detained. “Many were later released due to illness—some with broken ribs, some with damaged kidneys.”
He also told SratnewsGlobal that at least seven local Tibetans remain missing, with families unable to obtain information about their whereabouts.
The crackdown has reportedly intensified following international media coverage. “After the Wall Street Journal released its report, the Chinese government carried out intensified home-to-home searches to find who leaked information,” the expert said. “Surveillance has increased, and the situation has become worse than before.”
The incident reflects a broader pattern. “There have been many protests in Tibet against mining and dam construction,” Tempa Gyaltsen Zamlha noted, pointing out that Tibet is rich in lithium and copper—resources central to China’s energy transition. “Much of China’s lithium and copper comes from Tibet, but local Tibetans do not benefit at all. The ecological destruction is extreme.”
Mining remains especially contentious because of the plateau’s fragility. “The Tibetan Plateau is one of the largest and highest plateaus on earth,” the expert said. “Any damage to its ecology will have implications for India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and even China itself. This is a very sensitive zone.”
As global demand for “green” minerals accelerates, the events in Kashi highlight the human and environmental costs borne by communities living at the source of those supply chains.
