More than a dozen foreign correspondents have applied for permission to enter China’s Tibet Autonomous Region to report on the aftermath of the deadly August 26 mudslide, but none has been granted access, according to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC).
The FCCC said in a post on X on Friday that a recent survey of its members found that more than a dozen journalists had sought permission to enter Tibet to cover the flooding, but all the applications had been rejected or left unapproved.
The disaster occurred after a glacial-related collapse tore through the Gyirong Port area on Aug. 26, destroying roads and bridges at one of the major land crossings between Tibet and Nepal and devastating villages and communities along the border.
According to figures from Nepal and China cited by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency, the combined death toll had risen to 1,385 as of Sept. 6, while 5,519 people remained missing.
Rescue operations have been complicated by the disaster’s remote location in a high-altitude river valley, with many victims still unaccounted for.
The FCCC said independent access to the affected areas was critical to ensuring that the public receives timely and accurate information about the disaster and rescue operations.
The press organisation called on Chinese authorities to allow foreign journalists into the region, describing the disaster as one of the most significant natural disasters in Tibet’s recent history.
Tibet Described as ‘Information Black Hole’
The restrictions have renewed concerns over China’s longstanding controls on independent reporting from Tibet, where authorities have tightly regulated access and information for years.
Foreign journalists and officials are generally barred from entering Tibet without explicit government authorisation.
Aleksandra Bielakowska, head of advocacy at Reporters Without Borders’ Asia-Pacific bureau, described Tibet as a “de facto information black hole” under China’s censorship system.
In a statement published by RSF on Sept. 2, Bielakowska said independent Tibetan and international media were not permitted to freely report from the region.
She said the media outlets allowed to operate were largely state-controlled and subject to guidelines issued by the Chinese Communist Party’s Propaganda Department.
Bielakowska argued that the restrictions made it difficult to independently determine the full scale of the disaster, accusing Chinese authorities of seeking to control information that could damage the country’s international image.
BBC correspondent Laura Bicker also highlighted the challenges facing independent journalists in the region, saying in an Aug. 29 report that she had sometimes found it easier to reach interviewees in Pyongyang, North Korea, than in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.
Meanwhile, dramatic surveillance footage and videos showing the Aug. 26 mudslide have circulated widely on foreign social media platforms and international television networks.
However, such footage has reportedly received limited exposure on Chinese domestic television, while videos and online discussions relating to the disaster have been removed from China’s heavily censored internet.
Reports also said Tibetan police had penalised at least 10 Chinese internet users who questioned the officially reported death toll and suggested that the number of victims could be significantly higher.
Chinese state media coverage has largely focused on official rescue operations, while some government-issued photographs and videos have faced allegations on social media that they were staged.
The Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan government-in-exile based in India, said in a May 3 statement marking World Press Freedom Day that Tibet had remained a “complete information black hole” for decades.
The 2026 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders ranked China 178th out of 180 countries.
A separate FCCC report published on July 13 also documented persistent surveillance, administrative pressure and other reporting obstacles faced by foreign journalists in China.
The report said sources were increasingly reluctant to speak with foreign correspondents and identified Tibet, Xinjiang, Taiwan and criticism of the Chinese Communist Party’s top leadership as politically sensitive areas subject to severe reporting restrictions.
(NTD)
