Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Aug. 5: The Government of Nepal has cancelled the 17th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies (IATS), an internationally renowned academic conference that was scheduled to take place in Kathmandu from August 23 to 29, 2026.
The decision was communicated personally by Nepal’s Chief Secretary, Govinda Bahadur Karkee, following consultations with Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai. According to organizers, senior officials at Kathmandu University were instructed not to proceed with hosting the conference, bringing an abrupt end to nearly four years of planning for what was expected to be one of the largest gatherings of Tibet scholars in recent years.
The cancellation follows sustained diplomatic pressure from the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu. Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming is reported to have repeatedly raised concerns with Nepali authorities, arguing that the conference could become a platform for discussions or statements that Beijing considers politically sensitive, particularly those related to Tibet and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
A Tibetan researcher told Phayul that even before the government’s decision, the conference had already become the focus of mounting political pressure. The venue, Hotel Soaltee in Kathmandu, has long hosted visiting Chinese state delegations, including Chinese President Xi Jinping during his 2019 visit to Nepal. As diplomatic pressure from Beijing intensified, exile Tibetan scholars and researchers increasingly found themselves sidelined from the event.
In contrast, Chinese state-affiliated institutions, including the China Tibetology Research Center, had registered a delegation of nearly 100 participants, a move that observers viewed as an effort to shape academic discourse on Tibet during the conference.
The seminar was jointly organized by the Kathmandu University Himalaya Centre for Asian Studies (KU HiCAS) and the Rangjung Yeshe Institute. Organizers said the university is awaiting formal written notification from the government but confirmed that KU HiCAS and the Kathmandu University Centre for Buddhist Studies (KU-CBS) will not proceed with convening the conference. Any further decisions regarding the event will be taken by the IATS Executive Committee.
The cancellation has drawn disappointment from organizers and scholars, who stressed that IATS is a scholarly forum dedicated to academic research. This intervention has intensified concerns over Beijing’s growing influence in Kathmandu, with observers viewing it as part of China’s broader effort to shape international discourse on Tibet, consistent with the objectives of its “Ethnic Unity and Progress Law.”
