The Dalai Lama won his first Grammy amid push back from Beijing.
On Sunday, the Dalai Lama, won his first Grammy awards for Best Audiobook Narration for Meditations: the Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Monday called the award a political stunt.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in a news conference: “We firmly oppose relevant parties using art awards as a tool for anti-China political manipulation, and this position is consistent and clear.”
It said it opposes the use of international awards to spread anti-China politics.
The 90-year-old Dalai Lama has lived in exile in India since 1959, after the CCP seized control of Tibet.
Many see him as Tibet’s spiritual leader, who is calling for more self-rule from China.
The CCP governs Tibet as an autonomous region but faces repeated accusations of trying to erase Tibetan language, culture, and identity.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights highlights the “grave” human rights abuses in Tibet by the CCP in its annual report in 2025.
“The human rights situation in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), China and adjacent areas where Tibetans live continues to deteriorate under the rule of China, with increasing evidence of systematic repression targeting Tibetan culture, religion, language, and identity,” the report said.
“This statement draws urgent attention to the patterns of enforced disappearances, cultural destruction, religious persecution, language eradication, custodial deaths, and incommunicado detentions affecting the Tibetan people.”
“The actions taken by the Chinese government amount to grave violations of international human rights law,” the report added.
The CCP has limited access to sacred sites like Nyenpo Yurtse, undermining Tibetan religious practices.
Over 1,000 monastics have been expelled since November 2024, under the pretense of lacking documentation.
The destruction of murals and artifacts through hydroelectric dam construction and surveillance measures at religious sites like the Larung Gar Monastery represent both an ecological and spiritual assault, the report said.
The CCP’s enforcement of disappearances and arbitrary detentions have resulted in the arrests and detentions of monks, including the disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, abducted by the Chinese authorities more than 30 years ago.
“There is overwhelming evidence of torture and inhuman treatment of Tibetan detainees,” the report said. “Multiple custodial deaths have occurred under suspicious or confirmed abusive circumstances.”
“These cases reveal a deliberate strategy of silencing dissent through intimidation, torture, and permanent psychological and physical harm,” the report added.
