US enforces visa restrictions on Chinese officials over Tibet policies

Senior High School, a public boarding school for students from northern Tibet, in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region, June 1, 2021. [AP Photo]

The United States is announcing new visa restrictions on current and former Chinese officials for their involvement in what U.S. and U.N. officials say is the forcible assimilation of more than one million Tibetan children in government-run boarding schools.

In a statement on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said these "coercive policies" seek to "eliminate Tibet's distinct linguistic, cultural, and religious traditions among younger generations of Tibetans."