{"id":13128,"date":"2025-06-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/nieuws\/ict-urges-unesco-to-designate-potala-palace-ensemble-as-world-heritage-in-danger-amid-cultural-heritage-violations-in-tibet\/"},"modified":"2025-06-02T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T22:00:00","slug":"ict-urges-unesco-to-designate-potala-palace-ensemble-as-world-heritage-in-danger-amid-cultural-heritage-violations-in-tibet","status":"publish","type":"nieuws","link":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/ict-urges-unesco-to-designate-potala-palace-ensemble-as-world-heritage-in-danger-amid-cultural-heritage-violations-in-tibet\/","title":{"rendered":"ICT urges UNESCO to designate Potala Palace Ensemble as \u201cWorld Heritage in Danger\u201d amid cultural heritage violations in Tibet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) is calling on the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to designate the \u201cHistoric Ensemble of the Potala Palace\u201d in Lhasa, Tibet, as a World Heritage Site in Danger during its upcoming 47th session in July 2025. This urgent appeal follows years of unchecked destruction, sinicization, and mismanagement of Tibet\u2019s most sacred cultural and religious landmarks, particularly the Jokhang Temple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The latest controversy centers on the construction of two large, Chinese-style pavilions directly in front of the Jokhang Temple allegedly built to protect three ancient stelae. However, these structures have been widely criticized for not only violating UNESCO operational guidelines (built without prior notice and a heritage impact assessment), but for also obstructing religious rituals, diminishing the temple\u2019s historic fa\u00e7ade, and imposing a foreign architectural style that undermines the site\u2019s authenticity. ICT <a href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/World-Heritage-Watch-Report-2025-Jokhang-Temple-article.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">details this development<\/a> in the <a href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/WHW_Report_2025_web.pdf\">annual report <\/a>of the organization World Heritage Watch, published on 1 June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese pavilions are not only architecturally incongruent with the 1,300-year-old temple, but they also interfere with Tibetan Buddhist practices and conceal inscriptions that document Tibet\u2019s historical sovereignty,\u201d said ICT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both UNESCO and the expert body ICOMOS have repeatedly called for a proper Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) and alternative designs. In 2024, China submitted their second HIA retroactively, after the first one retroactive HIA failed to comply with ICOMOS Guidelines. The summary of the HIA acknowledged the pavilions\u2019 negative visual impact but did not offer details about plans for mitigation. The full report is not publicly available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, the Chinese authorities have <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/uGIp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recently reported<\/a> on a political indoctrination drive targeting monks of the Jokhang Temple. In a letter to UNESCO, ICT has urged to call on the Chinese authorities to immediately stop such measures, as they do further harm to the intangible heritage and integrity of the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Jokhang Temple, along with the Potala Palace and Norbulingka, forms part of the UNESCO-inscribed heritage ensemble. Since its inscription, the site has suffered from:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Demolition of historic buildings.<\/li><li>Sinicization of architecture, replacing traditional Tibetan designs with tourist-oriented facades.<\/li><li>Suppression of intangible culture, with mass tourism, security checkpoints, and propaganda banners disrupting sacred rituals.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ICT warns that these developments violate UNESCO\u2019s Operational Guidelines and threaten the site\u2019s Outstanding Universal Value. The organization is urging the World Heritage Committee to take decisive action by inscribing the site on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The living traditions of Tibetan Buddhists and residents should be preserved and shielded from the constant bombardment of mass tourism, excessive security infrastructure and patriotic propaganda banners that desecrate the sacred temple and space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The International Campaign for Tibet is calling on the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to designate the \u201cHistoric Ensemble of the Potala Palace\u201d in Lhasa, Tibet, as a World Heritage Site in Danger during its upcoming 47th session in July 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12420,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[691],"news_tag":[670],"class_list":["post-13128","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categorie-news","news_tag-culture-and-religion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>ICT urges UNESCO to designate Potala Palace Ensemble as \u201cWorld Heritage in Danger\u201d amid cultural heritage violations in Tibet - Campaign for Tibet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/ict-urges-unesco-to-designate-potala-palace-ensemble-as-world-heritage-in-danger-amid-cultural-heritage-violations-in-tibet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ICT urges UNESCO to designate Potala Palace Ensemble as \u201cWorld Heritage in Danger\u201d amid cultural heritage violations in Tibet - Campaign for Tibet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The International Campaign for Tibet is calling on the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to designate the \u201cHistoric Ensemble of the Potala Palace\u201d in Lhasa, Tibet, as a World Heritage Site in Danger during its upcoming 47th session in July 2025\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/ict-urges-unesco-to-designate-potala-palace-ensemble-as-world-heritage-in-danger-amid-cultural-heritage-violations-in-tibet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Campaign for Tibet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/internationalcampaignfortibetnederland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/shutterstock_35157538-potala-palace-1200.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@savetibetorg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/ict-urges-unesco-to-designate-potala-palace-ensemble-as-world-heritage-in-danger-amid-cultural-heritage-violations-in-tibet\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/ict-urges-unesco-to-designate-potala-palace-ensemble-as-world-heritage-in-danger-amid-cultural-heritage-violations-in-tibet\\\/\",\"name\":\"ICT urges UNESCO to designate Potala Palace Ensemble as \u201cWorld Heritage in Danger\u201d amid cultural heritage violations in Tibet - 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