Surprise: Lama Humkar Dorje Rinpoche “Died in Vietnam”

He was “disappeared” in December 2024. The authorities announced he was dead on April 5 and now claims he died in Ho Chi Minh City.

By Lopsang Gurung

April 14, 2025

Protests about the suspicious death of Humkar Dorje in Dharamsala, India. From X.

Earlier this month, we reported in “Bitter Winter” that Chinese authorities on April 5 told his monks that Lama Humkar Dorje Rinpoche, who had been “disappeared” in late 2024, was dead. The 56-year-old Lama was the abbot of Longen Monastery, which is located in Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai province, which is part of historical Tibet but not of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). He was also a famous educator with thousands of devotees, and was known for his criticism of Chinese repression of Tibetan culture and the false Panchen Lama Beijing tries to impose on Tibetans.

While Tibetans abroad were protesting the suspicious death of the Lama, in a surprise development Chinese authorities have now produced a death certificate stating that he died in Vinmec Central Park International Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) on March 28. Five Buddhist monks from Longen Monastery were allowed to travel to Vietnam accompanied by Chinese Public Security officials to see the body of the Lama. According to reports received by “Bitter Winter,” they saw only his face.

Lama Humkar Dorje Rinpoche (1969–2025). From X.

Nonetheless, the Longen Monastery, obviously under Chinese pressure, issued a press release stating that Humkar Dorje had exhibited “sigs of ill health” (something they had always denied before) and had died “of illness” in Vietnam.

This version, however, is denied by the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala, India, which held a press conference on April 9. 

Press conference by the Central Tibetan Administration, April 9. From X.

There are other Tibetan exiles in Vietnam. According to the information they were able to gather, Humkar Dorje did manage to flee to Vietnam after having been submitted to heavy-handed interrogation by the Chinese police. However, he was not ill and did not die of natural causes in a hospital. He was kidnapped from his hotel room in Ho Chi Minh City on March 25 by Chinese intelligence agents and Vietnamese police. He died on March 28 in the Public Security bureau where he was again submitted to interrogation and presumably torture.

Another image of the protests in Dharamsala. From X.

The statements by the Chinese authorities have not appeased the Tibetan diaspora, and protest demonstrations are multiplying.

Source: bitterwinter.org