Police detained writer and government researcher Dorje at the airport in Lhasa, capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, where he had traveled for a conference on preserving Tibetan culture, according to exiled Tibetan groups and international news reports.
Dorje, who worked for the Nierong county government in western Sichuan province, kept a blog that is no longer accessible and was known for writing poems, books, and essays on the Tibetan language, including the article “Nationality and Language,” according to Dechen Pemba, editor of the High Peaks Pure Earth website, which translates articles from Tibetan writers. Dorje also wrote about democracy and human rights, according to the news reports.
Dorje was one of several high-profile cultural figures, including singers, performers, and writers, detained in early 2012 in an apparent crackdown on advocates of Tibetan-language culture. Chinese authorities have not confirmed his whereabouts or the basis for his detention.