Ven. Choney Yulu Tulku Dawa Tsering, aged 51, was a prominent Tibetan Buddhist scholar and religious figure from Leypo Village in the Lamo subdivision of Tagtse District, Amdo. Before his later imprisonment, he had already endured two decades in prison after being arrested in 1959 for participating in the Lhasa Uprising against Chinese rule. He remained incarcerated until 1979, when he was released during the period of political “liberalisation” introduced by the Chinese government.

Following his release, Yulu Tulku resumed public and religious life and taught Buddhist philosophy at Lhasa University from 1979 to 1982. In 1982, he was appointed as a member of the Political Consultative Committee and also served as a member of the Lhasa Buddhist Association. Earlier in his life, in 1950, he had been awarded the prestigious religious degree of “Doctor of Divinity” and had pursued advanced tantric studies at the Gyud-toey Tantric School before these studies were interrupted by the events of 1959.

Despite his official positions, Chinese authorities again targeted him during the political unrest that swept Tibet in the late 1980s. He was arrested at noon on 26 December 1987, reportedly in connection with activities linked to the growing Tibetan protest movement that culminated in the demonstrations of March 1988 in Lhasa. The re-arrest of Yulu Tulku Dawa Tsering reflected the Chinese government’s broader crackdown on influential Tibetan religious figures and intellectuals suspected of supporting Tibetan nationalism and resistance to Chinese rule.