Updated at 17:05 ET on Feb. 8, 2024.
A Tibetan woman was forced to withdraw from a beauty pageant in Cambodia due to apparent pressure from China after she refused to add “China” to the words “Miss Tibet” on her sash, she and organizers said.
The incident involving Tenzin Paldon, 28, a contestant at the Miss Global 2023 pageant, jointly hosted by Cambodia and Vietnam, is the latest example where China has used pressure tactics to force international events to toe its political line.
“The organizers, under Chinese pressure, gave me two options: to participate with ‘China’ added to my sash or to not wear a sash at all, which I felt defeated the purpose of my participation which was to represent my country, Tibet,” Paldon told Radio Free Asia from her home in New York, after returning from Cambodia.
"So, I chose to walk out of the event," said Paldon, who had participated in the same competition in Cambodia in January 2018.
Organizers also said a Taiwanese contestant, Linda Huang, was initially excluded from the competition, but then was reinstated after she agreed to change her sash from “Taiwan ROC” – referring to the Republic of China – to one that read “Taipei China.”
In Sophin, the owner of Mahahang Production, representing the Cambodian side of the organizers, confirmed to RFA that government officials recommended removing two candidates, one from Tibet and one from Taiwan, in keeping with the “one China policy.”
Paldon said she heard the same thing: “One of the organizers said the Cambodian prime minister had texted them saying the Taiwanese and Tibetan pageant candidates should be kicked out of the competition.”
In Sophin said that Huang returned to the pageant after agreeing to wear the “Taipei China” sash.
But Huang told RFA that she was not suspended from the competition. She said that in addition to a sash saying “Taiwan ROC,” she was “offered” a second sash by organizers that read “Taipei China.” She refused to say whether she agreed to wear the second sash.
Video from the competition shows her wearing a sash saying “Taiwan ROC.”
Huang said that the “Taipei China” label is officially used by athletes and contestants representing the island at international events, including the Olympics, and so saw nothing wrong with it.
“Overall, my representation aligns with the Taiwanese government's stance on maintaining peace, preserving our freedom index, and engaging in the world in a peaceful and fair manner,” she told RFA.
‘Victory to Tibet’
Paldon, who wore a sash that said “Miss Tibet” during the introductory round on Jan. 2, likely caught the attention of Chinese authorities after she shouted “Bhod Gyalo,” or “Victory to Tibet,” during the sash ceremony, which was broadcast live on social media platforms and Cambodian television, she said.
Shortly thereafter, Paldon was stopped at the Vietnamese border as she was making her way to the venue of the next round of the competition.
There, pageant organizers told her the Chinese government had put pressure on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet to have Paldon removed from the pageant after they saw the sash ceremony, and questioned the Cambodian government on why a candidate representing Tibet was allowed to wear a sash that read Miss Tibet and shout, “Bhod Gyalo.”
For years, Cambodia has sought to deepen ties with China. Hun Manet chose to go to Beijing for his maiden official trip abroad in September after taking over as prime minister from his father, Hun Sen. signaling a continued commitment to strengthening Cambodia's relationship with China.
Sash politics
Paldon, who won the “Miss Tibet 2017” title at a beauty pageant held for Tibetan women of the diaspora, also expressed disappointment at the politicization of international beauty pageants.
“It is unfortunate that politics dictate events of young women and their aspirations, and it’s heartbreaking to note that these events are fixed,” Paldon said. “All I want to be is a role model for young Tibetan women out there, in particular to empower many women who are from displaced communities like me.”
When Paldon arrived back at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Jan. 10 after waiting for nearly a week in Cambodia at her own expense, she was welcomed by Tibetan community members and supporters, who praised her for her stance.
“We are disheartened but also very proud of the firm stand [she has taken] as a Tibetan,” said Tashi Palmo, secretary of the Regional Tibetan Women's Organization of New York and New Jersey.
This is not the first time Miss Tibet candidates have had to withdraw from global beauty contests for refusing to add “China” to their sash.
In 2005, Tashi Yangchen was forced to withdraw from a Miss Tourism Pageant held in Zimbabwe after she came under pressure to either wear a sash that said ‘Miss Tibet-China’ or to participate as a guest. She chose to walk out of the event.
Two years later, Miss Tibet 2006 Tsering Chungdak also met with a similar fate at a contest in Malaysia.
The Miss Tibet contest, started by Lobsang Wangyal Productions in 2002 with the mission of 'Celebrating Tibetan Women,' had 15 annual editions until 2017, after which it did not take place for various reasons, including a lack of enough applicants and the coronavirus pandemic.
The pageant, however, is set to make a comeback in 2024 after a five-year-long hiatus, Lobsang Wangyal, Director of Miss Tibet beauty pageant, said in a statement.
Additional reporting by Singeri Sonam Lhamo and Lobsang Chophel for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
Updates story to add comments from Taiwanese contestant Huang disputing that she was temporarily suspended from the competition.