Radio Free Asia (RFA) on July 13 quoted Golog Jigme, an escaped Tibetan political prisoner who now lives in Switzerland, that Chinese police arrested two Tibetans in their 40s—a man named Kunchok Tashi and a woman named Dzapo—on “suspicion of being part of a group on social media that shared images and documents, and encouraged the reciting of Tibetan prayers on the birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.” The arrests occurred in Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture’s Kyaglung town in the Chinese province of Sichuan. Golog Jigme said there were another 20 to 30 Tibetans arrested for celebrating His Holiness’ birthday, “but due to strict restrictions on communications in the region, nothing more is known about their names or where the arrests took place".

Reports separately said that Tibetans across the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR)  took to social media platforms to post birthday observations showing their devotion to the Tibetan Buddhist leader. One message sent from the library of Qinghai Normal University, Xining, said "Dearest person in exile, the heart-to-heart years will never disappear and change no matter how bumpy the road far away." Another young Tibetan drew a portrait of the Dalai Lama in a post from Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in Qinghai province with the caption "Leader of world peace, very happy birthday to you."Many posts referred to the Dalai Lama euphemistically as "elderly father" or "the holy man." One message in Tibetan said, "Birthday wishes to our elderly father on July 6th."  They also shared posts of poems and prayers in Tibetan and posted photographs of his feet, shoes, and his body's silhouette in maroon-coloured robes.