16-09-2021 The Asian Independent

www.theasianindependent.co.uk
ASIA
16-09-2021 to 30-09-2021
11
The Importance of Tibet - 'Ethnic Work' in Progress
Why are Members of the
politburo of the Communist
Party of China's (CPC) Central
Committee so attracted by Tibet
these days? During the last two
months, ten out of the twentyfive
members of the politburo
travelled to the Roof of the
World.
One remembers a Party
Secretary, who later became
Chinese President (and General
Secretary of the CPC), who during
his three years posting in
Tibet tried his best to avoid to fly
to Lhasa; the young Hu Jintao
did not like the place. He once
told a journalist that he "disliked
Tibet's altitude, climate and lack
of culture". During his tenure, he
shuttled between Lhasa and
Beijing where the real power
was; there was a common joke
about Hu amongst Tibetan
cadres: 'Where is Hu?' The
answer was: 'Hu is in Beijing
Hospital.' He often reported sick
each time he was going to leave
Beijing! That was some thirty
years ago.
Today, 'important' cadres
have to make sure that they are
seen in Tibet. The 'Emperor'
himself, the 'Core Leader', Xi
Jinping paid an 'inspection tour'
of Central and Southern Tibet
between July 21 and 23; it was
his first visit to Lhasa after a gap
of ten years, though he had visited
the Northeastern province of
Amdo (today Qinghai) in June.
Five members of the Politburo
accompanied the General
Secretary (concurrently serving
as Chairman of the all-powerful
Central Military Commission).
It is interesting to look at Xi's
delegation; the composition of
which is a clear indicator of the
purpose of the 'inspection tour',
especially in a system where the
information is entirely monitored
by the State and where
watchers are left to read signs.
Xi's Delegation from
Beijing
First, Ding Xuexiang, CPC's
General Secretary and a
Secretary of the Party
Secretariat; he usually accompanies
Xi on his visits/inspection
tours. His role is to make sure
that decisions are implemented
and that there is a concrete follow-up.
Also regularly seen during
Xi's tours is Liu He, Vice-
Premier and member of the
Politburo. Liu further serves as
Director of the Office of the
Central Financial and Economic
Affairs Commission. Liu He is
Xi's trusted lieutenant, who has
several times been used to fill up
the 'perception' gap between
China and the US. He takes care
of the financial aspects of the
visit.
Yang Xiaodu is the Director
of the National Supervisory
Commission and also Deputy
Secretary of the Central
Commission for Discipline
Inspection (CCDI) which makes
sure that everybody follows the
line of the Party. We shall see in
a few months if a few heads roll;
if it happens, Yang's hand will
certainly be behind.
Incidentally, during his early
political career, Yang served several
years in Tibet (1986-1992,
Deputy Commissioner, Nagchu
Prefecture; 1992-1995, Deputy
Secretary, Chamdo, 1998-2001,
vice-chairman, TAR government);
Yang knows Tibet well,
having served fifteen years.
One noted the absence of
another Politburo member and
old Tibet hand: Hu Chunhua; the
Vice Premier was not on board
for the visit. He had served in
Tibet from 1983 to 2007 and is
the only member of the Politburo
who can fluently speak Tibetan.
Probably, the emperor does not
like to be in the shade.
Then Chen Xi, also a member
of the politburo and head of the
Organization Department and
like Xi Jinping a graduate from
Tsinghua University (they know
each other since that time). Chen
is President of the Central Party
School and Vice-minister of
Education and Vice Chairman of
the China Association for
Science and Technology. Xi
clearly wants to bring modernitye
to the borders with India.
The presence of General
Zhang Youxia, Vice-Chairman,
Central Military Commission
(CMC), also member of the
politburo is explained by the
'important' meeting between the
CMC Chairman (Xi) and all the
officers of the Tibet Military
District (TMD), including the
Commander and the Political
Commissar of the Western
Theater Command or WTC
(based in Chengdu) which had a
new Commander, Gen Xu
Qiling. The WTC not only looks
after Tibet but also the Ladakh
front (incidentally Gen Xu
Qiling lost his job since then, but
we shall come back to this).
The CMC Chairman was certainly
briefed in detail about the
borders with India when he met
the top brass of the
TheatreCommand. To this list of
six members of the politburo,
one should add He Lifeng,
Minister in charge of the
National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC),
the equivalent of our Planning
Commission. His presence
means that a number of large
projects, including the railway
line between Lhasa and Chengdu
and the Giga hydropower plants
on the YarlungTsangpo will soon
be undertaken. Xi was personally
explained the implications of
these projects on the banks of the
mighty river, which becomes the
Siang and the Brahmaputra in
India.
The People's Daily resumed
the tour's objectives: "implement
the Party's strategy for governing
Tibet in the new era and write a
new chapter in long-term stability
and high-quality development
of the snow-covered plateau."
This refers to the 7th Work
Forum held in August 2020
which defined the development
policies for Tibet for the five
next years, particularly the
Sinicization of Tibetan
Buddhism.
But undoubtedly, the emphasis
was the military and economic
development of the borders
with India. An indication: in the
Annual Report presented by the
Tibet Autonomous Region's government
a few months earlier,
the word 'border' was mentioned
54 times, while the 'Dalai Lama'
only once.
Xi Jinping wants to change
the organization of the border for
good; we shall see how.
Visit of Wang Yang in Tibet
But that was not all; on
August 19, a central delegation
led by Wang Yang, a member of
the Politburo's Standing
Committee and chairman of the
National Committee of the
Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference
(CPPCC) arrived in Lhasa to
attend the 70th anniversary functions.
Wang is No 4 in the
Communist pantheon.
One can ask, why not celebrate
the so-called liberation
when the 'Core leader', Xi
Jinping visited Tibet in July. I
have no answer to this. Wang
had been 'entrusted' by Xi
Jinping to "lead Beijing officials
in Tibet along with veteran senior
Tibetan officials" to Tibet; a
cohort of old Tibetan collaborators
was honoured by the visiting
VVIP.
Wang Yang was accompanied
by Admiral Miao Hua, a CMC
member, who will probably be
the lone uniformed member to
survive when the term of the
present CMC comes to an end. It
was the first visit of a three-star
admiral in Tibet.
Did Wang and Miao knew
that a few days later, Xi would
change the commander of the
Western Theatre Command for
the third time in nine months and
Xu Qiling, who had met Xi a few
weeks earlier, would be replaced
by General Wang Haijiang, a
former commander of the Tibet
Military Region. Probably not.
The visit has also to be seen
in the context of the CPC's 100th
anniversary and the 70th
anniversary of the so-called
Liberation of Tibet (read 'invasion').
Three more important visits
From September 2 to 4, Li Xi,
Party Secretary of Guangdong
and Ma Xingrui, Governor of the
same wealthy province, visited
Lhasa and Nyingchi "to earnestly
study and implement the
important speeches and instructions
of General Secretary Xi
Jinping's inspection tour e[and]
implement the spirit of the
Central Ethnic Work
Conference." Guangdong
province economically helps
Tibet, which for decades was
considered remote and backward
and out of range for modernization.
The instability of the restive
province and the importance of
the border with India have
changed all this.
From September 5 to 6, Cai
Qi, also a politburo member and
Beijing Party Secretary "led a
Beijing delegation to Tibet to
research counterpart support
work and further promote
exchanges and cooperation
between Beijing and Tibet," said
a release. The delegation wanted
to "conscientiously implement
the spirit of important instructions
of General Secretary Xi
Jinping's important speech on his
inspection of Tibet and a series
of important instructions on
Tibetan work and counterpart
support work, and implement the
spirit of the Central Ethnic Work
Conference."
Finally, Wang Chen, vice
chairman of the Standing
Committee of the National
People's Congress, was in Tibet
from September 5 to 8 to be sure
that the region had "a firm sense
of Chinese national community"
and to preach "for long-term stability
and high-quality development
of the snowy plateau."
Ten visits of politburo's members
(plus two CMC members)
have never been seen in the past.
Ethnic Work
Two words explain this new
interest in Tibet: Ethnic Work.
This word has an ominous meaning.
It practically means 'sinicization'
of the Roof of the World,
which includes building new
'mixed' villages on the Indian border,
recruiting a large number of
Tibetans in the PLA, and giving
Chinese characteristics to Tibetan
Buddhism. On September 1,
Xinhua had reported that the
Central Party School started its
Fall Training Class for Young and
Middle-Aged Cadres. It was
attended by Xi who gave an
'important' speech (his speeches
are always eimportant').
Xi recommended that cadres
have a fighting spirit in the current
situation; he said that at the present
moment, "the world's unprecedented
changes have been accelerating
and the great rejuvenation of
the Chinese nation has arrived at a
critical period. The risks and challenges
that the CCP faces have
increased significantly. It is
impractical to dream of always
living in a peaceful environment
without taking on any struggles."
He advised the young cadres:
"dare to fight e at any time,
Communists should have the
bones and courage not to be afraid
of anything, and not to yield to
anyone."
All this is quite ominous for
India's Northern borders.
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