News and Views on Tibet

Chinese President Xi urges officials to fight ‘splittism’ in Tibet

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Xi Jinping in Tibet in 2011 before he became the President of China (Xinhua)
Xi Jinping in Tibet in 2011 before he became the President of China (Xinhua)

By Choekyi Lhamo

DHARAMSHALA, Aug 31: The Chinese president Xi Jinping recently told senior leaders in his party to maintain stability in Tibet and educate the masses in the struggle against “splittism”, reported Chinese state news agency Xinhua on Saturday. President Xi lauded the effort made by frontline officials but also urged them to make efforts in order to strengthen unity in the region. 

Xi was addressing the party’s top leadership at a two-day forum on Tibet’s future governance which concluded on Saturday. He commented on the need to strengthen border defense and security of TAR which borders both India and Bhutan by educating Tibetans about CCP’s vision. Xi remarked that political and ideological education needs to be intensified throughout Tibet to “plant the seeds of loving China in the depths of the hearts of every youth.” 

He further emphasized on the need for better integration to build a “united, prosperous, civilized, modern and socialist Tibet” by strengthening the role of the party. He also added that Tibetan Buddhism needs to adapt to socialism and Chinese ideologue. The policy of sinicization of religion aspires to mold religious beliefs and doctrine with CCP’s principles and objectives, and with the Chinese settlers in the region. 

Amid US-China’s deteriorating relationship, the Chinese government has sought to toughen the policies in the region by reiterating its goal to fight the ‘separatist’ forces in Tibet. The US sanctioned Chinese officials in July who were responsible for blocking diplomatic access to Tibet for American citizens. The top official governing the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), Wu Yingjie also communicated the same message to officials to “struggle against separatism” invoked by the “Dalai Clique” in the region.

The Tibetan leader Dalai Lama who has advocated a resolution to seek autonomy under the framework of the Chinese constitution has been rejected despite being seen as a liberal and conciliatory approach to resolve the Tibet-China issue.

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