The Return of Zhang Qingli

Zhang Qingli (left), Yu Zhengsheng (center), Du Qinglin (2nd from right)

Zhang Qingli is back!
Born in Dongping, Shandong province in 1951, Zhang Qingli joined the CPC in 1973 after graduating from the Party School of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee.
From 2006 to 2011 he served as Secretary of the CPC Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee.
He did not endear the Tibetans when he accused the Dalai Lama of being ‘a wolf in monk’s garb’.
In 2011, the Washington-based organization International Campaign for Tibet (ITC) commented: “Speculation about Zhang Qingli’s future in the TAR has remained intense since the unprecedented protests of March 2008. His open hostility towards the Dalai Lama and his determination to push through deeply unpopular security and social policies are regarded by many Tibetans and other observers as key causes of the resentment that led to the protests of 2008. Compared to his predecessors in the position of Party Secretary of the TAR, Zhang Qingli has appeared relatively frequently in the national and international media, repeatedly asserting the official line that the 2008 protests were instigated by the Dalai Lama and his supporters, and that the vast majority of Tibetans continue to readily embrace China’s policies.”
Speculations about Zhang’s future were mainly due to the fact that his term had come to an end in Tibet. He was soon after transferred to Hebei province as Party Chief.
In November 2012, he was elected a member of the 18th CPC Central Committee.
On March 11, 2013, Zhang Qingli became secretary-general of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
He will now assist Yu Zhengsheng in United Front affairs.
This is bad news for the Tibetans.
Also on the photo (on the right of Yu) is Du Qinglin, a native of Panshi city who spent most of his career in Jilin Province before becoming the head of United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee from 2007-2012. The United Front deals with Tibet, amongst other subjects
Du is also a member of the powerful Secretariat of the Central Committee. In this position he can monitor the party and state’s United Front apparatus.