Claude Arpi | China playing new border games close to Mt Kailash

Zorawar Singh in Western Tibet

My article Claude Arpi | China playing new border games close to Mt Kailash appeared in Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle.

A separate event needs to be noticed: the closure of the Kailash Yatra to Indian pilgrims.

Western Tibet has a rich historical background, particularly in proximity to Mount Kailash, near the trijunction between India, Nepal and Tibet.
It is the case of Purang/Taklakot and a place called Toyo, located a few kilometres away, which have gone down in history for the epic battle between the Dogras of Gen. Zorawar Singh and the Tibetans troops.
In December 1841, the Dogra troops, who had just conquered Western Tibet (known as Ngari), were defeated by the Tibetans -- and also by the winter.
The great Tibetan historian, Tsepon Shakabpa, thus described the battle of Taklakot/Toyo: “The Tibetan government quickly dispatched Ü Dapön [Gen.] Shedra Wangchuk Gyelpo and the Ü Tsang [Central Tibet] militia under the leadership of Cabinet minister Pellhün; when they arrived in Ngari, one regiment of the foreign army [the Dogras] was stationed at Rutok [near Pangong-tso], another was at Trashigang [near Demchok on the Ladakh border], and a third was at Rupshö [in Ladakh]. Secret preparations were made for the Tibetan troops to confront each [Dogra] unit. Zorawar Singh and the most seasoned [Dogra] troops, who were stationed at Taklakhar [Taklakot] Castle [in fact in Toyo] were confronted… In the eleventh month [December 1841], during the coldest weather of the year, the Tibetan troops attacked from all directions simultaneously.”
The fate of Zorawar Singh and his troops were sealed, according to Shakabpa: “Three days after the fighting began, heavy snow fell. Thus, the Sikh troops who were at Taklakot became frozen solid. Trembling under their difficulties, the Sikhs were attacked by the Tibetans in terrible hand-to-hand fighting… While Zorawar Singh was riding his horse, rushing back and forth, he was recognized by a Yasor called Mikmar. He threw a spear and Zorawar Singh fell from his horse. Leaping off of his own horse, Mikmar cut Singh’s head off and carried it into the middle of the Tibetan camp. This was seen by the Sikh [Dogra] soldiers, and they fled in whatever way they could.”
A few months later, Maharaja Gulab Singh smashed the Tibetan forces trying to invade Ladakh. Dapön Zurkhang and Dapön Pelzhi were captured and taken to Leh, where a peace treaty was signed between the Dogras and the Tibetans, confirming once more the traditional border between Ladakh and Tibet. The tomb of Zorawar Singh still exists in Toyo, which has recently come in the news, but for different reasons.
An article in the Chinese media mentions a newly-built village in Toyo: “China continues to promote the improvement of the rural living environment, paying close attention to greening [the area], beautification and [water] purification; the changes in Toyo are a concrete manifestation of the Ngari region’s efforts to build a beautiful and livable countryside.”
During the past three years, in Western Tibet alone, a total of 31 projects have been implemented to build liveable, “industrial” and beautiful villages, a local Communist Party cadre explains; in his jargon that it will be: “in accordance with the principles of beautiful leisure villages, happy and liveable villages, clean and tidy villages.”

But why a new village in Toyo?
Says Newsweek: “China appears to have completed the construction of a new dam in the country’s southwestern border regions, a project that could have far-reaching strategic implications for its southern neighbours India and Nepal.” Built on the Mapcha Tsangpo (or Peacock river, also known as Ghaghara or Saryu in India and Karnali in Nepal), it is a perennial source of fresh water water supply to the downstream populations.

What is strange is that the existence of this hydropower plant, located close to the Indian border, has not appeared in any published Chinese plan earlier.
Though satellite imagery only shows a medium river-of-the-river dam, without a large reservoir, India downstream should be concerned.
But there is more.
A new airport is coming up a couple of kilometres north of the hydropower plant and the “model” village. In June 2018, the Civil Aviation Administration of China had announced that Tibet would soon have three new airports. The Chinese-language press had given some information about the location of these three airports: one was to be located in Lhuntse, north of Arunachal Pradesh, the second was north of a border post with Nepal and the last in Purang.
Chinese website seetao.com explained: “These three airports can be used for civilian use in peacetime, military aircraft training on the plateau; direct military use in wartime, holding military operations, will be able to play a very important role.”
Though many in India had forgotten about this announcement, the airport is now functional; on November 10, 2023, videos of the newly-built airfield appeared on the Chinese social media.
These three developments (model village, hydropower station and airport) should be seen as one, undoubtedly all are for dual (civil and military) use.
A separate occurrence needs to be noticed: the closure of the Kailash Yatra to Indian pilgrims. The 6,638-metre-tall diamond-shaped mountain is considered to be the abode of Lord Shiva and also one of the most sacred places in the Jain, Buddhist and Bon religions.
For centuries, pilgrims from India have visited the holy site; since the 1990s, they could cross into Tibet via Lipulekh Pass in Pittoragarh district and later enter Tibet via Nathu-la in Sikkim.
After the Doklam incident in 2017, the Indian yatris were not allowed to use these routes anymore.
As Beijing ignored Kathmandu’s request to permit the aerial sightseeing of Mount Kailash, Nepali tour operators decided to offer the yatris an alternative and a large number of devotees started using the Nepal route from Simikot to Purang by chartered helicopters; unfortunately, the scheme was subsequently closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
After the scheme reopened for Nepalis in 2022, the Chinese authorities did not allow Indian visitors to fly to Purang, though last year alone, Nepali tour operators received over 50,000 bookings from Indian pilgrims for the sacred pilgrimage.
According to the Kathmandu Post, a new alternative has been found: a flight could remain in Nepalese territory and have a “remote” darshan of the sacred mountain: “Shree Airlines operated a first-of-its-kind aerial pilgrimage tour of the holy places, making the pilgrims’ dream come true without a Chinese visa” -- explained a communiqué last week.
It is clear that China does not want Indians to have a real darshan of the holy mountain, or even come close to the place where Zorawar Singh is buried; and these latest developments in the area explain why.

New dangers along the border for India

My article New dangers along the border for India appeared in The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle last week.

Here is the link...

Kimathanka is one of the smallest and most remote hamlets in the northeastern district of Sankhuwasabha of Eastern Nepal.

Some good news for India has been pouring in from the Himalayan front since the beginning of the year; and bad news too. The landing of an Antonov-32 AN-32 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) at the new Pakyong airport in Sikkim could be a game changer for the Indian Army. Pakyong airport is located nearby the strategic Chumbi Valley in Tibet, the Siliguri Corridor …and Doklam.
A few days earlier, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman complimented the Border Road Organisation (BRO) for constructing an important portion of the Kailash Manasarovar route near India’s Nepal border in Uttarakhand: “A very crucial milestone has been achieved on January 15, 2019, by connecting Lakhanpur to Najang by BRO. This connectivity is very important being the chicken neck corridor with India’s Nepal border in Dharchula Sub-Division of Uttarakhand, where the only alternative route was a mule track,” the minister tweeted.
A massive infrastructure build-up is also taking place in Arunachal Pradesh. Apart from new border roads, a 426 m strategic bridge over the river Diffo, 25 km from Roing in Lower Dibang valley district, has been opened. The bridge connects the Lower Dibang valley with the Lohit districts and will greatly facilitate “faster induction of force multipliers, long range vectors and troops into Dibang valley.”
But at the same time, China is not sleeping. In fact, it remains far ahead of India in terms of infrastructure development.
According to Xinhua news agency, the Tibet Autonomous Region’s (TAR) objective is to build and upgrade 4,500 km of rural roads to link all its townships and villages by the end of 2019. “The move is expected to contribute to the ongoing poverty reduction campaign, especially in Tibet’s one township and 12 villages that still lack access to roads,” affirmed Xinhua. And, since all infrastructure is now legally-bound to be “dual-use”, it means that the People’s Liberation Army will greatly benefit of the 37 billion yuan (about $5.5 billion) invested in 2018, which included building and upgrading 13,000 km of rural roads. By the end of 2018, the TAR already had a total of 68,863 km of rural roads giving access of asphalt or concrete roads to 34 townships and 533 villages.
But more worrying information is coming from the plateau, a new axis or corridor is being built between Tibet and Nepal, the closest ever from the Indian border in Sikkim.
Kimathanka is one of the smallest and most remote hamlets in the northeastern district of Sankhuwasabha of Eastern Nepal. The village is strategically located as it lies at the border with Tibet (China). The Kathmandu Post affirmed that it is “a crucial strategic location for Nepal as the country strives to increase its connectivity with the northern neighbour.”
It is a fact that connectivity and border trade between Nepal and Tibet has greatly increased in recent years.
According to Tibet Business Daily, the total value of Tibet’s foreign trade exceeded 5.8 billion yuan in 2017. “The domestic economy has been steadily improving, and the demand for the international market has generally recovered,” noted the daily. Lhasa customs data showed that the total import and export value of Tibet’s foreign trade was 5.885 billion yuan in 2017, adding 13.9 per cent from the same period in 2016.
In April 2018, Nepal foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali visited Beijing, where he met the vice-president of China Wang Qishan and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and spoke of “expediting past agreements, developing a trans-Himalayan multi-dimensional transport network and building a China-Nepal-India economic corridor.”
Has India been informed? Probably not!
Mr Gyawali said that China is Nepal’s genuine friend and a trusted ally: “We should build on the excellent roots of civilisational, geographical and cultural affinities to further connect our countries and societies in order to achieve common prosperity in the trans-Himalayan region.”
The main investment has been the land port of Kyirong at India’s Nepal border. Though the railway line between Shigatse and Kyirong has been delayed by at least three years due to the 2015 earthquake, it is now the main channel for land trade between China and Nepal, after the Zangmu Port was closed following the earthquake.
On June 9, 2018, the civil aviation administration of China announced that Tibet will soon have three new airports. A look at the location of these airports shows their strategic importance — one will be located in Lhuntse in Lhoka area, north of the Upper Subansiri and Tawang districts of Arunachal Pradesh; the second in Purang, near the trijunction of Nepal-Tibet-India, north of Pittoragarh district of Uttarakhand (on the yatris’ route to Mt Kailash); and the last one between Tingri and Lhatse counties of Shigatse City.
The importance of the Lhatse/Tingri airport will get a boost with the opening of the new Kimathanka landport (the sixth one between Nepal and Tibet). The Kathmandu Post mentioned a problem caused by the custom facilities being constructed: “Until recently, the Arun river, which originates in Tibet, used to run through the valley below Kimathanka. But soon, the river could pose a serious risk to the village — all because of the construction of an embankment, about 1 km long, along the river on the Chinese side. Since the construction began, the river has started flowing through the settlement and local residents fear the entire hamlet could submerge during the rainy season.”
Local villagers are worried. Ganesh Adhikari, the chief district officer of Sankhuwasabha, told the Post, “The Arun river has already changed its course.” But this area seems to be the only piece of flat land available on the Nepali side where Kathmandu plans to build new customs offices, an immigration point, a border outpost and quarantine and banking facilities.
Kimathanka will be the landport of the north-south corridor linking Kimathanka with Biratnagar via Khandbari; Biratnagar is the second largest town in Nepal and a key communication centre, already served by an airfield located not far from the West-East Mahendra Highway.
Once the new corridor is opened, it will have serious implications for India as it will open via Birarnagar, a new strategic and unwanted gate to India, to Kishanganj …and Siliguri.
In case of a Chinese offensive via the Chumbi Valley and Sikkim, it could facilitate the PLA’s movements and allow an outflanking of the Siliguri corridor. China may also one day attempt to open up a corridor to Bangladesh probably via Kishanganj, to support a Bangladeshi regime inimical to India, but it is trickier.
The Kathmandu Post admitted, “The 362-km road section will be the shortest route linking India, Nepal and China in the eastern part of the country. Of the total length, construction of 200 km Biratnagar-Khandbari section has already been completed. The 92 km-long track has already been opened along the 162 km Khandbari-Kimathanka section.”
In March 2018, the same newspaper mentioned the construction of Olangchung Gola Highway, which will link the far eastern part of India’s Nepal border to the border point with TAR; it could become a branch of the Kimathanka corridor. The Nepali government has allocated `600 million for the project.

Delhi needs to vigilantly watch and start asking questions to Kathmandu. India cannot afford another Doklam situation.

The Tibet Recipe, a New Airport in Xinjiang

Xinhua announced yesterday the construction of a new regional airport in Xinjiang.
It will be built in Yutian, a remote County of Hotan/Khotan Prefecture in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Yutian is also known as Keryia.


Already in 1953
On July 15, 1953, a CIA note dealing with “Chinese Communist Troops, West Tibet” and “Road Construction, Sinkiang to Tibet and Ladakh” mentioned that late 1952, the 2 Cavalry Regiment, commanded by one Han Tse-min, had set up his headquarters at Gartok (the main trade centre in Western Tibet).
It announced that the regiment had 800 camels and 150 men garrisoned at Rutok, in the vicinity of the Panggong lake.
At that time, the 2 Cavalry’s commandant spoke of the Chinese intention to built three new roads in the area.

• A road from Rutok to Keriya, south of the Taklamakan desert (the construction is ‘contemplated’ says the report); on the eastern edge of the Aksai Chin.
• A motorable road from Khotan to Suget Karaul ending at Vanjilga (at the western end of the Aksai Chin).
  It later became the Aksai Chin road (now National Highway 219), though the alignment may have been slightly different from the present one as it was then probably impracticable for heavy vehicles (only 4 years later, heavy trucks were able to ply on the road).
• A road from Khotan (or Hotan) to Rutok to be completed in June or July 1953. 

Though the road between Rutok and Keriya was never completed, the Chinese engineers never dropped the project.The main difficulty is to cross the Kunlun range, south of Keriya

In December 2016, I mentioned on this blog the construction of a new road linking Xinjiang and Tibet. National Highway 216 (G216) runs in the XUAR in the southern direction from Altay City to Baluntai in Hejing County, where it joins China National Highway 218. It is 857 kilometres in length.
The starting point of this project is the Jieze Lake near the G 219 highway (north of Rutok). The road will be built “in accordance with the two-lane highway construction,” asserted then a Chinese report.

New airport planned in Keriya
In this context, and in view of the proximity of the Indian border, it makes sense for China to have a new ‘civil’ airport at Keriya (Yutian is the Chinese name), considering that there is no such thing as a 'civil' airport in China, especially so close to the Indian border (Aksai Chin).
Keriya airport is designed to annually handle 180,000 passengers and 400 tonnes of cargo; it will cost 104 million US dollars and witness more than 2100 annual take-offs and landings every year.
The airport will have a 3,200-meter runway, a 3,000-square-meter terminal building, four aprons, and facilities for air traffic control and power, water, heat and fuel supplies, says Xinhua.
The project has been cleared by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Civil Aviation Administration of China and announced by the regional NDRC.
The Yutian/Keriya County, located south of the Taklimakan Desert, and north of the Kunlun range, covers 39,500 square kilometers and has 277,400 permanent residents.
It is a major stop over on the ancient Silk Road (OBOR), according to the Chinese news agency. The nearest airport, in Khotan/Hotan City, some 200 km away and north of the disputed Aksai Chin.
Interestingly, Yutian airport is one of 10 new airports to be built in Xinjiang by 2020.
Six older airports will also be soon renovated and expanded.

The Tibet recipe
At the end of August 2016, Wu Yingjie took over as Party Secretary of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) from Chen Quanguo who was sent to ‘pacify’ Xinjiang. The decision had been taken during the annual closed-door meeting at Beidahe.
An official statement released had then announced that Zhang Chunxian would be replaced by Chen Quanguo as secretary of the XUAR’s Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
This was indeed a promotion for Chen, given the fact that Xinjiang's Party Secretaries often serve in the Politburo (though Chen will have to wait until the 19th Party Congress later this year to find out if he has made it).
His selection was linked to the Tibet recipe, the way Chen managed to ‘pacify’ Central Tibet.
There is no doubt that Chen will apply the same formula in Xinjiang: bring millions of tourists and ‘dilute’ the Uyghur characteristics.
The 10 new airports, particularly the new one in Keriya/Yutian have to be seen in this perspective.

China is on an Airports and Infrastructure spree in Tibet

My article China is on an Airports and Infrastructure spree in Tibet appeared in NitiCentral.

Here is the link...

Isn’t it strange that some of the most significant news are often missed in the cacophony of the ‘Breaking News’ channels?
On the same day, two game-changing pieces of information appeared in the Chinese media. Yet, they just looked innocuous.
The first one was about the 6th Tibet Work Forum. Was it held in Beijing or in the sea-resort of Beidaihe, where the top leaders escaped the unpleasant Beijing weather? I shall come back to it later.
The second information was the PLA/Civil integration for the management of the Lhasa airport; it has serious strategic implications for India, which is struggling to build some infrastructure in Arunachal and Ladakh.
Xinhua officially announced the vital airport integration to "strengthen aviation safety and combat support capabilities."
A joint statement from the People Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC) said that the integration will include joint maintenance of airport support facilities, joint flight safety support and joint airport management.
Interestingly, the Lhasa Gongkar Airport in Tibet will be the first of the two pilot airports to implement the PLA/civil 'integration' (with the Sunan Shuofang Airport in Wuxi in Jiangsu province). The job should be completed during the second half of 2015.
The PLAAF/CAAC circular further affirms that "all the civil-military airports will conduct strengthened integration next year."
To flood the Tibetan plateau with millions of Chinese tourists, a good infrastructure is required. Airports and the railway line are the backbones of a booming tourism in Tibet. The same infrastructure could be crucial in case of conflict with India; integration of the airport management was therefore required.
Once the Lhasa Gonggar Airport, located about 62 kilometres from the Tibetan capital has its joint PLA/Civil management, the other airports on the plateau will follow.
A couple of years ago, Xinhua had announced that the airport in Chamdo (known as the Bangda Airport) was reopened after major repairs. Xinhua reported then: "The Bangda Airport, the world's highest-altitude civilian airport currently in use, is expected to resume operations." It had temporarily been closed to repair a 19-year-old runway.
Also strategically important is the Nyingtri Mainling Airport, situated just north of the McMahon Line, the border with India; it serves Bayi, the main PLA garrison in the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
Ngari Gunsa Airport already used by the PLA posted opposite the Indian troops in Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh, started its operations in 2010, becoming the fourth civil airport in Tibet after Lhasa, Nyingchi and Chamdo airports.
Shigatse, the second city in Tibet is served by the railway line since August last year but also has the Shigatse Peace Airport, called Shigatse Air Base.
It was solely for military use until 2010, when a 100 million US $ expansion was completed.
The 4,411-metre-high Kardze Daocheng Yading airport, built in Kardze in Sichuan province was put into operation in 2014 (a year earlier than planned!). The Sichuan authorities planned to bring one million tourists to the area by 2015. But as important as tourism, the airport facilitates the transportation of fresh troops from the Military Area Command in Chengdu to Kardze prefecture. Kardze has been one of the most restive areas on the Tibetan plateau. With one stone, two birds are killed: the Tibetan protesters can be 'pacified' in no time and the deluge of Chinese tourists brings hefty revenues.
Another airport has come up in the Nagchu Prefecture of Tibet. Completed in 2014, the Nagchu Airport is now the highest airport in the world at 4,436 m.
The Modi Sarkar is aware of all this, but while China speedily builts Tibet’s infrastructure (using the perfect excuse of having to cater for millions of Han tourists), India develops its border areas at snail’s pace, struggling to create a semblance of infrastructure. It is true that the terrain is far more difficult in the Indian side, but so are the bureaucratic hurdles.
In Arunachal for example, the process indeed needs perseverance and an unshakable will to change the tide. Despite the declared resolve from the present Government, it may take years for proper roads to reach the remotest districts of Arunachal Pradesh…and stop the Chinese ‘visits’.
It is not an easy challenge, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has realised that the North-East cannot be developed from Delhi. In his latest monthly radio programme Maan ki Baat, he announced that he was “deputing Central Government officials to find solutions to problems being faced by the region”.
One of the decisions taken by the Union Government has been to modify the guidelines of the Border Area Development Programme drafted some 10 years ago. According to the new notification, “The main objective of the BADP is to meet the special developmental needs and well being of the people living in remote and inaccessible areas situated near the international border and to saturate the border areas with the entire essential infrastructure …(with a) participatory approach.”
I mentioned another information released by Xinhua the same day about the 6th Tibet Work Forum, which decides the fate of Tibet (as well as Tibet’s southern neighbours) for the next 5/10 years
The opening of the Forum just took place in Beidaihe, the sea-resort where the Communist leadership retires during the hot summer.
Xinhua reported that top Chinese leaders have met "to discuss economic and social development in Tibet, and how to ensure the autonomous region achieves prolonged stability."
The statement of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) further noted: "Safeguarding national unity and strengthening ethnic unity should be highlighted in work involving Tibet." The so-called stability is undoubtedly foremost in the mind of the leadership. The statement added: "Efforts should be made to unswervingly carry out the anti-separatism battle, promote the region's economic and social development, safeguard and improve people's welfare, and enhance exchanges and integration of different ethnic groups."
The Politburo (or probably an extended Politburo) is said to have agreed that "strengthening Tibetan infrastructure, helping it foster competitive industries while ensuring environmental protection are the means to achieve marked improvement in living conditions and more social cohesion," were the priorities for the restive region.
The PLA/Civil integration of the airports in Tibet will certainly help Beijing to 'strengthen the infrastructure' and consolidate its presence on the Plateau.
To give an example of the seriousness of the situation for India, it is enough to quote the case of Metok, the last Tibetan village before the Yarlung Tsangpo/Brahmaputra enters Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
China Tibet Online explains: “The remoteness of the location, together with other reasons such as climate and geological condition, and economic development, led to the isolation of the region. Having no way linking it to the outside world until the end of 2013, Metok is the last county in China to have its road.”
Historically, this was a mythic place; only a very few intrepid pilgrims had visited the ‘hidden valley’. Now, Zhang Yuhui, an executive deputy director of Metok County affirmed that the income from tourism in Metok (which has 11,000 inhabitants only) has reached 1.6 billion US $, just in the matter of 2 years.
China Tibet Online says: “Going to Metok had once been only the privilege of the ‘brave’ before the traffic was improved. After the opening of the road to Metok, self-driving travel became popular apart from hiking. Visitors from various places were attracted to this beautiful place.”
Can you believe that this tiny (though strategic valley) hosted 70,000 visitors in 2013, the first year the road was opened. It grew to 90,000 in 2014 and the Chinese government expects 130,000 visitors in 2015.
And this just a few kilometers north of the Indian border!
No other comment is required.
The Modi Sarkar has indeed to hurry up and undertake the development of the border on a war footing.

Who is complicating what?

Amazing Chinese!
They are unhappy about India’s plans to build a road on the southern side of the McMahon Line in Arunachal Pradesh.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei stated that India should not “take any actions that may further complicate the situation.”
"The boundary issue between China and India is left by the colonial past. We need to deal with this issue properly. Before a final settlement is reached, we hope that India will not take any actions that may further complicate the situation”, Hong said.
He added: “We should jointly safeguard peace and tranquility of the border area and create favourable conditions for the final settlement of the border issue.”
The proposed billion-dollar project on the Indian side of the India-Tibet border was announced by Kiren Rijiju, the Minister of State for Home Affairs during a visit to his home State.
Rijiju hoped that the construction of the 1,800km long road could begin soon. The Minister also said that the road would be the “biggest single infrastructure project in the history of India.”
One could ask Mr. Hong: when China decided to build a road through the Aksai China plateau in the early 1950s, was not Beijing ‘complicating’ the issue with India.
Yesterday on this blog, I mentioned two roads (today highways) which in the 1950s changed the military and strategic stakes on the plateau (the Qinghai-Tibet and the Sichuan Tibet highways).
At a time when China criticizes New Delhi for planning a road on India’s own territory, The China Daily assets that “The nation [China] has the capability to build an expressway linking up Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province in west China if major technical barriers are overcome.”
The newspaper quotes Wang Shuangjie, Party's chief of the CCCC First Highway Consultants Co., Ltd., a technical consultant for the planned project, who affirms: “Technically, we have the confidence to build the Qinghai-Tibet Expressway."
Wang and his team believe that the main technical barrier lies in the 500-km frozen earth belt along the planned 1,900-km expressway that links Lhasa with Qinghai’s provincial capital Xining. The Chinese engineers are aware of the extreme conditions on the Plateau, i.e. high altitude, low oxygen content, strong solar radiation and freezing temperature, which are serious technical challenges for the expressway's construction.
Wang said that the expressway will span over areas where the average altitude is above 4,500 meters and annual average temperature below zero.
The China Daily believes that Wang and his team need also to address problems concerning the possible environmental consequences of the construction (melting of permafrost?) and come up with proper technology to take care of the fragile ecological environment.
China has already completed the construction of the roadbed of the expressway's 300-km section between Xining and Caka in Qinghai, while construction of the 400-km section linking Xining with Golmud is also under way. The Chinese newspaper adding: “The rest of the 1,100-km section remains a hard nut to crack for engineers.”
China already ‘complicated’ the situation for India by bringing the train to Lhasa in July 2006 (and now to Shigatse); the express-highway from Xining to Lhasa will further tilt the strategic balance.
But that it not all, to complicate the situation further, Beijing plans to invest 278 million yuan (US $ 45 million) for expanding the Mainling (Nyingtri) airport. The Central Government has already allocated 139.5 million yuan (US $ 23 million) and the balance will be provided by the civil aviation development fund.
China Tibet Online says: “The abundant tourism resources and many famous scenic spots in the region attract more and more tourists to Nyingtri [Chinese Nyingchi] as their first stop for Tibet. In the first half year of 2014, Nyingchi totally received 836,200 tourists from home and aboard.
This airport is located north of the McMahon Line.

The Nyingtri Development and Reform Commission announced that, from January to September 2014, the Nyingtri/Mainling airport transported 246,611 passengers, up 17.5% from the same period in 2013.
Meanwhile, the airport handled a total of 2,734 takeoff and landing flights and 961.8 tons of cargo, up 17.7% and 74.6% from 2013 respectively.
Nyingtri/Mainling is the second largest (and lowest airport with an altitude of 2,900 meters) in Tibet.
It is built on the banks of the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra), north of the McMahon Line.
For India, it is extremely worrying and it definitively complicates the situation on the north-eastern frontiers.
The train to Nyingtri in 2020 will further exacerbate the border row.
And then, the train to Chumbi Valley!
And of course, the train to Kyirong (see yesterday's post)
Mr. Hong Lei should check his facts before making statements.