The dual use of airports in Tibet

This is an update of a two-year old post about the airports in Tibet.
I have often mentioned on this blog the dual-use of the airports on the plateau.
Yesterday, Xinhua announced the integration of civil-military airports 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 and Sunan Shuofang International Airport in  Wuxi in Jiangsu province, will be the first two pilot PLA/civil airports to implement the 'integration'.
It will be done during the second half of 2015.
The PLAAF/CAAC circular further affirms that "All the civil-military airports will conduct strengthened integration next year."
Is this decision linked with the 6th Tibet Work Forum?
Probably!
Apparently, the first meeting of the Forum took place yesterday.
Xinhua reported that top Chinese leaders have met "to discuss economic and social development in Tibet, and how to ensure the autonomous region achieve 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."
It added that: "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 probably help Beijing to 'strengthen the infrastructure' and consolidate its presence on the Plateau, i.e. 'to stabilize Tibet' in Marxist terminology.

(Here starts my old post)
To flood the Tibetan plateau with more and more Chinese tourists, a good infrastructure is required.
Airports and the railway line are the backbones of a booming tourism in Tibet. China is working hard to get the latest facilities in these fields.
Xinhua recently reported that the airport in Chamdo (known as the Bangda Airport) is to be reopened soon after major repairs.
Xinhua says: "The Bangda Airport, the world's highest-altitude civilian airport currently in use, is expected to resume operations after months of repairs, local aviation authorities said."
The Chamdo airfield was closed on June 22 to 'repair' the 19-year-old runway.
The airport operates two flights, one is Chamdo-Lhasa and the other Chamdo-Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province. With an elevation of 4,334 meters above sea level, it is still the highest in Tibet.
The 4,411-metre-high Kardze Daocheng Yading airport, being built in Kardze (Garze) in Sichuan province will become the world’s highest civilian airport when put into operation later this year (a year earlier than planned!!).
The Civil Aviation Administration's officials say that its main purpose is to boost local tourism.
The Yading airport will cost of 1.5 billion yuan ($ 245 million). The Sichuan authorities plan to bring one million tourists (and get 1.5 billion yuan revenue!) by 2015. A quick return on investment!
But as important as tourism, the airport will facilitate the transportation of fresh troops from the Military Area Command in Chengdu to Kardze prefecture in a short time. It has been one of the most restive areas on the Tibetan plateau.
The new Kardze Yading airport will greatly facilitate the transportation of PAP's reinforcements in case of unrest. With one stone, two birds are killed: the Tibetan protesters are 'pacified' and the deluge of Chinese tourists brings hefty revenues.
Has anybody thought of doing something similar in Chushul in Ladakh, of course not to 'pacify' anybody but to bring some revenue for the region and 'occupy' India's territory?
By the way, an article by Virendra Sahai Verma and P. Wangdus appeared in The Hindu last month. It suggested a railway line in Ladakh: "A rail link in the Indus Plains in Ladakh, similar to the Kashmir Railway, will have spin-offs for environment conservation, military logistics, tourism and the local economy."
It explains: "After the Banihal-Baramulla railway, the Indian Railways should now plan to build a line in the plains of Ladakh along the Indus river. Its alignment could be from Batalik-Khalatse-Leh-Karu to Chushul. The stretch, of approximately 500 kilometres, is plain, interspersed with populated and fertile regions and is along an arterial road in Ladakh, from Batalik to Chushul."
Why not? 

Other airports in Tibet


Lhasa Gongkar
Lhasa Gonggar Airport (Chinese: 拉萨贡嘎机场, Tibetan: ལྷ་ས་གོང་དཀར་རྫོང་) (IATA: LXA, ICAO: ZULS) is the airport serving Lhasa, the capital city of the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is located about 62 kilometres (39 mi) southwest of the city in Gonggar County of Shannan Prefecture. The airport is close to the road to Tsetang, the capital of Shannan Prefecture.
At an elevation of 3,570 metres (11,710 ft), Lhasa Airport is one of the highest airports in the world. The airport was built in 1965, a second runway was built in 1994 and terminal facilities were upgraded in 2004.

Ngari Airport

Ngari Gunsa Airport
Ngari Gunsa Airport (Chinese: 阿里昆莎机场; pinyin: Ālǐ Kūnshā Jīchǎng) (IATA: NGQ, ICAO: ZUAL) is a dual-use military and civil airport serving the town of Shiquanhe in Ngari Prefecture, in the southwest of China's Tibet Autonomous Region near the Indian border. It started operations on 1 July 2010, becoming the fourth civil airport in Tibet after Lhasa, Nyingchi, and Chamdo airports.
Situated at 4,274 m (14,022 ft) above sea level, Gunsa Airport is the third highest airports in the world after Qamdo Bangda Airport (elevation 4,334 m (14,219 ft)) and Kangding Airport (elevation 4,280 m (14,042 ft)). Gunsa airport has a 4,500-meter runway. It is expected to handle 120,000 passengers by 2020. Construction began in May 2007 and cost an estimated 1.65 billion yuan (241.22 million U.S. dollars).

Nyingtri Mainling Airport

Nyingtri Mainling Airport
Nyingchi [Nyingtri] Mainling Airport (Tib: Nyingtri, simplified Chinese: 林芝米林机场; traditional Chinese: 林芝米林機場; pinyin: Línzhī Mǐlín Jīchǎng) (IATA: LZY, ICAO: ZUNZ) is an airport in Mainling, Nyingchi Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is suggested to be one of the most challenging instrument approaches in the world, since the airport is in a winding valley.
Nyingchi Airport is the third airport that Tibet has put into operation. Built at a cost of 780 million yuan (96.18 million U.S. dollars), including investment by the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), the airport is 2,949 meters above sea level, lower than the other two civil airports, with a designed annual passenger flow of 120,000.

Chamdo Bamda Airport
Qamdo [Chamdo] Bamda Airport (IATA: BPX, ICAO: ZUBD), also known as Changdu Bangda Airport, located in Bamda, Chamdo, Tibet, China.
The airport is the highest airport in the world, at an elevation of 4,334 metres (14,219 ft) and has the longest publicly used paved runway in the world, at 5.5 km (3 mi).

Chamdo Airport

The low air density at this altitude makes a higher takeoff and landing true airspeed necessary, and therefore a longer runway. Also, the aircraft's engines produce less thrust at higher elevation than near sea-level.
The airport is 2.5 hours by mountain road from the county seat of Chamdo. The long commute is the result of no flat land closer to the city being available to construct an airport.
Visitors are warned before landing to move slowly on leaving the plane and that they may feel light headed or dizzy because of the thin air.

Shigatse Airport

Shigatse Peace Airport
Shigatse Peace Airport (IATA: RKZ, ICAO: ZURK), or Shigatse Air Base, is a dual-use military and civilian airport serving Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is located in Jiangdang Township, 43 kilometers from Shigatse. With an elevation of 3,782 metres (12,408 ft), it is one of the highest airports in the world.
Construction of Shigatse Airport started in 1968 and was completed in 1973. It was solely for military use until 2010, when a 532 million yuan expansion was completed. On 30 October 2010, the airport was opened as the fifth civilian airport in Tibet.

Nagchu Dagring Airport
Nagqu [Nagchu] Dagring Airport (Chinese: 那曲达仁机场; pinyin: Nàqū dárén jīchǎng) is an airport under construction near Nagchu in the Nagchu Prefecture of Tibet. When completed in 2014 it will be the highest airport in the world at 4,436 m (14,554 ft), surpassing Chamdo Bangda Airport as the highest. Construction began in 2011 and is scheduled to take three years. The airport is part of a Chinese government development scheme to build 97 airports across China by 2020. By then, the authorities intend that four-fifths of China's population will be within a 90-minute drive of an airport.

Practicing Repression in Tibet

The role of the 'thug' is played by a Chinese

Some 'counter-terrorism' combat exercises were recently held in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province.
The SWAT (an acronym for 'Special Weapons And Tactics', commonly used for paramilitary forces with military-style light weapons) held what Xinhua called 'simulation exercises' to repress 'thugs' (read Tibetans).
The paramilitary troops displayed their skills by simulating 'disposal of self-immolation', extreme behavior, illegal gatherings, violent demonstrations or sit-ins.
The Chinese SWATs used techniques such martial arts, wrestling capture, anti-hijacking drills and demonstrated the use of their latest 'counter-terrorism equipment'.
Tibet seems always ahead of Xinjiang is term of repressive 'technologies'.
A few months ago, I wrote on this blog: Security: Learn from Tibet
I mentioned that a delegation from Xinjiang's capital Urumqi visited Lhasa to learn the tricks of the trade to preserve 'security' and 'stability'. The delegation was taken around by Tibet's Security Czar, Deng Xiaogang who is also the Party's Deputy Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
I then wrote: "You can be sure that the delegation had not come for sight-seeing."
The China Daily then affirmed that the Party cadres from Urumqi were very impressed by the "effective grid management system, which arranges every five or 10 households into a group. They concluded that the Urumqi government should put more effort into improving community facilities and service, enhancing the management of its floating population, and maintaining community stability."
Will an 'effective' grid system be able to stop cars ramming into tourists on the Tiananmen Square or bombings in Urumqi's railway station?
Today, the leadership from Xinjiang believes that it can learn from Tibet.
All these issues may be discussed during the 6th Xinjiang Work Forum, sometimes next month in Beijing. The Forum will take 'policy decisions' regarding the future of the restive region inhabited by the Uyghurs.
In the meantime a couple of days back, the Politburo of the Communist Party held an urgent meeting.
It was decided that "National solidarity would be achieved in Xinjiang by promoting bilingual education, patriotic religious practices and interaction between ethnic groups."
It further called for 'religious harmony and elimination of extremism'.
Remember the Middle Path approach advocated by the Muslim leaders earlier this month.
According to the Politburo statement: "Employment would also be a priority, with the goal of ensuring that at least one person in each family has a job. And education levels of all schools across Xinjiang would be enhanced.
There should be more construction projects and greater development of natural resources for the benefit of locals."
Analysts believe that it marks a shift in the policy for the region. An earlier Politburo meeting (in November 2013) had put more emphasis on security issues.
It probably means that the forthcoming Xinjiang Work Forum will have a dual approach, education and promotion of religious harmony on one hand and strickter control of the 'religious extremism' and repressive control on the other.
During the recent Politburo, President Xi said that he wanted to achieve "long-term peace and ethnic unity by cracking down on terrorists and religious extremists".
He asserted that the Government policies were 'completely accurate', though the 'war on separatists was long term, complicated and urgent'.
According to the Politburo statement: "We must take the severe crackdown on terrorism as the focus of the current war and curb the spread of terrorist attacks and the filtration of extreme religious powers. We must be confident about our victory and be prepared for the long-term battle and soundly carry out work to maintain Xinjiang's long-term stability."
In the meantime, the security forces are practicing in Tibet.
Please note that the role of the Tibetans are played by Chinese soldiers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More infrastructure in Tibet

Two more on airports on the Tibetan plateau!
I have already written about the 6 main airfields in the Tibetan Autonomous Region and more recently on one in Labrang (Gansu).
According to Xinhua, the construction of a new airport to serve Dawu Township, capital of Golog (Golok) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP) in Qinghai Province will begin later this year.
The State Council, China's Cabinet has recently approved the project. Local airport sources explain that it will boost the development of the Tibetan-populated prefecture.
For Beijing, it will also help control the 'restiveness' of the Tibetans in the area.
Qinghai Airport Co Ltd., the promoter stated that the airport will be completed by 2016. The airport will be located at an altitude of 3,780 meters and will require an investment of US $ 184 million.
Some 80,000 passengers (and 200 tons of cargo) are expected to use the new facilities every year. Airbus 319 and Boeing 737-700 aircrafts will be able to land at Dawu airport.
Xinhua says that the area known as Golog “covers 76,000 square km on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and has a population of 180,000 -- mostly herders. The topography of the region, with an average elevation of 4,200 meters, is dominated by daunting snow-capped mountains and sprawling meadowland.”
But there is more than the Chinese news agency tells us.
Dawu is considered by the Chinese government one of the most 'unstable' areas of the Tibetan plateau.
Dawu in Golog country should not be mixed with Dawu in Kartse TAP, Sichuan Province which witnessed serious disturbances on July 6 after a large number of Tibetans decided to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s birthday.

Another airport
According to Xinhua again, the Daocheng Yading airport, located in Daocheng County, Kardze TAP of Sichuan Province is expected to start operating on September 16. It will be the world's highest-altitude civilian airport, say the local tourism authorities.
The Chinese news agency affirms that it will cut the traffic time between the Mainland and Chengdu, Sichuan’s capital from two days by bus to 65 minutes by plane.
Located at 4,411 meters above sea level, the airport will initially operate a daily flight from Chengdu to Daocheng; a one-way ticket will cost 260 US $.
The new airport Jiuzhaigou-Huanglong is 159 km from Yading Nature Reserve in the eastern part of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Yading is known as ‘the last Shangri-La’ and ‘the last pure land on the blue planet’.
A month later, new flights will start; one connecting Kardze to Chongqing, but also one to Barkam, the capital of Ngawa TAP, which is bordered by Gansu in the north and northeast and Qinghai in the northwest .
A few words about Ngawa’s Jiuhuang (Jiuzhaigou-Huanglong) airport: it is located 12 kilometers north of the Chuanzhusi Town, Songpan County. The airport is 88 kilometers from Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area, and 43 kilometers from Huanglong, another touristic area. Air distance from Jiuhuang Airport to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport is about 240 kilometers, a 40 minutes' flight.
There are dozens of flights daily from Jiuzhaigou to Chengdu.
The Jiuzhaigou-Huanglong airport was opened in 2003 with flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Kunming, Chongqing and Xi'an.
The Ngawa area has witnessed a wave of self-immolations in 2011 and 2012; about half of the Tibetan self-immolations occurred in Ngawa Prefecture.
China will soon have a string of airports to bring reinforcements in case of 'troubles' in these areas of former Amdo and Kham provinces.
In peacetime, Chinese tourists can visit these 'paradises on earth' or even get married there.

The Metok tunnel and road
Another piece of news regarding the infrastructure in Tibet: the tunnel to Metok, north of the McMahon Line seems now fully functional.
According to China Military Online, a ‘motorcade’ regiment under the Sichuan-Tibet Military Service Station Department left for Motuo [Metok] county in the southeastern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region on September 10, 2013.
The PLA’s website affirms that this is the first time that the PLA sent “motorcades for delivering materials to Metok county”. It further explains that Metok, hailed as the ‘isolated island on plateau', was the only county in China which could not be reached by car. I mentioned several times the opening of the tunnel on this blog in December 2010/January 2011.

China Military Online admits that in the past “supplies for the military troops stationed in Metok relied on horsebacks and occasional helilifts. In October 2012, the highway connecting Zhamu town of Bomi county and Metok county was officially put into use, greatly facilitating transport to Metok.”
That is not good news for the Indian Army posted on the other side of the McMahon line with the poor infrastructure which has lately done the headlines of the Indian media.
Pang Kuo, director of the Sichuan-Tibet Military Service Station Department explained to the PLA website: “It used to take the ‘hinny fleet’ more than two months to provide enough staple and non-staple food of a year for the stationed officers and men in Metok. Now it takes only one trip of the motorcade to supply enough materials the troops need for a whole winter.”
AK Antony, the Defence Minister was right when he said: "I have no hesitation to say that China is in a better position than India in terms of border infrastructure. It is a mistake, it is all of us who are to be held collectively responsible for it. It is a historical legacy."
Legacy or not, it is a hard fact.
Antony however assures the Houses that: "After 'years of neglect', India is fast developing capabilities near the China border, including building of roads, raising of two mountain Divisions, many new airfields and landing grounds."
It is however not true for places like Chaglagam which recently witnessed serious Chinese intrusions.
Mr. Antony conceded that China was 'superior' in terms of border infrastructure as India, "because of 1962 war, India was late in deciding on building roads and other capabilities near the Line of Actual Control."
He explained the increased incursions by Chinese troops over the last few years by 'their fear that India is trying to catch up with them.'
Well, for the time being, China has nothing to 'fear about', but let us India is catching up.