Chinese village in Arunachal: India must speak up!

My article Chinese village in Arunachal: India must speak up! appeared in Rediff.com

'China wants to change the status quo of India's Northern Border and proves that it can do whatever it wants in what it perceives as its own territory,' states Claude Arpi.

Here is the link...

On August 28, 1959, the Indian Ambassador in Beijing sent a strong note to China’s Foreign Ministry, to protest the fact that Chinese troops had violated Indian territory; after mentioning other trespassing in the Tawang and Ladakh sectors, the note says: “Another serious instance of violation of the Indian border and unlawful trespass into Indian territory by Chinese forces has just been brought to the notice of the Government of India. On the 25th August a strong Chinese detachment crossed into Indian territory south of Migyitun on the NEFA [North East Frontier Agency] border and fired without notice on an Indian forward picket [of the 9 Assam Rifles]. They arrested the entire picket which was twelve strong but eight Indian personnel somehow managed to escape. Thereafter the Chinese detachment outflanked the Indian outpost at Longju and opened fire on it from a distance of about 800 yards.”
For Delhi, the Indian outpost was “well within our territory, about two miles south of the international border.” The protest note affirmed: “There could be no doubt about the international frontier in this area and this is a case of deliberate aggression on Indian territory.”
Delhi concluded that it had taken very serious notice of the incident.
Three days later, the Indian public discovered with stupefaction that India and China had serious differences on the border; Prime Minister Nehru reported the incident in the Lok Sabha …and mentioned the construction of a Chinese road in the Aksai China area of Ladakh. India realized that large chunks of Indian territory, several thousand square kilometres in the Aksai Chin, were under Chinese control. It was the first time that the Government had made the legislators and the Indian public, privy to the situation on the border. 

Xiaogang Village
Sixty-two years later, China has built one of its infamous ‘Xiaogang’ (‘well-off’) border villages, a few hundred meters from the place where the Longju incident took place in 1959.
Since 2015, Tibet is said to have built 965 Xiaogang villages and relocated 266,000 people, many on India’s border. Official Chinese statistics said that by the end of 2019, “Tibet had lifted 628,000 people out of poverty and delisted 74 county-level areas from the poverty list.” ‘’Lifting out of poverty’ is a euphemism for relocating thousands of Tibetans.
Longju now has one of such villages; it was reported by NDTV: China had built some 101 homes in the remote place of Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh.
The TV channel acquired satellite imagery dated November 1, 2020; the images, analyzed by several experts, confirmed:“the construction, approximately 4.5 kms within Indian territory of the de facto border. [the McMahon Line]”
It is of huge concern to India, added the channel: “Though this area is Indian territory, according to official government maps, it has been in effective Chinese control since 1959 [which is not correct as we shall see]. However, earlier only a Chinese military post existed, but this time a full-fledged village that can house thousands has been built. The village, located on the banks of the River Tsari Chu, an area which has been long disputed by India and China.”
As we have seen, the new village is located near Longju, a highly symbolic place, which witnessed the first clash between India and China in 1959. Incidentally, it was five months after the arrival of the Dalai Lama in India and the attack on the Assam Rifles’ platoon seemed to have been a ‘punishment’ for granting asylum to the Dalai Lama.

Year 1956
The year of the Monkey-Fire was a special year; the young Dalai and Panchen Lamas were honoured guests of India on the occasion of the 2500th anniversary of the birthday of the Buddha, 1956 also witnessed another momentous event: the last Tsari Pilgrimage.
In the Tibetan psyche, Tsari has always been synonymous of ‘sacred place’. With the Mount Kailash and the Amye Machen in eastern Tibet, the pilgrimage around the Dakpa Sheri, the ‘Pure Crystal Mountain’ has, for centuries, been one of the holiest of the Roof of the World. The ‘Pure Crystal Mountain’ lies at 5,735 meters above the sea in the Tsari district, north of the McMahon Line.
Toni Huber, one of the foremost scholars on the subject, wrote a great deal about the site of the pilgrimage, between Tsari and today’s Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh: “The large-scale, 12-yearly circumambulation of Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims around the mountain known as the Rongkor Chenmo, had the character of a state ritual for the Ganden Phodrang [Tibetan Government]. Pilgrims in this huge procession crossed the McMahon Line below the frontier village of Migyitun in Tsari district,” wrote Huber. After crossing the McMahon line, the procession would proceed southwards along the Tsari chu (‘river’) towards Longju and Maja, where an Indian Army post is today located and then turn westwards to follow the Subansiri, to finally cross back into Tibet to reach the first frontier village in Chame county.
The southern leg of the Rongkor procession crosses the tribal areas of Upper Subansiri. This was the territory of the Mara clan of the Tagin tribe who live downstream in the Tsari chu valley and around its confluence with the Subansiri at Gelensiniak.
It is most regrettable that this sacred place has today become the symbol of Chinese aggressive and hegemonic policies. The now-retired Gen Zhao Zhongqi, who headed the Western Theater Command till recently, probably made it a point to build this village on Indian territory, knowing that India would not know how to respond.

India continues to patrol
Let us return to history.
Throughout 1962, the Indian Assam Rifles continued to patrol the place. In a letter addressed by Nehru to his Chinese counterpart on December 1, 1962 (two weeks after the cease-fire), Nehru pointed out: “In Longju both Governments agreed that neither Chinese nor Indian personnel should occupy the village. However, it is known that Longju lies within the Indian side of the line of control, whereas Migyitun is on the Chinese side.”
A week later, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing gave its own version: “Longju is a village in the Migyitun area, and India itself has admitted that Migyitun is situated to the north of the illegal McMahon Line. This village was invaded and occupied by Indian troops in June 1959, but was recovered by China after the armed conflict instigated by Indian troops in August 1959. Following that, China not only restored its administrative control over Longju, but also maintained a post there for a period of time.”
Beijing added that the Indian allegation that both sides had agreed that neither Chinese nor Indian personnel should occupy the village, was ‘pure fabrication’.
On December 19, 1962, Delhi strongly objected to China ‘very boldly’ saying that the Indian stand was ‘pure fabrication’, it requested Beijing to read again Zhou Enlai’s latter of December 17, 1959 addressed to Nehru, in which the former had stated: "Pending the above-mentioned agreement, the Chinese Government, in a conciliatory spirit and out of the desire to move towards the withdrawal of armed forces along the entire border, is prepared to agree first to reach a partial solution by applying the proposal you have made in your letter for the non-stationing of the armed forces of both sides at Longju to the other disputed places on the border as well."
During the following years, China started slowly creeping in, eventually a small border post in the area. Delhi kept quiet.
Today, China wants to change the status quo of the Indian Northern Border and proves that it can do whatever it wants in what it perceives as its own territory. It has serious implications elsewhere on the border, particularly in the Aksai Chin area, where Beijing has started exploiting the largest zinc deposits in the Middle Kingdom. If India does not object now, it will be too late in Aksai Chin too.
If China was really interested by peace, as it pretends in every international fora, it should reopen the Rongkor pilgrimage for world peace around the Dakpa Sheri, instead of opening new fronts against India.

 

Hans on the Frontiers: The Worrying Message of Chairman Xi

Zhang Chunhuan and his wife Tashi Yudron in Metok

From July 21 to 23, President Xi Jinping went on an 'inspection tour' of Central and Southern Tibet. His visit was widely commented upon in the world media; especially as it was the first after a gap of ten years.
As soon as the Chinese President landed in Nyingchi City (previously called Prefecture), near the Indian border of Arunachal Pradesh, bells rang in the security establishment in India.
The China Daily soon reported: “He [Xi] was warmly welcomed by local people and officials of various ethnic groups.”
Why mention ‘various ethnic groups’ in Tibet? You will soon understand.
In the meantime, the fact that Xi, who is also the Secretary General of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) was accompanied by Gen Zhang Youxia, a CMC Vice-Chairman, and the proximity of Bayi, the Headquarter of the forces facing India in Arunachal Pradesh, was noticed in Delhi.
On the first day, Xi inspected the ecological preservation of the Yarlung Tsangpo River’s basin (which becomes the Siang and Brahmaputra in India), Nyingchi’s planning hall and a ‘model’ village. Officially, he was briefed about the development planning for the region and the City’s progress in rural revitalization; the next day, Xi left for Lhasa by train, travelling on the newly inaugurated strategic section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway.
The visit was analyzed by the China watchers in the context of the CPC’s 100th anniversary and the 70 anniversary of the so-called Liberation of Tibet (read ‘invasion’).
Though very few details filtered through at first, fresh quotes from the New Great Helmsman have now appeared in The Tibet Daily; they unfortunately confirm the worst worries of the Indian Government.
On August 2, The Tibet Daily published several quotes attributed to Xi Jinping during his interaction with the local officials; an entire series was consecrated to the border with India. Xi’s views are encapsulated in different slogans: “protecting the country [China], building hometowns [border villages], ensuring the defense of [China’s] border and consolidating border security.”
Xi Jinping emphasized that “the border area is the first line of defense and the barrier for the national security. We must strengthen the construction of border infrastructure, encourage people of all ethnic groups to take root in the border, protect the country or build their hometown."
Xi added that he had “ardent expectations for speeding up the construction of border areas. We have to be serious about it,” he said.
The remark about ‘all ethnic groups taking root on the border’ is a clear message that Beijing wants Han Chinese to settle on the Indian borders.
For India, it means a dramatic change of the demography on the frontier areas which has had a Tibetan-stock population since immemorial times.
Since 2017, the borders right from Arunachal Pradesh to Ladakh, have witnessed a mushrooming of new model villages in Tibet.
Xi Jinping had thus described China’s relations with Tibet: “Govern the nation by governing the borders; govern the borders by first stabilizing Tibet; ensure social harmony and stability in Tibet and strengthen the development of border regions.”
The local satraps in Tibet started immediately to implement the ‘vision’ of their boss and the Party propaganda did its best to entice the local Tibetan population to side with the Communist Party.
A new formula could be found in every speech of Tibet’s authorities, the inhabitants of China’s borders should be “the protectors of the sacred homeland and the builders of happy homes.”
And as usual, the Tibetans were not asked for their opinion.
The policy has taken a concrete shape with the growing number of ‘model’ villages on the Tibetan side of the Indian border, mainly north of Arunachal Pradesh, but also of Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh. Officially, these ‘Xiaogang’ (or moderately well-off) villages are linked with poverty alleviation and the defence of the borders.
But for first time on August 2, through the mouth of its ‘Core Leader’, China has admitted that it wanted these villages to be inhabited by ‘people of all ethic groups’, a metaphor for Han migrants from the Mainland.
Xi also insisted “on the simultaneous deployment of troops and the people, and equal emphasis on strengthening the border, and safeguarding the sacred land.”
It was a hint to the fast-paced recruitment of Tibetans into the PLA to ‘defend the border’, which again could be dramatic for India; this issue has recently been reported in the Indian media, but Xi’s words give the true magnitude of this worrying perspective.
The Tibet Daily also mentioned that while encouraging people to settle on the border, Xi asked the local population to “build a shared spiritual home for all ethnic groups”; this might not be an easy proposal.
All this brings to light a new scenario which was never contemplated earlier by the Indian Government, particularly for its security agencies and defence forces; Delhi has little choice but to immediately act to counter these nefarious moves.

Ghettoization of Tibet

This article appeared under the title Changing the Demography of the Border in the Indian Defence Review (Vol 35.4) Oct-Dec 2020

Here is the link...

The Sixth Tibet Work Forum (TWF), held in Beijing on August 24 and 25, 2015 was a turning point for the Tibetan plateau.
Tibet Work Forums are large meetings called every 5 to 10 years to discuss the CCP’s Tibet policies. They are attended by all the members of the powerful Politburo's Standing Committee, members of the Central Committee, senior PLA generals, United Front Work Department officials and regional leaders.
Previous Forums were held in 1980, 1984, 1994, 2001 and January 2010, all in the Chinese capital. What is of interest to India is that the TWFs usually decide the fate of Tibet for the next five to ten years …as well the development on the border with India.
One of the main decisions of the Sixth gathering, presided over by President Xi Jinping, was to develop tourism as the main activity on the plateau; Tibet soon became a large entertainment park; a thousand times larger than Disneyland.
Beijing began marketing the Land of Snows as the ultimate ‘indigenous’ tourist spot for the Chinese to spend their holidays, this became Tibet’s USP (Unique Selling Proposition). It brought nearly forty million Han tourists to the plateau in 2019.

The Next Step: Further Hanisation of the Plateau
The Seventh TWF was held in Beijing on August 28 and 29.
While the previous TWF completely escaped the Indian (and the world) media, this one got wide coverage; the Seventh TWF was a crucial event not only as far it concerns the fate of the Roof of the World, but also for the presently tense Indian frontiers, as it took place at the time India faces a precarious situation in Ladakh.
It is necessary to study the TWF’s outcome, particularly because it defines the policies for China’s western border (this explains the presence of the entire Central Military Commission, as well as the service chiefs, including the Chief of the PLA Navy), at the Forum.
The Seventh TWF was given large publicity; the main TV report lasted more than 14 minutes, mostly quoting Xi Jinping and showing the large ‘masked’ gathering; a detailed report (in Communist jargon) was immediately issued. The select attendance shows Tibet's extreme significance for the Communist Party.
Incidentally, the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and Tibetan-inhabited areas of four provinces (Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai and Yunnan) are now clubbed together as far as Beijing’s policies for the plateau are concerned.

The Timing of the Forum
The TWF was also held at a time Xi Jinping faces more and more reprobation and condemnation from around the world, following Beijing’s reckless moves on the Indian border and elsewhere.
It also came two months before the Fifth Plenum of the Communist Party of China, which has to take difficult decisions for the Middle Kingdom's economy; in 2020, Beijing is also celebrating the 70th anniversary of the so-called Liberation (read ‘invasion’) of Tibet, as well as the 55th anniversary of the creation of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), which has never really been autonomous.
To understand the TWF’s importance for India, it is necessary to remember Xi’s well-known theory that China “must adhere to the strategic thinking that to govern the nation, we must govern our borders; to govern our borders, we must first stabilise Tibet”. Since the month of May, we understand better why China wants to stabilize and control its borders with India.
The Sixth TWF resulted in poverty alleviation schemes which saw the construction of hundreds of ‘moderately-well-off’ villages (‘ghettos’ say the Tibetans), many of them close to the border with India.
Beijing’s untold rationale is that it is easier to control the ‘masses’ when they are sedentary and settled in well-connected villages (via Wifi and surveillance cameras); it is a fact that today the whereabouts and actions of the ‘resettled’ villagers can be controlled through their mobile phones and other surveillance gadgets.
Looking at the TV report of the TWF, one was struck by the fact that no monk attended the Forum. For a society which has traditionally been based on “the Harmonious Blend of Religion and Politics,” it is strange to say the least. Even Gyaltsen Norbu, the Chinese selected Panchen Lama, a favorite of the Chinese media, was nowhere to be seen. He is probably too young (and unsafe) for the Communist hierarchy.
It is not only the lamas who were missing in action. As far one could recognize the masked faces, hardly any Tibetans were present, even though all the speeches (and the TWF itself) are around the welfare of the ‘masses of all ethnic groups’ in Tibet (‘all ethnic groups in Tibet’ is an euphemism to hid the large migration of Hans on the plateau).

The Ten Musts
In his speech, Xi Jinping emphasized ‘The Ten Musts’ to “fully implement the Party's strategy of governing Tibet in the New Era;” he went through ten areas or ‘musts’. The objective, he observed, was to build a new socialist modern Tibet that is “united, prosperous, civilized, harmonious and beautiful.”
The CCP’s General Secretary pointed out: “Practice has fully proved that the Party Central Committee’s policies on Tibet work are completely correct, and that Tibet’s sustained, stable and rapid development is an important contribution to the overall work of the party and the country.”
He congratulated the comrades struggling on the ‘snowy plateau’, especially the cadres who serve on the frontline, i.e. the border with India.
Although Xi loves to speak about regional autonomy, it is clear that the Tibetans do not have much say in the matter. Why, for example, seventy years after the so-called ‘liberation’ of Tibet, has no ethnic Tibetan been made Party Secretary in Tibet? Has Tibetan ever made it to the Politburo? The reason is that the Han still do not trust the Tibetans.

Poverty Alleviation Scheme
An important way to ‘govern the borders’ is the development of model villages; this has serious implications for India’s defence, as the demography of the border will slowly be changed.
On December 24, 2019, China Daily announced that in 2019 in China, more than 10 million people were expected to be lifted from poverty; some 340 counties would no longer be labeled as 'impoverished'. This was stated by Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development in Beijing.
Liu particularly mentioned the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), as well as the four provinces where ethnic Tibetan people live (particularly in three prefectures of Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan), the southern part of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is clubbed with these areas.
Liu’s report added: “In the renewed effort to combat poverty, local authorities were barred from merely handing out State benefits to farmers. Instead, they were required to adopt targeted measures in developing local industries and creating jobs that would help the poor attain sustainable incomes.”
This obviously raises the question, why have these areas, 'liberated' 70 years ago, remained so poor? The Communist Party has a lot to answer.

Ghettoization of Tibet
In October 2020, Xinhua announced that China had realized a historical feat: “Tibet eliminates absolute poverty”.
Wu Yingjie, Tibet’s Communist Party Chief, called the achievement a "major victory, as by the end of 2019, Tibet had lifted 628,000 people out of poverty and delisted 74 county-level areas from the poverty list  …the average annual net income of poor people in Tibet had risen from 1,500 yuan (US$ 220) in 2015 to 9,300 yuan (US$ 1,400) in 2019.”
Wu added: “Since the beginning of this year, Tibet has shifted its focus from tackling absolute poverty to consolidating poverty alleviation achievements.” It was a major victory in poverty alleviation “attesting to the advantages of the socialist system,” he said.
A document released during Wu’s press briefing spoke of a major achievement for China's poverty alleviation campaign in the New Era: “Since 2016, Tibet has spent 74.8 billion yuan (US $ 11.25 billion) of agriculture-related fund in poverty alleviation, with an average annual increase of over 15 percent.”
Wu particularly cited relocation programs: “since 2016, a total of 39.89 billion yuan (US$ 11.25 billion) has been invested in over 2,900 poverty alleviation projects, which helped lift more than 238,000 impoverished people out of poverty and benefited more than 840,000 people.”
The main characteristic of the scheme is the ‘relocation’ of population in new ‘model’ villages known as ‘Xiaokang’ (‘moderately well-off’) villages, looking like ghettos where the populations can be better controlled and where Han colons can be brought in.
Wu affirmed: “Authorities in Tibet have made great efforts in relocating impoverished people living in severe natural conditions to areas with relatively rich production materials and better infrastructure.”

Nine Hundred Fifty Five Model Villages
The figures are mind-boggling; according to Wu: “To date, the construction of 965 relocation sites [villages] has been completed and 266,000 people have moved into new houses. The relocation programs were carried out entirely on a voluntary basis.” It is estimated that some 200 of these villages are located near the India border.
The fact that the ‘relocation’ has been voluntary is extremely difficult to believe; the pretext to transfer large populations, including nomads, is the issue of rarified oxygen on the plateau. This is a strange argument when one knows that the Tibetans have lived for centuries in these conditions and are hence well acclimatized; however, this does apply to the new Han colons ‘sharing’ these villages in what is called ‘ethnic mingling’.
The Chinese propaganda quoted one Thubten Khedrup, professor at the Tibet University in Lhasa saying that “a third-party assessment on the anti-poverty efforts in Tibet showed that the satisfaction rate among local people in the region was over 99 percent.”
In these circumstances, do the Tibetans have a choice, but to be happy?
Chinese TV daily shows videos of the new settlers arriving with forced smiles on their faces. They often travel by bus and trucks from remote places to be ‘happily’ resettled in a new environment.

Relocation of Population
On December 9, 2019, Tibet’s Poverty Alleviation Office published a notice saying that the last batch of 19 counties and county-level districts had finally shaken off poverty: “Tibet was a tough nut to crack in China’s poverty relief campaign due to its harsh natural conditions and complicated historical reasons. In 2015, the occurrence rate of poverty in Tibet was as high as 25.32%," commented a Chinese website.
The article takes the example of a Tibetan family who moved to a new house from Rongma Township in Nyima County of Nagchu Prefecture to Lhasa in 2018 (Nagchu is located at an altitude of more than 5,000 meters).
The website said that it was the first high-altitude exemplary site of ecological relocation in Tibet: “From June 10 to 18 in 2018, 571 herdsmen moved in two batches to Lhasa which is over 1,000 miles away.” This is just an example.

New Villages on the Border
More worrying for New Delhi are the relocations to Xiaokang villages located on India's borders.
On September 30, Xinhua noted that China had planned to invest 19.78 billion yuan (US$ 2.8 billion) in a relocation program to build 60,931 houses in around 970 settlements for 266,000 poverty-stricken citizens in the TAR.
It was said that by the end of August, 93.6 percent of the investment fund had been used and 56,000 houses had been completed: “Tibet seeks to lift 266,000 residents out of poverty by relocating them from harsh living conditions and ecologically fragile areas, of whom 3,359 from 939 families originally lived at an altitude of over 4,800 meters.”
Again according to Chinese news agency: “Tibet has been using relocation as a means of poverty reduction. By offering job opportunities in industrial parks and cities, the relocated residents are ensured ways to make a better living.” Though 'industrial parks and cities' are mentioned, the relocation is simply done in new villages, the industry may follow later.

Yume, Xi’s Model Village
How it started? Soon after the conclusion of the 19th Congress in October 2017, President Xi Jinping wrote a letter to two young Tibetan herders who had written to him introducing their village, Yume, north of Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh.
Xinhua then reported that Xi “encouraged the herding family in Lhuntse County, near the Himalayas in southwest China's TAR, to set down roots in the border area, safeguard the Chinese territory and develop their hometown.”
Xi acknowledged “the family's efforts to safeguard the territory and thanked them for the loyalty and contributions they have made in the border area. Without the peace in the territory, there will be no peaceful lives for the millions of families.”
The two Tibetan girls, Choekar and Yangzom had told Xi about their “experiences in safeguarding the border area and the development of their township over the years.”
It appears that many Tibetans from the nearby villages now want to move their homes to Yume. Choekar's sudden celebrity will certainly help her village to grow exponentially ...and the border to be better protected. Against who, if not India!
Today, Han tourists have already started pouring into the village.
The same article affirms that Yume, located about 200 kilometers from the county seat of Lhuntse (which will soon have an airport), is a 'happy' village: "with the development of economy and the improvement of environment of Yume Township [yes, it has become a township!!], it has built numerous new houses for local villagers." But local Tibetan villagers are clearly not in majority anymore.
There is a definitive plan to repopulate the borders with India by creating new model 'townships'. This should be a serious worry for Delhi.
Since it was adopted by President Xi Jinping, Yume had become the Model Township for the 200 or so other 'Xiaokang' villages near the Indian border.
It probably means that China will have a new population of ‘migrants’ selected for their good behaviour on the Indian border.
It is still not clear if these ‘migrants’ are Tibetans or Hans; there is probably a blend; the scheme is called “The guardians of the sacred land and the builders of happy homes”.

Infrastructure and Xiaokang Villages: the Case of Metok
Metok means ‘Flower’ in the Tibetan language; till 2013, it was the last county in China without a road. It is located in Nyingchi City (Prefecture) on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo River which becomes the Siang as it crosses the Indian border and then the Brahmaputra in Assam. A Chinese website said that Metok County “boasts of amazing natural landscapes due to its unique geographical position. Before the traffic opened, people could not reach Metok except by walking; getting in and out of Metok was a dangerous journey.”
It further adds: “The construction of roads to Metok is a tough task because of the complicated geological conditions and disastrous weather. With several attempts thwarted in the last decades, a 117-kilometer highway connecting Metok with neighboring Bomi County finally opened on October 31, 2013.”
In 2019, according to China Tibet News, the county has 46 administrative villages (including one so-called multi-ethnic inhabitation area consisting of Monpas, Lhopas, Tibetans and Hans) with a total population of 13,725.
In 2018, nearly 230,000 outsiders visited what used to be considered the last paradise on earth: “[it] created more than 160 million yuan (24 million US$) in tourism income. Nearly 9,000 acres of organic tea gardens directly provided income to nearly one-third of the total population.”
To get rich, first build the road was the motto of the Chinese Government and with the road, tourists come. And let us not forget that the infrastructure is for dual-use (civil and military).

Linking  Infrastructure Development with Border Defence
Most of the times, the Xiaokang villages are linked to infrastructure development, particularly on India’s border; hundreds of examples could be given; to cite one, the Pai-Metok (Pai-Mo) Highway linking Nyingchi to Metok, north of Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh will be opened in July 2021.
On October 12, 2020, it was reported that the Huaneng Linzhi Hydropower Project Office (ominously, a dam company) was building the road in most difficult terrain to effectively improve the current transportation facilities from Nyingchi and Metok, as well as the livelihood of the villages and towns along the route. The new Highway will be constructed with an investment of 2 billion yuan (0.3 billion US$): “The project will be fully completed by the end of September 2022. After the completion of the Highway, the length of the road from Nyingchi City to Metok County will be shortened from 346 kilometers to 180 kilometers, via Jingpai Town in Bomi County and the driving time will be shortened from 11 hours to 4.5 hours.”
The Highway starts in Pai Town in Milin County of Nyingchi and uses a long tunnel to pass through the Doshong-la Mountain, ending South of Metok town, close to the Indian border (Upper Siang district). The new highway will be 67 kilometers long. In strategic terms, it will be a game changer and greatly accelerate the developments of new model villages, and therefore relocation of populations.

Other Villages
These Xiaokang villages are located all along the Indian border from Rutok in Ngari Prefecture in the West to Rima (opposite Kibithu) in the Lohit valley in the East; a few model villages have been built on the Chinese side of Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, other north of the McMahon Line in Tsona area.
China Tibet Online reported that on July 26, 2019, Gyalsten Norbu, the Chinese-selected Panchen Lama traveled to Jaggang Village in Rutok County of Ngari Province ‘for survey and research’; he paid a visit to two Tibetan families. The Chinese website explained, “it is a typical plateau village,” though it is not an ordinary village, it is also known as Chiakang and is situated very close to the border in Ladakh, just across the Kailash range. It seems that it is the first time that such a ‘senior’ religious leader, adventures forth himself on the Indian border, which China says is ‘disputed’.
A few kilometers away, on the Chinese side of Line of Actual Control (LAC) is another just-built ‘model’ town at Demchok.
Yet another village has recently received a lot of publicity, it is Jiru, located in Kampa Dzong (county), just north of the Sikkim border.
An article in The People's Daily: “The flower of national unity blooms on the border of the motherland.” It probably means that it will inhabited by Hans settlers; Jiru “in the southwestern frontier of the motherland, with an average elevation of 5,050 meters, at a distance of 5 kilometers from the China-India border, not far from seven passes [leading to India]. It is known as ‘the first village on the Sino-Indian border’,” says the Communist publication. There are 134 households with 538 people in the village: “In 2017, the village has been successfully transformed into a ethnic unity demonstration village.”
Strangely, no oxygen issue is mentioned in Jiru.
The People’s Daily added: “Although our village is located on the border, the consciousness of ethnic unity is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. …Every year on the Army Day, the villagers will spontaneously visit the border guards and give them some mutton, potatoes and so on.”
Apart from Yume, Jiru or Metok, examples of Tsona (north of Tawang), Rima (north of Kibithu in the Lohit Valley), Tholing (in Western Tibet) often come in the news; to this should be added some more populated areas like Yatung in Chumbi Valley (near Sikkim) or Purang, close to the trijunction between Tibet, Nepal and India.
As the demography of these areas north of the Indian border is rapidly changing, Delhi should keep awake to these tremendous changes and develop its own border areas.

Hans lead in China’s poverty alleviation projects

A 'village' out of nowhere

As my article Hans lead in China’s poverty alleviation projects appeared in the Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, a Chinese website mentioned once again 'poverty alleviation' on the Tibetan plateau, but this time in a strange context.

China Tibet News' article is titled: “Moving into new houses to get rid of poverty”
It is very short; it just says that “Located in Zogang [Dzogang] County, Qamdo [Chamdo] City, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Sifangxianghe Village is a relocation site for poverty alleviation, with a total residential gross floor area of 79,918.51 m².”
‘Sifangxianghe’ is apparently a new name for the ‘village’. It is possibly linked to the Sifan tribe?
The article concludes: “The housing is multi-storey with frame structure, and water, electricity, road and network are equipped with. Now, 4,803 people from 902 households in 7 towns have moved into new houses.”

Nearly 5,000 people relocated out of nowhere is really strange, to say the least.
And as the map below shows, it is not far from the Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh.
The only thing we can think of, this new village could a shelter for migrants workers for the construction of a dam.
Two of the major Asian rivers with their source on the plateau flow through Dzogang county, the Salween and the Mekong.
The Salween or Nu River, is 2,815 kilometres (1,749 mi) long; it flows from the Tibetan Plateau into the Andaman Sea in Southeast Asia.
According to Wikipedia: “It drains a narrow and mountainous watershed of 324,000 km2 that extends into the countries of China, Burma and Thailand. Steep canyon walls line the swift and powerful Salween. Its extensive drainage basin supports a biodiversity comparable with the Mekong and is home to about 7 million people.”
A large number of dams are planned on the Salween.

Gyalmo Ngulchu is the name of the Salween in Tibetan

The Mekong is the seventh longest in Asia with a length of 4,350 km; it drains an area of 795,000 km2, discharging 475 km3 of water annually: “From the Tibetan Plateau the river runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The extreme seasonal variations in flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls in the Mekong make navigation difficult. Even so, the river is a major trade route between western China and Southeast Asia,” says Wikipedia.
The Dzogang county is served by two major National Highway (214 and 318).
China National Highway 318 (G318) runs from Shanghai to Zhangmu on the China-Nepal border. It is the longest China National Highway at 5,476 kilometres in length and runs from Shanghai towards Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Chongqing, Sichuan, and ends in Tibet Autonomous Region.
China National Highway 214 (G214) runs from Xining, Qinghai to Jinghong, Yunnan. It is 3,256 kilometres in length and runs south from Xining towards Tibet, and ends in Yunnan Province.

Though the Chinese propaganda speaks of ‘poverty alleviation’, the new ‘village’ will probably be used for the migrant workers building a dam on the Salween.
Mr. Xi should check the data coming from the provinces; it is probably the easiest way to show that poverty has been eradicated, but if the workers have come from outside, the new ‘well-off’ society can not be listed in the achievements of the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

Dzogang county near the Indian border

Hans lead in China’s poverty alleviation projects 

Here is the link...

In the recent months, China has started in a massive relocation scheme in Tibet, redrawing the demography of India’s borders.
Beijing admits that though the rural poverty rate was more than 97.5 percent in 1978, it took 22 more years for Beijing to launch a serious program for aid development in the poorest areas of Western China. In 2012, 98 million Chinese people still lived below the poverty line; a year later, 128,000 villages remained classified as impoverished.
According to the China Daily, for Tibet it is a historic moment, “Chinese people felt excited and proud by the news that the local government in the Tibet Autonomous Region [TAR] had decided to strip 19 counties of their poverty labels, after 55 Tibetan counties cast off such labels in 2018.”
China’s aim was to eliminate the ‘Two Worries’, the lack of food and sufficient clothing.
While more than 100,000 villages are said to have been stripped of their ‘poverty label’ in China, the main ‘battle’ seems to have taken place in Tibet and Xinjiang, the two restive provinces which had been ‘liberated’ by the Communists in 1950.
This obviously raises the question, why have these areas, 'liberated' nearly 70 years ago, remained so poor? Beijing has a lot to answer for, what was the Party doing all these years?
In Tibet unfortunately, poverty alleviation is achieved by large population relocations, often near the Indian borders.
On December 24, China Daily cited Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development in Beijing, who stated that the TAR and in the four provinces where ethnic Tibetan people live (particularly in three prefectures in Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan) as well as the southern part of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region had been clubbed together: “Officials commonly refer to these regions as the Three Areas and Three Prefectures, the deeply impoverished areas.”
According to en.tibetol.cn, all the TAR 74 counties and county-level districts have been lifted out of poverty in 2019, “which means the whole region has got rid of absolute impoverishment”.
The article takes the example of a Tibetan family, who in 2018 moved to a new house from Rongma Township in Nyima County of Nagchu Prefecture, (located north of Lhasa at an altitude of more than 5,000 meters), they have been relocated near the Tibetan capital. The website claims that it was the first high-altitude exemplary site of ecological relocation in Tibet: “From June 10 to 18 in 2018, 571 herdsmen moved in two batches to Lhasa which is over 1,000 miles away.”
It is just an example.
More worrying for India are the relocations through the Xiaogang (‘moderately well-off’) villages located on India's borders.
More than hundred villages have been built, whether in Yume (north of Upper Subansiri), Tsona county (north of Tawang), Rima area (north of Kibithu in the Lohit Valley) or Chiakang (not far from Demchok in Ladakh) as well as in some more populated areas like Yatung in Chumbi Valley, near Sikkim or Purang, close to the trijunction between Tibet, Nepal and India.
On September 30, Xinhua mentioned the number of Tibetans relocated to new homes in anti-poverty fight: “Nearly 250,000 people in Tibet have moved into 910 new settlements as part of poverty alleviation efforts by August 2019.”
The official News Agency noted that China had planned to invest 19.78 billion yuan (US$ 2.8 billion) in its relocation program to build 60,931 houses in around 970 settlements for 266,000 poverty-stricken citizens in the TAR.
According to Beijing, relocation is used as a means of poverty reduction: “By offering job opportunities in industrial parks and cities, the relocated residents are ensured ways to make a better living.” As the relocations often happen in brand new villages, one can ask, where are the 'industrial parks' in these places?
Another propaganda article in China Tibet News speaks of the happy life brought by the relocation. The story says: “Starting eastward from Shannan (Lhoka) prefecture after a three-hour driving, one can arrive at Gongkang Village in Lingda Town of Gyatsa County, with an average elevation of 3,269 metres.” Interestingly, the village is not far from the site of a new dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra in India). The new settlers are probably engaged in dam construction; in another word, they are migrant workers.
In August 2016, this place had already been designated as the target for poverty alleviation: “At present, there are 369 households and 1,269 people in Gongkang Village. The project of advancing relocation covers an area of 472,000 m², and its total investment reaches 210 million yuan (US$ 34 million),” said Xinhua.
All the villagers are said to benefit from a medical insurance, while the children enjoy favorable policies “at the stages of compulsory education and senior high school” and college students receive regional subsidies. Subsequently, the enrollment rate of the village's school-age children is 100%.
A Gongkang Village Industrial Development Co has been established, with five ‘mutual-aid teams’, namely ecological breeding team, agricultural and animal products processing team, labor-force exporting team and agricultural machinery promoting team. This sounds like the setting up of communes during the Great Leap Forward in China.
A list of benefits is given and the article concludes: “Nowadays, a harmonious and socialist new countryside has been built beside the Yarlung Tsangpo River under the Party's policy of benefiting people and Gongkang villagers.”
One important factor admitted by the Chinese authorities for relocating the Tibetans is tourism. Huang Yongqing, head of the regional tourism development department told Xinhua: “The regional government has encouraged rural residents and herdsmen to open family inns. The average annual income of the total of 570 family inns surpassed 100,000 yuan (US$ 16,000), and some even reached 300,000 yuan (US$ 48,000).”
It was observed that the number of tourists to visit Tibet reached 33.7 million, up 31.5 percent year on year; the income from tourism increased by 29.2 percent to 49 billion yuan (US$ 8 billion). Of course, these figures always need to be taken with a pinch of salt, but still there is no doubt that Tibet receives millions of Han visitors and their number is increasing.
More worrying, Xinhua announced in December that an application lab for Tibetan speech technology research had been established at the Tibet University in Lhasa: “The lab aims to create a platform of integrative development and application for ethnic language, phonology, and modern information technology, and to bring convenience in communication for local people in life and at work.”
iFlytek, an artificial intelligence heavyweight, had been working with the Tibet University for more than eight years on Tibetan speech technology.
It means that the relocated villagers, whatever their dialect, can now be monitored with the latest technology.
With one stone, China kills several birds: it provides employment to the poorer section, it monitors the restive populations better, particularly the nomads and it develops the border areas.
The ‘relocation’ will probably continue on a war-footing in 2020, bringing millions of new migrants to India’s border …and Happiness to the Party.
For India, the change of demography on her borders is a serious issue.
The new settlers are not Tibetans alone, Hans too are brought to the borders to take the lead in the implementation of the Party social and strategic policies.

2019 in Tibet: The Year of Relocation

In Tibet, 2019 should be declared "The Year of Relocation".
On December 24, China Daily announced that in 2019 in China, more than 10 million people were expected to be lifted from poverty; some 340 counties would no longer be labeled as 'impoverished'. This was stated by Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development in Beijing.
Liu particularly mentioned the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), as well as the four provinces where ethnic Tibetan people live (particularly in three prefectures in Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan), the southern part of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is clubbed with these areas: “Officials commonly refer to these regions as the Three Areas and Three Prefectures, the deeply impoverished areas.”
Liu’s report added: “In the renewed effort to combat poverty, local authorities were barred from merely handing out State benefits to farmers. Instead, they were required to adopt targeted measures in developing local industries and creating jobs that would help the poor attain sustainable incomes.”
This obviously raises the question, why these areas 'liberated' nearly 70 years ago, have remained so poor. The Communist Party has a lot to answer.
How can poverty be eliminated now?

Relocation of Population
‘Relocation’ has been one of the main tools for poverty alleviation in the TAR and Xinjiang.
According to en.tibetol.cn, all the 74 counties and county-level districts in TAR have been lifted out poverty in 2019, “which means the whole region has got rid of absolute impoverishment”.
On December 9, Tibet’s Poverty Alleviation Office published a notice saying that the last batch of 19 counties and county-level districts had finally been shaken off poverty: “Tibet was a tough nut to crack in China’s poverty relief campaign due to its harsh natural conditions and complicated historical reasons. In 2015, the occurrence rate of poverty in Tibet was as high as 25.32%," said the Chinese website.
The article takes the example of a Tibetan family who moved to a new house from Rongma Township in Nyima County of Nagchu Prefecture to Lhasa in 2018 (Nagchu is located at an altitude of more than 5,000 meters).
The website said that it was the first high-altitude exemplary site of ecological relocation in Tibet: “From June 10 to 18 in 2018, 571 herdsmen moved in two batches to Lhasa which is over 1,000 miles away.”
It is just an example.

The Xiaogang Villages
More worrying for New Delhi are the relocations through the Xiaogang villages, often mentioned on this blog, which are located on India's borders.
I have often written about Yume (north of Upper Subansiri), Tsona (north of Tawang), Rima (north of Kibithu in the Lohit Valley) or Chiakang (not far from Demchok in Ladakh) as well as some more populated areas like Yatung in Chumbi Valley (near Sikkim) or Purang, close to the trijunction between Tibet, Nepal and India.
On September 30, Xinhua said that 250,000 Tibetans had been relocated to new homes in anti-poverty fight: “Nearly 250,000 people in Tibet have moved into 910 new settlements as part of poverty alleviation efforts by August 2019.”
The official News Agency noted that China had planned to invest 19.78 billion yuan (US$ 2.8 billion) in a relocation program to build 60,931 houses in around 970 settlements for 266,000 poverty-stricken citizens in the TAR.
It was said that by the end of August, 93.6 percent of the investment fund had been used and 56,000 houses had been completed: “Tibet seeks to lift 266,000 residents out of poverty by relocating them from harsh living conditions and ecologically fragile areas, of whom 3,359 from 939 families originally lived at an altitude of over 4,800 meters.”
Again according to Xinhua: “Tibet has been using relocation as a means of poverty reduction. By offering job opportunities in industrial parks and cities, the relocated residents are ensured ways to make a better living.”
Though 'industrial parks and cities' are mentioned, the relocation are often done in new villages.
Where the 'industrial parks' in these villages?

Relocation in Pictures
On Christmas Day, Xinhua published a photo feature.
A series of photos (see below) taken two days earlier on the south bank of the Yarlung Tsangpo River (the Siang and Brahmaputra in India) showing new houses built for herders migrating from Shuanghu County (known as Tsonyi in Tibetan) in Nagchu: “A total of 2,900 residents from three villages of Shuanghu County, have recently left their hometown with an average altitude of 5,000 meters above sea level and travelled nearly 1,000 kilometers to resettle in Gongkar County, which, at a relatively low altitude, is located to the south bank of the Yarlung Tsangpo River in southern Tibet,” said the caption.
Gongkar (29°07′48″N 92°12′15″E) is located in Shannan (Lhoka) Prefecture, north of Bhutan.
A propaganda photo shows local people 'welcoming' the new arrivants.
What would happen if one day the Government of India decided to ‘relocate’ thousands of people of Jharkhand or Bihar in Ladakh?
It is better not to think about it.

Another Example
Another article in China Tibet News speaks of the happy life brought by the relocation: “Being different from the habit of transliteration of traditional Tibetan villages' names, the name of ‘Gongkang Village’ originates from the slogan of Thanks to the Communist Party, and construct a well-off society together.”
The story says: “Starting eastward from Shannan (Lhoka) City (or prefecture) after a three-hour driving, one can arrive at Gongkang Village (29°05′17″N 92°38′40″E in Lingda Town of Gyatsa County, with an average elevation of 3,269 metres.”
Incidentally, the village is not far from the site of a new dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo.
Will the new settlers be engaged in dam construction? Probably.
In August, 2016, this place was designated as the targeted poverty alleviation relocation centre: “At present, there are 369 households and 1,269 people in Gongkang Village. The project of advancing relocation covers an area of 472,000 m², and its total investment reaches 210 million yuan (US$ 34 million),” said Xinhua.
Some 1,121 people relocated villagers (in 333 households) come from Chosam County (28°43′05″N 93°03′08″E in Lhoka )while 102 people (in 25 households) are originally from Tsomey County: “They have their new home at Gongkang Village now” said the Chinese media, adding: “In 2017, all the impoverished people of this village have been lifted out of poverty. In 2018, the village's per capital annual income has reached 7,016 yuan (US$ 1140) and the poverty incidence dropped to zero.”

Social Benefits for All
All the villagers are said to benefit from a medical insurance, while the children enjoy favorable policies “at the stages of compulsory education and senior high school” and college students receive regional subsidies.
The enrollment rate of the village's school-age children is 100%.
The description of the ‘paradise’ continues: “To ensure income of villagers, the village subsidies the disabled with disability allowance, ensures basic supply for the most vulnerable groups, provides employment training for those who have the force, and increases the income of those work at ecological positions.”
The article cites 168 people who have been trained, 401 ecological positions created and 218 impoverished people who have been provided with jobs: “With the help of county, town and village, Gongkang Village Industrial Development Co., Ltd has been established. The company has five mutual-aid teams, namely ecological breeding team, agricultural and animal products processing team, labor-force exporting team and agricultural machinery promoting team. All 574 workers have been arranged for each mutual-aid team, realizing the goal that everyone has a platform, everyone has things to do and everyone has income.”
It sounds like the propaganda during the Great Leap Forward in China.
The list of benefits goes on, before the article concludes: “Nowadays, a harmonious and socialist new countryside has been built beside the Yarlung Tsangpo River under the Party's policy of benefiting people and Gongkang villagers.”

Miracles in TAR
On October 13, Xinhua had already announced that “Miracles have been made in TAR; the number of people living in poverty has fallen from 800,000 in 2013 to 150,000 last year. This year, the region aims to eliminate absolute poverty that has been looming over the region for thousands of years.”
Yet another article explains: “In Tibet, the special geographical environment is one of the main causes of poverty in many areas. Extremely high altitudes, snow-capped mountains and barren land are standing in the way of people's efforts to shake off poverty. Some places are almost naturally isolated from the outside world. Relocation has been a major measure for the region to alleviate poverty.”
Is it also a miracle for the local population who are forced to 'welcome' thousands of migrants in their villages? This is another question.

Happiness for All
Rinchen a 38-year old herdsman from Nagchu, who has been relocated near Lhasa told the News Agency: “Life is so much better now. We have tap water, stable electricity supply and home appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines. This was unimaginable in the past," and his five children now enjoy better access to education and hospitals.
According to Xinhua, China plans to invest 19.78 billion yuan (2.79 billion U.S. dollars) in a relocation program to build 60,931 houses in around 970 settlements for 266,000 poverty-stricken residents in Tibet.
The examples could be multiplied, particularly with the villages on the Indian border.

The Role of Tourism
One important angle is admitted by the Chinese authorities: “Tourism has also been a major poverty-alleviation measure.”
Huang Yongqing, head of the regional tourism development department told Xinhua: “The regional government has encouraged rural residents and herdsmen to open family inns. The average annual income of the total of 570 family inns surpassed 100,000 yuan (US$ 16,000), and some even reached 300,000 yuan (US$ 48,000).”
It was observed that the number of tourists to visit Tibet reached 33.7 million, up 31.5 percent year on year; while income from tourism increased by 29.2 percent to 49 billion yuan (US$ 8 billion): “The region helped 32,000 people rise out of poverty by developing rural tourism last year. It plans to help another 100,000 farmers and herdsmen gain employment through rural tourism in 2019”.
Of course, these figures always need to be taken with a pinch of salt, but still there is no doubt that Tibet receives millions of Han visitors and their number is increasing.
The ‘relocation’ will probably continue on a war-footing in 2020, bringing along millions of Han Chinese …and Happiness to the Party.
For India, the change of demography on her borders is a serious issue.
Moreover, the new settlers are not only Tibetans, Hans too are brought to the borders to take the lead in the implementation of the Party policies, such as poverty alleviation.
"Do Not forget the Original Intention; Keep the Mission in Mind" says Chairman Xi.

 

Welcome?

 

Tens of Thousands of Chinese Tourists on the Indian Border

A few days ago, China Tibet News published an article entitled ‘Enjoying Prosperous Life’.
It described some worrying developments on the border with China in Arunachal Pradesh.
The Chinese government website reported: “In recent years, a series of tourism infrastructure construction projects have been implemented and constantly improved in Tsona County, Shannan City, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. Farmers and herdsmen, whose tourism reception capacity and service quality have been significantly enhanced, have unprecedented enthusiasms to participate in tourism industry.”
This development is taking at a time when the 19th-century Inner Line Permit is still a must for Indian tourists, visiting the Tawang District of Arunachal.
The infrastructure on the Chinese side is linked to several villages known as Xiaogang villages (the literal meaning of ‘Xiaogang’ is ‘moderately well-off’).
The astonishing news is that according to the website, a total of 55,943 people visited in 2018: “Legpo (Lepo) Valley scenic spot, the tourism revenue reached 25.64 million yuan RMB, realizing year-on-year growths of 41.6 percent and 60.5 percent respectively.”
Nearly 56,000 visited Lepo located a few kilometers north from the Line of Actual Control (LAC); it is difficult to realize that this village had only a few huts and probably less 50 inhabitants five years ago. (Khenzimane is the nearby border post and Zeminthang and Shoksen are the first Indian villages on the Indian side of the LAC).
The Chinese website adds: “In July 2019, Lepo Valley scenic spot was awarded with the title of ‘China Natural Oxygen Bar’.”
It must be tempting for the Chinese tourists.

What are the Xiaogang Villages?
For the Communist Party, an important event took place in 1978: 18 farmers in Xiaogang village, in Anhui Province, signed a secret agreement to divide collectively-owned farmland into individual pieces and drop the collectivization of the Great Leap Forward (GLF), which between 1958 and 1960 resulted in some 40 million casualties; in Xiaogang itself, 67 villagers out of 120 had died of starvation between 1958 and 1960.
Forty years later, the name ‘Xiaogang’ is been used for a different project: the building of a large number of ‘model’ villages in Tibet, along the border with India.
On October 19, 2018, the same China Tibet News had reported that since the beginning of the year, Tsona County, north of Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang District, has been “vigorously promoting the construction of border ‘Xiaogang’ villages’.
Already in 2018, Tsona County had invested 519 million yuan (US$ 74 million) in the construction projects of nine border villages, benefiting 1,961 people from 617 households. More than 40% of the project has then been completed, and an investment of 2.2 billion yuan (US$ 314 million) spent.
In May 2018, China Tibet News affirmed that Lepo, the first village in Tibet, north of the border boasted of a rich vegetation and clear waters: “With impressive natural scenery and unique ethnic customs, Magmang ecological civilization village is also situated in Lepo Valley, Tsona County.
Magmang is another hamlet.
The website said: "The construction of Magmang ecological civilization demonstration village began on March of 2014 and was completed on December. On January of 2015, the village was inaugurated and a year later, Magmang was awarded 'China's beautiful leisure village' by the Ministry of Agriculture."
China has 26 national key tourist attractions; the Lepo Valley, close to the Thagla ridge, which saw the first clashes between India and China in October 1962, is one of them.
The new tourist scheme, "Slowing down the speed of tour, enjoying the sea of azaleas in Lepo Valley", prolonged the peak season, explained the Chinese authorities.

A 1962 War Memorial
Near Lepo, north of the Thagla ridge of the 1962 fame, a war memorial can be found; it was the Forward Command Post of General Zhang Guohua, who commanded the PLA operations against India in 1962. His headquarter has been reconstituted and is opened to visitors. It is located in Marmang village, the other hamlet north of Lepo.
‘Information Warfare’ will certainly be an important part of any battle tomorrow.
This memorial is an instrument of disinformation.
The gazetted national-level historical site mentions the ‘Sino-India Self Defense Counter Attack Battles’; it paints the Indian troops as the 'attackers' in 1962; hotels are already mushrooming to tell this to the visitors.
Incidentally on March 30, 1959, the Dalai Lama spent his last night in Tibet in Magmang; he was on his way to India. The next day, he crossed the border at Khenzimane. He would certainly not recognize these villages.

Neighbour’s border envy

My article Neighbour’s border envy appeared in the Edit Page of The Pioneer.

Here is the link...

While China has undertaken multiple development projects near the Indian border, Delhi has been very slow and remains hesitant to see tourists in restricted areas

Recently, the Indian media was agog with news about the latest  deployment of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) close to the Indian borders. One website, the Indian Defence News, affirmed: “China strengthening military base near Uttarakhand’s Lipulekh Pass,” which is located near the tri-junction between Nepal, Tibet and India. It explained: “The new base has 20 parking hangars and also maintenance hangars. Medium-lift helicopters for the local Army aviation brigade have also been spotted… There are signs of a military build-up opposite Lipulekh Pass on the northeastern tip of Uttarakhand.” It cited some intelligence sources saying that the PLA had built a helipad close to the pass and also “installed two surveillance cameras, a Long Range Reconnaissance and Observation System (LORROS) and a solar panel.”
Some other reports mentioned model villages being built by Beijing near the Indian border. This is not new, though the scale should worry New Delhi. The information about Lipulekh Pass is probably linked to the new airport coming up near Purang (Taklakot); it will serve the Kailash/Manasarovar area.
On June 9, 2018, the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Tibetan Autonomous Region’s (TAR) provincial government announced that Tibet would soon have three new airports. An official communiqué stated: “Construction of the three airports, all above the altitude of 3,900 metres, should begin in 2019.” The new airports are to be located in Lhuntse county in Lhoka (called Shannan by the Chinese) area, north of the Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh; the second will be between Tingri and Lhatse counties of Shigatse City, north of Zangmu, the border post with Nepal, and the last in Purang, near Lipulekh.
It was then announced: “The airports should be completed in 2021; by then, there will be eight airports in TAR.” The news agency added: “At present, the preparatory work for the three airports is under way. The preferred sites have been determined;” the idea is “to consolidate the border and to promote the deep integration of the military and the people.” While tourism and “cultural” industries remain the pillars of the so-called stabilisation, defence is also vital for the Chinese authorities — one of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pet projects is the Military Civilian Integration (or “fusion”).
Another of Xi’s favourite schemes is to make “patriotic” Tibetans “the protectors of their sacred homeland.” The last two years have seen the mushrooming of model villages near the Indian border; they are known as “Xiaogang” or “moderately well-off villages.” The pretext for building more than 100 such border villages is “poverty alleviation.” Tibetans need to be pulled out of poverty (incidentally, is it not strange that 70 years after the arrival of the communists on the plateau and the so-called liberation of Tibet, the populations still lives in such pitiable conditions?).
But “poverty” is not the only motivation. Xi once famously declared: “Govern the nation by governing the borders; govern the borders by first stabilising Tibet; ensure social harmony and stability in Tibet and strengthen the development of border regions.” These villages are following the “double-support model city”, which translates into full military and civilian integration.
The authorities have started implementing the theory of their boss by providing decent housing to the villagers and enticing the local recalcitrant Tibetan population to their side. Local satraps have a new leitmotif, the inhabitants of China’s borders (with India) should be “the protectors of the sacred homeland and the builders of happy homes.” The construction of “model” villages on the Tibetan side of the Indian border, mainly north of Arunachal Pradesh and also in Himachal and Ladakh, is the outcome of this. Several senior communist leaders have visited these new villages, either north of Kibithu in the Lohit valley; in Metok, north of Upper Siang district; in Yume (also written Yumai), north of Takshing in Upper Subansari or in Lepo, Marmang and Tsona, north of Khenzimane and Tawang.
Take Metok County, for example. China Tibet News reported that there are 46 administrative villages (including one multi-ethnic inhabitation area consisting of Monpa, Lhopa, Tibetan or Han) with a total population of 13,725: “In 2018, the county’s GDP has reached 606 million yuan ($99 million); farmers and herdsmen’s per capita disposable income and cash income have reached 10,380 yuan ($1,687) and 8,833 yuan ($1,486) respectively.”
In October, 133 villagers belonging to 29 households moved into their new houses. Reports said how “all the township’s residents are living in free houses provided by the Government,” in Puma Changthang township, north of the Bhutan border. “Sharing a 25-km border with Bhutan, where the average altitude tops 5,300 metres above sea level, the Puma Changthang township is in Nagartse county; it is renowned as the world’s highest township.”
The report explained: “Resettlement in new housing provided by the Government is part of its efforts to ensure the entire population lives comfortably in border areas… Project construction includes villagers’ houses, party’s committee offices, village clinics, water supply and roads” and, of course, these “multi-ethnic” villages will welcome Han Chinese.
Take another example. It was reported that Tibetans in Bayi village of Nyingchi City, north of Arunachal Pradesh, have come together and jointly “built a beautiful hometown as well as a better life.” Incidentally, places called Bayi (or 8-1 for August 1, the PLA anniversary) are usually under the Army’s management.
The article said that by the end of 2016, 16 impoverished villagers were lifted out of poverty through pairing assistance (ie, with the support of a mainland province), through participation in the collective economy and self-employment: “Bayi Village improved farmers and herdsmen’s cultural living standards, supported the construction of a “cultural” square, a village library and also organised various cultural and sports activities such as Tibetan circle dance, tug of war, lifting stones or archery.”
But at the same time, a review committee in Tsona county warned: “All townships and villages must come together to improve the village rules and regulations [of the party], standardise the daily behaviour of the villagers and strengthen the rural revitalisation strategy goals.”
“Standardise the daily behavior” is ominous. On the Indian  side, everything moves slowly as usual. A welcome exception is the Sisseri River bridge in the Lower Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh, recently inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. It will cut down travel time from Pasighat to Roing by about five hours. But the Government remains hesitant to see tourists in “restricted” areas. China does not have this problem.