More on the 6th Tibet Work Forum

Wang Yang on an 'inspection' tour in Tibet

More on the 6th Tibet Work Forum held on August 24 and 25 in Beijing.
I must say that I was mistaken by the meeting of the Politburo of the CCP’s Central Committee which on July 30, discussed Tibet.
I was then under the impression that it WAS the 6th Tibet Work Forum.
On July 30, Xinhua had announced: “Chinese leaders discuss Tibet development, stability …Chinese leaders met to discuss economic and social development in Tibet and how to ensure the autonomous region achieve prolonged stability.”
A statement issued after the Politburo meeting presided over by President Xi Jinping noted: “Safeguarding national unity and strengthening ethnic unity should be highlighted in work involving Tibet. …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.”
It was then said that the Communist leadership 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.”
The solution to the Tibet issue was to “maintain national religious policies and promote patriotism in Tibet.”
Easier said than done!
The leadership then promised more support “to provide assistance to Tibet by pairing its cities with flourishing coastal cities and state-owned enterprises.”
At that time, it looked like an announcement for the Tibet Work Forum.
It was not!

A Serious Issue
It however raises a serious issue.
Why did the leadership need a full meeting of the Politburo to ‘prepare’ a Tibet Work Forum to be held 4 weeks later.
It is unheard of.
Remember on August 5, Xinhua published a news item titled, “Do Not Wait Anymore; No Meetings in Beidaihe.” The official news agency then said, “sources have speculated on the themes of the Beidaihe meeting this August and whether or not one will be held.”
But Xinhua argued: “Not long ago, the CCP Central Politburo met twice, on July 20 and on July 30, which was unusual. They have already discussed ‘The Thirteenth Five-Year Plan’, the CCP Fifth Plenary Session, economic strategies, the ‘anti-tiger campaign’, and other important issues.”
The article, though it does not mention the Tibet issue, asked: "Is it meaningful, necessary, or possible to talk about these issues again in Beidaihe several days or ten days later?”
So why to have a Politburo meeting on Tibet (even presuming that ‘Tibet’ was just a topic on the agenda of the July 30 meeting) to discuss the same things 4 weeks later?
A plausible explanation could be that there was some disagreement amongst the leaders on the Tibet policy to be followed during the next 5 or 10 years.
The air had to be cleared (or the positions fine-tuned) before calling for the much larger forum which is usually attended by 200 or 300 cadres.
It is a fact that since the time of the so-called ‘liberation’ in 1950-51, the leadership has always been sharply divided on the direction to take as far as the fate of the Roof of the World is concerned.
The July 30 Meet probably decided on a middle-path approach, which translated, as mentioned on my earlier post, in a dual objective to improve the ‘local conditions’ and ‘beef up social cohesion’ and rejecting the Dalai Lama's 'Middle Way' approach.
In President Xi’s words: “Key efforts in the work for Tibet should be spent on ensuring national unity and consolidating ethnic unity, with realizing long-term and comprehensive social stability."
‘Stability is an obligatory task’ hammered Xi, who affirmed that China “should firmly take the initiative in the fight against separatism, vowing to crack down on all activities seeking to separate the country and destroy social stability.”
Between the 30-July Politburo meeting and the Forum two important visits took place in Tibet, probably to take a final decision on the directions to be taken.

Visit of Vice-Premier Wang Yang in Tibet
Apart for the meeting chaired by Sun Chunlan on August 18, to discuss the preparations for the visit of a delegation from Beijing to Tibet on the occasion of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, two other members of the Politburo visited Tibet during the week preceding the Forum.
Wang Yang, Vice Premier of the State Council ‘inspected’ Lhasa and Nagchu.
The report says that he “investigated relevant work [linked to] poverty alleviation and development, animal husbandry, tourist industry and meteorological services.”
In Ngachu, Wang visited a meteorological station.
According to Xinhua, he expressed the Party’s “respect to those who work in these remote areas, high mountain regions and islands [sic] and persistently contribute to meteorological knowledge.”
The Chinese new agency commented: “The hardworking and plain-living spirit of plateau meteorological members also touched Vice Premier Wang Yang.”
The Vice-Premier declared: “Tibet can take pride in the advancements and achievements of meteorological cause; it has impressed and inspired us all.”
He spoke of the importance of meteorological observations on the plateau for weather forecasts and climate prediction for downstream regions: “to ramp up the research of meteorological science and technology along with climate change, in view of Tibet’s location, carries a significant implication.”
But Wang did not go only to study the weather patterns.
In Lhasa, he spoke of the implementation of different programs “to vigorously alleviate poverty by developing modern agriculture, animal husbandry as well as tourism development.”
This is an indicator of the direction in which the Forum would go a week later. Wang spoke again and again of “effective measures to further the implementation of poverty alleviation, remove poverty, accelerate the transformation of agricultural development, promote the construction of modern agriculture and animal husbandry, and the healthy development of tourism in Tibet”.
He added that this could help the region to find a solid foundation for the sustained and healthy economic and social development of Tibet by 2020.
Wang Yang was in Tibet between August 13 to 15.
On August 14 afternoon, Wang Yang chaired a forum and listen to the work report of the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
He later stressed the need to thoroughly implement Xi Jinping’s vision for the Tibet work and ensure the timely realization/implementation of the Party’s objectives.
And of course, Wang Yang mentioned the ‘stability’ of Tibet: “the whole region of Tibet strives for national unity and oppose separatist, your efforts are commendable,” he says.
He concluded: ‘We are proud of the great achievements made for the development of Tibet, Tibet has a precious natural and cultural heritage; it should be cherished.”
This was a prelude to the 6th Tibet Work Forum.

Another important visit: CMC's Vice-Chairman Xu Qiliang
On August 13, Xinhua reported that Xu Qiliang, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), visited Tibet (and Chongqing). He urged the military forces posted for defense of the border [with India] “to make down-to-earth efforts and follow the path to building a strong army”.
Xu had a call for strengthening education and urged the army to make “efforts to thoroughly clean up the negative influence caused by corrupt former military leaders [Generals] Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou.”
He pleaded for better management and control of the borders “as well as innovation with ideological work at military forces to shore up the morale of servicemen for border defense.”
He requested senior officers and army leaders to strictly observe the political discipline and rules, adding that modern ideas and elements should also be used in the management of the military.
Xu’s exhortation will be reflected in Xi’s speech during the Forum.
Xi reiterated his theory about the ‘border areas’; he said that “a series of strategies that have been in effect during the 60-plus years of governing Tibet," he then cited the theory that "governing border areas is the key for governing a country, and stabilizing Tibet is a priority for governing border areas.”
Tibet’s border areas are India’s frontiers; let us not forget this.
And of course,  “the Central Government did not in the past, nor is now and will not in the future accept the [Dalai Lama's] Middle Way solution  to the Tibet issue,” said an article penned by an official the United Front Department after the Forum.
The hard line has prevailed once again.

China’s ominous development projects along Indian borders

Zhang Yijiong in Tibet

Here is my article published in NitiCentral. It is titled China’s ominous development projects along Indian borders.


Very few in India are bothered by what is happening on the other side of the great Himalayan range. It is too far away, though in the months and years to come, it may influence our lives in a way we can’t imagine today.
What is going on in western Tibet?

Very few in India are bothered by what is happening on the other side of the great Himalayan range. It is too far away, though in the months and years to come, it may influence our lives in a way we can’t imagine today.
The Chinese Press has already hinted that something was cooking on a grand scale.
The Global Times ran a story “Sky rail to run from Lhasa to south Tibet; further railway expansion to connect Nepal, Bhutan, India by 2020.”
It announced that the railway linking Lhasa and Shigatse (poetically termed by China as the ‘closest stretch of railway to the sky’) will be open to traffic in August.
The construction of the extension of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, which started in September 2010, will be 254 km long and have 13 stations. Trains will be able to run at a speed of 120 kmph and it will take only 2 hours from Lhasa to Shigatse, the seat of the Panchen Lamas’ and the TAR’s second largest city.
It is the largest infrastructure project in Tibet during the twelfth 5-Year Plan (2011-2015), with an investment of more than $1.7 billion.
Zhu Bin, manager of a mineral company based in Lhasa, frankly admitted to The People’s Daily: “It will accelerate transportation of the mineral products, which could only be transmitted through highways that often risk being cut off during rainy seasons or see vehicle turnovers.”
Another raison d’être of the train is to bring more tourists, Tibet’s main source of revenue (15 million Chinese will visit Tibet in 2014) and to ‘strengthen’ the borders with India by allowing quick movement of troops and armament.
The Global Times also announced that during the 13th Five-Year Plan, the construction of a railway connecting Shigatse with Kyirong in northern Nepal and with Yatung, in the Chumbi Valley set between Sikkim and Bhutan, will start.
Yatung may be a distant dream, but Kyirong is a logical extension of the line as China has extensively invested in this landport to make it the main link between Tibet and Kathmandu, (and economically invade Nepal).But there is more happening in Tibet, particularly in the wilderness of Ngari, the prefecture located west of Ladakh and north of Himachal and Uttarakhand.
First, the unusually-long stay in the Prefecture of Deng Xiaogang, Deputy Party Secretary of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, responsible for the law and order, security and police, “to inspect the border security and the People’s Liberation Army bases”.
During the past two months, he spent most of his time in Western Tibet. On June 20, an article in The Tibet Daily mentions: “Deng Xiaogang inspected Rutok, the border county”. Rudok is located near the Pangong Lake (tso) stretching between India and China; it is where Chinese ‘water’ incursions often occur.
Addressing the border guards, Deng Xiaogang stressed: “Tibet is very special strategic location; it is an important barrier for the national security; development and stability in these border areas is an important part of the region’s overall situation.”
Why is China so nervous about these borders areas?
One reason is probably that China wants to reinforce its border with India, especially after the Modi Sarkar declared that one of its priorities was the development of infrastructure along the borders.
Deng has not been the only Chinese official to visit the beautiful (and strategic) Ngari.
Zhang Yijiong, Deputy Minister of the Central United Front Work Department, who is also the interlocutor-designate for eventual negotiations with the Dalai Lama’s envoys, followed the footsteps of Deng Xiaogang.
Zhang Yijiong visited Purang County, at the trijunction India-Nepal-Tibet, near Mt Kailash. One can be sure that his trip was not a spiritual one. He met policemen, firefighters (for preventing immolations?), officers and troops manning the border with India, the SWAT (commandos) and lectured them on the different aspects of ‘counter-terrorism’ and ‘stabilisation’.
Even more importantly, General Xu Qiliang, a member of the Politburo of the CCP’s Central Committee and one of the two vice-chairmen of the Central Military Commission (CMC) spent time ‘inspecting’ the Xinjiang and Tibet garrisons.
According to a Chinese military website: “Xu Qiliang recently [it is not disclosed when] inspected the troops of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the People’s Armed Police Force (PAPF) garrisoning Xinjiang and Tibet.”
Was the recrudescence of ‘intrusions’ into the Indian territorial waters on the Pangong lake and on the ground (near Demchok), which occurred around that time, a mere coincidence?
On June 24 and 25, the powerful Commander of PAPF, Wang Jianping had visited Lhasa and Ngari prefecture ‘to carry out investigations’. The boss of all paramilitary forces in China, an old Tibet hand (he was posted in Tibet between 1996 and 2000), emphasised that the troops should “resolutely work for the long term peace and stability of Tibet.”
General Wang Jianping’s visit was followed by the arrival in Lhasa of Meng Jianzhu, Politburo member and head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Central Committee. Meng spent five days in Lhasa and Southern Tibet. It is not known if Meng had time to drop by Ngari.
That is not all, Shaanxi Party Secretary Zhao Zhengyong also travelled to Western Tibet. Shaanxi is one of two provinces that have ‘adopted’ Ngari Prefecture by sending hundreds of cadre to carry out infrastructure and developmental projects.
Zhao said that Shaanxi province will incorporate Ngari’s development into its own overall plan, ‘to give impetus to Ngari Prefecture’s new developmental’.
Shaanxi has already donated funds to make Demchok, the border town with India into a ‘model village’ (the traditional Demchok village is in Ladakh, but the Chinese have built/renovated their own Demchok on their side of the LAC).
While CCTV showed new homes, a beautiful guest house (for visiting Chinese VIPS?), a Chinese website explained: “The border line [with India] passes through Dian-jiao [Demchok] village of Tashigang township .On Aug 2011, the Shaanxi donated 4 million US $ to Demchok village for making it a model border village by promoting economic development and consolidation of the border.”
All this is ominous. What to conclude?
These high-profile visits are linked with the railway line soon reaching Shigatse. This will bring a tremendous economic and strategic boost to the region, first around Shigatse and to the new landport in Kyirong which will become the most important link between Tibet and Nepal, but also in Ngari prefecture.
Beijing is keen to open these areas to large-scale tourism like it was earlier done in Lhasa and Nyingchi.
Is the construction of a new guest house in Demchok a sign that China may agree to open the traditional border between Tibet and India? Some voices in Tibet seem in favour, on a small scale at least.
From the Indian side, the situation should be watched vigilantly.

Developing Western Tibet, China secures its border with India

The two parts of Demchok

I have often mentioned on this blog, the unusually-long stay of Deng Xiaogang, Deputy Party Secretary of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and Secretary of TAR’s Politics and Law Committee (in other words, responsible for the law and order, security and police in Tibet) in Ngari Prefecture “to inspect the border security and the People’s Liberation Army bases”.
During the past 2 months, he spent most of his time in Western Tibet, except for one or two times he had to rush to Lhasa to receive VVIPs.
On June 20, an article in The Tibet Daily mentions: "Deng Xiaogang comforts the rank and file of the police in border County", adding that Deng “inspected Rutok, the border county in Ngari Prefecture and conveyed to the rank and file of the border policemen, the Party’s cordial greetings. He cordially shook hands with the soldiers and comforted them.”
Rudok is located near the Pangong Lake (tso) stretching between India and China; it is where Chinese ‘water’ incursions often occur.
Addressing the border guards, Deng Xiaogang stressed: "Tibet is very special strategic location; it is an important barrier for the national security; development and stability in these border areas is an important part of the region's overall situation. In recent years, under the strong leadership of the CPC’s Central Committee, the regional Party committee [of the TAR] and the [local] government firmly requested people to unite and take a lead in the development of the region; they went all out to maintain stability, and improve people's livelihood as much as possible; to build prosperity, harmony, happiness, a place ruled by law, a beautiful new socialist Tibet and [finally] to work hard."
Apart from the usual Communist jargon, the question remains why should a senior, powerful leader like Deng spend weeks in such remote places.
One possibility is that China wants to reinforce its border with India, especially after the Modi Sarkar declared that one of its priorities was the development of infrastructure along the borders (see my interview with Kiren Rijiju).
Deng has not been the only Chinese official to visit the beautiful (and strategic) province of Ngari.
Zhang Yijiong, Deputy Director of the Central United Front Work Department, who is also the interlocutor-designate for eventual negotiations with Dharamsala, followed the footsteps of Deng Xiaogang.
Wu Yingjie, Deputy Secretary of the TAR, Deng Xiaogang and Dong Mingjun, one of the TAR’s vice-chairmen were on Zhang’s side.
When Zhang Yijiong particularly visited Purang County, at the trijunction India-Nepal-Tibet, near Mt Kailash, his trip was of course, not a spiritual one.
He met policemen, firefighters (for preventing immolations?), officers and troops manning the border with India, the SWAT (commandos) and lectured them on the different aspects of ‘counter-terrorism’ and ‘stabilization’.
He praised the troops for remaining ‘steady’ despite the cold and the lack of oxygen, the harsh environmental conditions and complimented them for fulfilling their duties conscientiously without being overtaken by fatigue.
He asked them to continuous keep their fighting spirit "to maintain a sustained harmony and stability of Ngari area and to work for the development and stability of Tibet".
He thanked the soldiers for their important contribution to the Chinese nation: “On behalf of the Central United Front Work Department, my heartfelt gratitude and highest respect for you, I hope you will continue to make persistent efforts, do a solid job for the long-term stability and the overall stability of Tibet”, he told the border troops.
The caring party leader asked the soldiers to look after themselves and pay attention to their health.
More importantly, General Xu Qiliang, a member of the Politburo of the CCP's Central Committee and one of the two vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission (CMC) ‘inspected’ the Xinjiang and Tibet garrisons.
According to a military website: "Xu Qiliang recently [when is not disclosed] inspected the troops of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the People’s Armed Police Force (PAPF) garrisoning Xinjiang and Tibet."
General Xu visited the soldiers and officers stationed in the Aksai Chin and Ngari opposite the Indian troops.
Note that there was a recrudescence of ‘intrusions’ into the Indian territorial waters on the Pangong lake and on the ground (Demchok) around the time of his visit.
No doubt just a coincidence!
On June 24 and 25, the powerful Commander of People’s Armed Police Force (PAPF), Wang Jianping had visited Lhasa and Ngari prefecture ‘to carry out investigations’. The boss of all paramilitary forces in China, an old Tibet hand (he was posted in Tibet between 1996 and 2000), emphasized that the troops should “resolutely complete every task keeping in mind the tasks that are more urgent, working hard to start the new phase of establishing the police team for a new achievement for the developmental breakthrough and long term peace and stability of Tibet.”
In Lhasa, he was accompanied by the TAR Secretary Chen Quanguo, Deng Xiaogang, Choedak (Qizha La), Wang Ruilian, Kelsang Tsering, Dorjee Tsedrub, Lobsang Gyurmey and others.
General Wang Jianping’s visit was followed by the arrival in Lhasa of Meng Jianzhu, Politburo Member and head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Central Committee. Meng spent five days in Lhasa and Lhoka. While in Tibet, he asserted that “local officials should have a profound understanding of the long lasting nature of the anti-secession efforts, and always take them as the primary political task, he said, vowing a harsh crackdown on separatist activities or terror attacks.”
It is not known if Meng had time to drop by Ngari.
Now, on the development side, Shaanxi Party Secretary Zhao Zhengyong also visited Ngari. Shaanxi is one of two provinces that have ‘adopted’ Ngari Prefecture by sending hundreds of cadres to carry out infrastructure and developmental projects.
On July 16, a Chinese website reported: “Zhao Zhengyong [downgraded by the website as Deputy Secretary of Shaanxi] led the team of the party government delegates to Gar [Gartok] county of Ngari prefecture to investigate the project of Shaanxi’s aid to Tibet. They visited and greeted the cadres aiding Tibet. He emphasised that Shaanxi will sincerely implement the orders of the Central Party, regarding the work of giving aid to Tibet. He said that they will incorporate Ngari’s development into the overall plan of the Shaanxi province, start formulating the 13th five-year plan of Shaanxi at the earliest and give impetus to Ngari Prefecture’s new developmental breakthrough.”
Zhao was accompanied by Padma Choling (Chairman of TAR people’s Congress and only Tibetan in the Central Committee) and Jiang Zelin (Standing committee member of CPC Shaanxi Provincial Committee and Vice Governor of Shaanxi Provincial People’s Government).
Lhasa TV showed Zhao’s visit in Ngari.
At the end of 2012, Shaanxi had allocated 4 million US $ to make Demchok, the border town with India [note the traditional Demchok village is in Ladakh, but the Chinese have built/renovated their own Demchok on their side of the LAC] into a ‘model village’.
CCTV showed new homes, a guest house (for future Indian visitors?) and a map of the nearby historical spots.
The TAR website explains: “The border line [with India] passes through Dian-jiao [Demchok] village of Tashigang township, Gar County .On Aug 2011, the Shaanxi Province fund for aiding Tibet donated 21million Yuan to Dian-jiao [Demchok] village for making it a model border village by promoting economic development of the border area, unity among the ethnic groups and consolidation of the border.”
The article continues: “Waking into the Dian-jiao [Demchok] model border village, one can see an irregular arrangement with charming effect which is filled with Tibetan characteristics. There are good water, electricity, road and communication facilities. Facilities like Solar energy street lights and gymnasium equipments are also available. Zhao Zhengyuan had close interaction with the village cadres, members of the working group stationed at the village, the security personnel responsible for guarding the border, to get a detailed understanding of the situation of building of the model village, the situation of the Party branch of the village and the village [Party] Committee. He pointed out that TAR party committee and the government is sincerely implementing every policy that is beneficial to the people and that will bring prosperity to the border areas.”
What to conclude from all this?
These high-profile visits are linked with the railway line soon reaching Shigatse. This will bring a tremendous boost to the region, first around Shigatse and particularly to the new landport in Kyirong which will become the most important link between Tibet and Nepal, but also to Western Tibet (Ngari prefecture).
Beijing seems keen to open the area to large-scale tourism like it was earlier done in Lhasa and Nyingchi.
It will be one way to get more revenues for the region; they can be reinvest later in the ‘development’ of the area.
This, of course, poses serious security problems to China, mainly due to the proximity of the border with India. This explains the visit of General Xu Qiliang [originally, an Air Force officer] and General Wang Jianping, responsible of the paramilitary forces on the border.
The last two visits mean that China remains in a state of alertness and preparedness on its frontier with India. Regular incursions (in the Western and Eastern Sectors, but in the Central Sector too - in Uttarakhand) will probably continue; it is one way for Beijing to test the Indian waters (and the Modi Sarkar).
The visit of Zhao Zhengyong demonstrates that China is keen to invest in the rapid development of the area with the help of other Chinese provinces.
The construction of a new guest house in Demchok is perhaps a sign that China may agree to open the traditional border between Tibet and India; on a very small scale in a first stage, but security issues have to be tackled first.
That is probably what Deng Xiaogang was inspecting.
From the Indian side, the situation is worth watching.

General Xu visits the Indian Border

The recent heavy traffic of VIPs/VVIPs in Ngari (Western Tibet)  was not only due to the presence of the Dalai Lama in Ladakh.
It has also to do with Beijing's decision to consolidate its borders, whether there are sea borders in the South China Sea or land borders with India (mainly in Aksai Chin region).
Yesterday, China Military Online reported that Xu Qiliang, a member of the Politburo of the CCP's Central Committee and also one of the 2 vice chairmen of the  Central Military Commission (CMC) inspected Xinjiang and Tibet garrisons.
According to the official website: "Xu Qiliang recently [when is not disclosed] inspected the troops of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the People’s Armed Police Force (PAPF) garrisoning Xinjiang and Tibet."
The article adds: "During the inspection, General Xu Qiliang visited the officers and men in frontier areas, and held talks with the leaders of the troop units garrisoning in Hotan [Xinjiang, near the Aksai Chin], Ali [Ngari or Gar] and Lhasa [in the Tibetan Autonomous Region or TAR] areas to discuss the development and reform of frontier troop units.
This means that General Xu inspected troops belonging to 2 separate Military Area Commands (Lanzhou and Changdu).
Xu Qiliang also visited sentries of the Shenxianwan (just north of the Karakoram Pass and the Depsang Plains) frontier defense company who were performing duties at the altitude of 5,380 meters.
Xu Qiliang went to the barracks of the Khurnak Fort frontier (opposite the Indian troops in Ladakh, north of the Panggong tso) defense company and Banmozhang (near Sirijp on the Panggong Lake where many incursions have taken place) to inspect a water [speed-boats] squadron and inquire about the soldiers’ work, study and life.
According to the same source: "Xu Qiliang also inspected weaponry and equipment and observed training and drills in a training base of a 'Red Army' regiment of the Xinjiang Military Area Command (MAC), an infantry brigade of the Tibet Military Command (TMC) and the First Detachment of the Tibet Contingent of the People's Armed Police Force (PAPF)."
He was accompanied by a battery of generals, amongst them, Gen. Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of general staff of the PLA, Gen. Miao Hua, political commissar of the Lanzhou MAC and Gen. Zhu Fuxi, political commissar of the Chengdu MAC.
This visit is also probably linked to the arrival of the railway line in Shigatse.
Another official Chinese site announced a few days ago that the completion of an extension of the world's highest Qinghai-Tibet railway, Lhasa-Shigatse railway. The construction started on September 26, 2010 will be officially opened in August.
Test trains are already running on the newly-built line, which will have an overall length of 253 km; trains will be able to run at a speed of 120 km per hour. It will take only 2 hours from Lhasa to Shigatse, the seat of the Panchen Lamas' and the TAR's second largest city.
China Tibet Online says that the city already attracts thousands of pilgrims and visitors each year: "In recent years, Panchen Lama's palace, Tashihunpo Monastery in Shigatse has received over 200,000 visitors from home and abroad annually. The opening of Lhasa-Shigatse railway will surely make the journey of worshippers to Tashihunpo Monastery safer and easier."
The first train reached Lhasa in July 2006, and though Beijing says: "it has positively impacted on Tibet's tourism, hospitality and manufacturing sectors", the main beneficiary has been the PLA.
The new line will be another progress for the PLA and PAPF stationed on Western Tibet.
To come back to General Xu's visit, did he come to distribute new accurate maps to the troops?
A Chinese military site recently reported: "A batch of new-version paper-made battle maps with a scale of 1:50,000 obtained by a motorized infantry brigade under the Lanzhou Military Area Command (MAC) of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) from a measuring and mapping information center under the PLA Lanzhou MAC were quickly transferred to the frontline troop units participating in the trans-regional base training on the morning of July 9, 2014, marking that the distribution of a total of over 15 million new-version paper-made battle maps to the troop units under the Lanzhou MAC has been completed."
The website added: "This is the first time for the PLA to completely update a single type of map in the past 30 years."
Now the time is ready for Beijing to exchange maps of its 'perceived borders' with Delhi, something it has refused to do till today.

Shenxianwan Frontier Sentry Post

Shenxianwan Frontier Sentry Post

Shenxianwan Frontier Sentry Post

 

In Chinese blood, there is no DNA for aggression or hegemony?

General Xu Qiliang signing a defence agreement in Colombo

The day after Chinese nationals were violently attacked in Vietnam, President Xi Jinping stated: "In Chinese blood, there is no DNA for aggression or hegemony."
That is nice to hear.
Xi was addressing a function marking the 60th anniversary of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
Analysts related his remarks to the dispute with Hanoi regarding the setting up of an oil rig in the South China Sea.
But China’s DNA is not unicolour.
At the same time, General Fang Fenghui, the PLA’s Chief used a threatening tone during a press conference with his US counterpart General Martin Dempsey in Washington; he affirmed: “the US Asia pivot had inflamed tensions in the South China Sea”, adding that “some neighbouring countries were using the [US] policy as a pretext for provocations.”
Though President Xi had just explained: “Chinese people do not accept the logic that a strong country must also be hegemonic,” General Fang vowed that China would never ‘lose an inch of its territory’.
Does Fang have different DNA than Xi?
No, Xi and Fang's remarks belong to one single Chinese DNA!
It is called the Chinese Art of Diplomacy …and War.
A few days later, Hua Chunying, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman expressed China's willingness to work with India's new government to promote the two countries' bilateral partnership. That’s the ‘good’ DNA!
She said: “China has always attached great importance to ties with India. …China and India are friendly neighbors, and the current relations between the two countries are maintaining a good momentum.”
A day earlier, one of the senior most PLA officers, General Xu Qiliang, a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo and vice chairman of the all-powerful Central Military Commission left for a tour of three Asian countries, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Interestingly, for his visit to India’s two strategic neighbours, General Xu was accompanied by Maj. Gen. Diao Guoxin, the political commissar of the PLA Tibet Military Command.
What was General Diao, whose troops face India in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, doing in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka?
In Dacca, bdnews24.com reported that the Chinese delegation signed four military agreements with Bangladesh ‘to enhance Dhaka’s defence capabilities’.
Under these agreements signed with the Bangladesh Armed Forces and the Bangladesh University of Professionals, China will provide military support to Bangladesh’s armed forces and train its military personnel. Beijing will also help setting up a language laboratory. And of course, all these will be free of charge.

General Xu Qiliang in Bangladesh

Bangladesh top defence brass, including Maj. Gen. Tarique Ahmed Siddique, the Prime Minister’s Security Adviser; General Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, the Army Chief, Admiral M. Farid Habib, the Naval Chief; Air Marshal Muhammad Enamul Bari, the Air Force Chief attended the function.
Tarique explained that Bangladesh and China have similar history, culture and traditions, adding that the two countries have had close cooperation and exchanges in the fields of politics, economy and culture.
The Security Adviser hoped that the two militaries could consolidate and deepen pragmatic exchanges and cooperation in all fields.
General Xu Qiliang asserted that China and Bangladesh are friendly neighbors (is not India in between??), and the people of the two countries have had a history of friendly contacts for thousands of years; a fact which may surprise you, if you still believe that Bangladesh was born in 1971.
The fact that the Chinese delegation appreciated Dacca’s firm support to Beijing’s policy vis-à-vis Taiwan, Xinjiang and Tibet, probably explains Maj. Gen. Diao Guoxin’s presence.
Let us not forget that according to the Sweden-based think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), during the last five years, China has been the largest supplier of arms to Bangladesh.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently announced that two Chinese submarines would be inducted in the Bangladesh Navy by 2015, while two new frigates (Abu Bakar and Ali Haider) also from China were commissioned in March this year.
The visit to Sri Lanka was more discreet, probably because the results of the Indian elections were going to be out by the time General Xu left Dacca.
It is certainly an indirect Chinese reaction to Modi’s election as Prime Minister of India. For three days, not a word about the Sri Lanka’s visit in the Chinese press, including specialized publications like The PLA’s Daily.
A friend of mine joked: ‘here is a new Flight 370 affair’; Xu seems to have disappeared from the radar from the time he left Dacca. Has Xu (the first Air Force officer to make it as a vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission) crashed in the Bay of Bengal?
Now, finally on May 19, Beijing announced that the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had met with Xu Qiliang on May 16. But it is a clear indicator that Beijing did not want to negatively attract the attention the new Government in Delhi. For sure, Beijing will thread more carefully with Modi’s government than with the Congress’.
The Sri Lankan President expressed Sri Lanka’s gratitude to China for its long-term strong support and help and assured Xu that Sri Lanka will adhere to the friendly policy towards China, firmly upholding the ‘One-China’ policy.
According to a communique from Colombo, Xu also met Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Secretary in the Ministry of Defence on the same day and three important ‘agreements of mutual cooperation’ were signed. Gotabaya Rajapaksa expressed Sri Lanka’s sincere appreciation for the financial and material support extended by the Chinese Government for several projects under the Defence portfolio.
General Xu Qiliang answered that the "sincere mutual assistance and friendship from generation to generation is the reality of the bilateral ties between China and Sri Lanka”. He noted that the challenges faced by Sri Lanka were due to the strategic concerns of other nations rather than the actual human rights situation of the island.
But that is not all in India’s neighbourhood.
General Chang Wanquan, China’s defense minister paid a visit Laos and Myanmar around the same dates. In Myanmar, the ‘goodwill’ visit was at the invitation of Wai Lwin, the Burmese defense minister.
Very little news has filtered out so far about Chang’s visit.
On the western front, the all-weather friend is always ready to work with Beijing. Islamabad is presently organizing a joint drill with the Chinese Air Force; code-named ‘Shaheen (Eagle)-3’, it is held at the Rafiqui airbase in the northeastern province of Punjab.
But this too has been rather discreet.
China is probably aware that India has changed its DNA, dropping the old Nehruvian ones.
Narendra Modi could, without hesitation, say: "in the Indian blood, there is no DNA for aggression or hegemony, but India will not lose an inch of its territory.”
Sensing that the new acquired Indian DNA may resemble the Chinese, Beijing apparently may force Beijing to accept the logic that even a strong country cannot always be hegemonic, there is a price to pay. This was demonstrated when China had to evacuate thousands of its nationals from Vietnam.

Let us hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst

Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo's visit in Delhi last week, did not get much media coverage in India.
The Indian National Security Advisor's counterpart in the border talks between India and China, however met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after attending the Third Meeting of Senior Representatives of National Security Affairs of BRICS countries.
According to Xinhua, "Dai conveyed to the Indian Prime Minister cordial greetings and good wishes from Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, and delivered a letter from Communist Party of China General Secretary Xi Jinping."
China's new boss wrote that "China-India relations have maintained stable development in the past few years, which has brought about substantial benefits to the two countries and the two peoples." 
Xi Jinping added "the world has enough space for China and India to achieve common development, and the world also needs common development."
Nothing really new.
The CCP General Secretary (and Chairman of the Central Military Commission)  affirmed that "China will, as it has been doing, pay great importance to developing relations with India and expects to carry out close cooperation with India to create a brighter future of their bilateral relations." 
For Dai Bingguo in the past 10 years, "the two countries have efficiently controlled their disputes and differences and have pushed forward development of bilateral relations, while gradually finding a pragmatic way of maintaining friendly relationship of co- existence between them."
He said that in the next five to 10 years, China and India will see a strategically important period of opportunities to develop their relations.
Prime Minister Singh politely reciprocated: "New Delhi was keen of deepening India-China strategic cooperative partnership", he said.
All this is very nice, but China keeps preparing itself for any eventuality (so India hopefully does). According to China Military Online: 

China’s military exercises in 2012 continued to go back to its essence, namely upgrading the troop units’ combat power by adopting methods closest to the actual combat situations. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is exploring new combat-power generation modes through military exercises.

The PLA website says that "the level of informationization is impressive":

Many military exercises in 2012 showed that the command method and the level of the information-based weapons and equipment of the PLA are quite impressive.
The “integrated command information system” made its debut in early 2012. This self-developed command information system of China integrates various arms of the PLA’s services, namely the ground force, the navy, the air force and the second artillery force, links up command organs at various levels and the general headquarters/departments of the PLA, and connects command factors including support and information.
To better cultivate the habits of using the “integrated command information system”, many military exercises in 2012 even adopted an extreme method, namely paper-based maps were not allowed to be used for combat command.
The changes in 2012 were related to the PLA’s constant strengthening of its information-based construction for years. The powerful geographic information support system contains factors necessary for combat operations including measuring and mapping, meteorology and information. The levels of various types of information-based weapon platforms become higher and higher. The update and upgrade of the communication means make the command and control become more and more accurate.
China’s 'Beidou-II' satellite navigation system was officially enabled on December 27, 2012. The accuracy of this navigation and positioning system reaches less than 10 meters. The 'Beidou' system will greatly promote the PLA’s information-based construction. 

At the same time, Beijing's charm offensive continues. The Indian Defense Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma was well received in Beijing. 
He met General (Air Force) Xu Qiliang, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission and member of the CCP Politburo.
Apparently, the encounter was extremely cordial.
Xu said: "China attaches great importance in developing military ties with India and hopes to increase mutual strategic trust, enhance friendly communication and deepen pragmatic cooperation in order to promote the strategic partnership for peace and prosperity and make a positive contribution to world and regional peace and stability."
Xu told Sharma that "the two countries have extensive common interests and developing friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation is in line with the common aspiration of the two peoples as well as global development", adding that China believes that the two countries have enough wisdom and ability to handle their relationship and are able to pave a healthy and stable development path for it. 
Sharma was happy.
Let us hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst.