3 new Tibet airports near border pose threat

An airport in Purang

My article 3 new Tibet airports near border pose threat appeared in The Asian Age 
 
Here is the link...

On June 9, the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Tibetan Autonomous Region’s (TAR) government announced that Tibet will soon have three new airports. A communiqué said: “Construction of the three airports, all above the altitude of 3,900 meters, should begin in 2019.”
Xinhua gave the rationale: “Tourist travel will be more convenient, and economic development in Tibet's agricultural and pastoral areas will also be assisted.”
The announcement came during Conference Civil Aviation System Supporting Tibet Airport Construction Development held in Lhasa on June 8.
The Chinese-language press gave more information about the location of the three airports; one will be located in Lhuntse in Lhoka (called Shannan by the Chinese) area, north of the Upper Subansiri and Tawang districts 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 the trijunction Nepal-Tibet-India, north of Pittoragarh district of Uttarakhand (on the yatris’ route to Mt Kailash).
While Tingri airport is near the Nepali border, the two other (Lhuntse and Purang) are at a short distance from the Indian border.
Xinhua said that Capital Airport Holding Company will be the contractor of the Lhoka, while Shanghai Airport Authority will be responsible for the airport in Shigatse and the West Airport Group will take care of Purang: “The three companies are scheduled to transfer the airports to local operators after one or two years' operation.” The airports should be completed in 2021; by then, there will be eight airports in the TAR (plus three close to the Indian border in Xinjiang, i.e. Kashgar, Hotan and Yarkand).
The news agency added: “At present, the preparatory work for the three airports is underway. The preferred sites have been determined, and the construction of temporary weather stations at each site is completed.”
The three airports will be high altitude airports; they will be operated by companies including Air China, China Eastern Airlines or Sichuan Airlines already involved in Tibet.
Let us not forget an important element; by law, these new airports will be for ‘dual use’; in other words, they will have to be built to suit both the civilian and military standards. The People’s Liberation Army may use them when required.
The Conference was a very-high level affair. Apart from Wu Yingjie, the TAR’s Party secretary, it was attended by Feng Zhenglin, China’s Civil Aviation Administration’s secretary, Che Dalha, the TAR Governor (as well as director of the TAR Border Defense Committee), Ding Yexian, Zhuang Yan, two powerful deputy secretaries, but perhaps more importantly, by Lt Gen Xu Yong, the commander of the Tibet Military District. Three other PLA officers were on the dais.
The level of the participants shows the importance of these three new airports for Beijing, particularly after the post-Doklam ‘reset’ of the bilateral relations with India.
One has to understand Xi’s plans for Tibet. The ‘core’ leader had declared: “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.”
Since a few months, the authorities in Tibet have started implementing the boss’ theory, while the Party’s propaganda is doing its best to entice the local Tibetan population to side with the Communist Party. This is a serious development, unfortunately largely ignored in India.
A new formula is mentioned in every speech of the local satraps - the inhabitants of China’s borders (with India) should be “the protectors of the sacred homeland and the builders of happy homes.”
It has taken a concrete shape with the mushrooming of new ‘model’ villages and towns on the Tibetan side of the Indian border, mainly north of Arunachal Pradesh; officially, this is linked with ‘poverty alleviation’ and the ‘defence of the borders’.
Development of China’s borders with India is indeed going on full swing; the construction of three new airports has to be seen in this context.
Several senior Communist leaders have visited the 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.
The Lhuntse airport will serve the Tsona and Yume areas.
Wu Yingjie recently gave an interview to The People’s Daily on the happenings in the border areas; he spoke of the significance of implementing the new strategy of “rejuvenating villages under the banner of the protectors of sacred homeland and the builders of happy homes”.
The new scheme started soon after the conclusion of the 19th Congress, when Xi Jinping sent a reply to two young Tibetan herders who had written to him introducing their village, Yume. According to Xinhua, Xi “encouraged a herding family in Lhuntse County to set down roots in the border area, safeguard the Chinese territory and develop their hometown.” Xi acknowledged “the family’s efforts to safeguard China’s 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,” he wrote.
The two Tibetan girls, Choekar and Yangzom had told the CCP’s Secretary General about their “experiences in safeguarding the border area and the development of their township over the years.”
The girls’ village, Yume is located in Lhuntse county, not far from the remote Indian village of Takshing, which incidentally has got for the first time a motorable road this month. Xi further hoped that the girls’ family could “motivate more herders to set down roots in the border area like kalsang flowers,” blooming in hard conditions.
China is ready to invest 110 million yuan in the Yume Well-Off Rural Construction Project; to start with, 56 sets of light-steel prefabricated residential houses are being built, linked by two new municipal roads, a central park and six squares. Electricity and water have already reached the border village.
The rationale of the these post-Doklam measures is “to consolidate the border and to promote the deep integration of the military and the people.” Tourism and ‘cultural’ industries remain the pillars of the scheme; it is supposed to help the population to get rid of poverty through participation in tourism while promoting ‘ethnic exchanges’ …with Han tourists. Yume is the model for the entire scheme.
Another pet project of Xi Jinping is the Military Civilian Integration (or ‘Fusion’); this too applies to the border. Consider Zhayul County located north of Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh in the Lohit valley. According to China Tibet News, the villages of the county have started implementing the ‘double-support model city’ which translates into full military and civilian integration.
India should not fall back into a Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai mood, even if a ‘reset’ of the bilateral relations was necessary, Delhi should realize that Beijing is working hard to be prepared if a new Doklam erupts anywhere on the 4,000km long border.
It is not the time for complacency.

New Airports on India’s Borders

On June 9, the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Tibetan Autonomous Region’s (TAR) government announced that Tibet will soon have three new airports. A communiqué said: “Construction of the three airports, all above the altitude of 3,900 meters, should begin in 2019.”
Xinhua gave the rationale: “Tourist travel will be more convenient, and economic development in Tibet's agricultural and pastoral areas will also be assisted.”
The announcement came during Conference Civil Aviation System Supporting Tibet Airport Construction Development held in Lhasa on June 8.
The entire project is called '3+1' because the Lhasa Gongkar airport will get a second runaway. the scheme comes under Tibet's 13th Five-year Plan (2016-20) with a planned investment of 16.7 billion yuan ($ 2.6 billion).
The Chinese-language press gave more information about the location of the three airports; one will be located in Lhuntse in Lhoka (called Shannan by the Chinese) area, north of the Upper Subansiri and Tawang districts 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 the trijunction Nepal-Tibet-India, north of Pittoragarh district of Uttarakhand (on the yatris’ route to Mt Kailash).
While Tingri airport is near the Nepali border, the two other (Lhuntse and Purang) are at a short distance from the Indian border.
Xinhua said that Capital Airport Holding Company will be the contractor of the Lhoka, while Shanghai Airport Authority will be responsible for the airport in Shigatse and the West Airport Group will take care of Purang: “The three companies are scheduled to transfer the airports to local operators after one or two years' operation.” The airports should be completed in 2021; by then, there will be eight airports in the TAR (plus three close to the Indian border in Xinjiang, i.e. Kashgar, Hotan and Yarkand).
The news agency added: “At present, the preparatory work for the three airports is underway. The preferred sites have been determined, and the construction of temporary weather stations at each site is completed.”
The three airports will be high altitude airports; they will be operated by companies including Air China, China Eastern Airlines or Sichuan Airlines already involved in Tibet.
Let us not forget an important element; by law, these new airports will be for ‘dual use’; in other words, they will have to be built to suit both the civilian and military standards. The People’s Liberation Army may use them when required.
The Conference was a very-high level affair. Apart from Wu Yingjie, the TAR’s Party secretary, it was attended by Feng Zhenglin, China’s Civil Aviation Administration’s secretary, Che Dalha, the TAR Governor (as well as director of the TAR Border Defense Committee), Ding Yexian, Zhuang Yan, two powerful deputy secretaries, but perhaps more importantly, by Lt Gen Xu Yong, the commander of the Tibet Military District. Three other PLA officers were on the dais (see picture above).
The level of the participants shows the importance of these three new airports for Beijing, particularly after the post-Doklam ‘reset’ of the bilateral relations with India.
India should not fall back into a Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai mood, even if a ‘reset’ of the bilateral relations was necessary, Delhi should realize that Beijing is working hard to be prepared if a new Doklam erupts anywhere on the 4,000km long border.
It is not the time for complacency.
Though as a way to really 'reset' the bilateral relations, Prime Minister Modi should ask President Xi Jinping during their next meeting to open a regular flight  between Dehra Dun and Purang. It will allow thousand of elderly Indians to do the Kailash Yatra.

Dual use of airport at Shigatse

One more airport in Tibet: govern the borders by first stabilizing Tibet

Radio Free Asia (RFA) has reported that the Chinese authorities have seized some farmland near Lhatse in Central Tibet to build a new airport. The displaced Tibetan villagers would have been offered far less in compensation than the land is worth.
According to a plan announced by officials in the Shigatse prefecture and the regional authorities of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), the airport will be built on land belonging to the Yushang village of Chusha municipality (Lhatse county of Shigatse Prefecture).
A source told RFA’s Tibetan Service: “For Tibetans in Chusha, farming has been their main source of livelihood for many years, and is a tradition handed down to them by their ancestors. The loss of so much land to Chinese development projects is having a negative impact on the daily life of the local people.”
He source added: “Now Chinese authorities are planning to build an airport on Chusha’s farmland, and local Tibetans are being compensated at rates less than the land’s market value.”
The Tibetans also complained that with “new airports and railway stations in all these areas, this will form a hub of activities for tourists and transportation links in all directions.”
But for Beijing, tourist development appears to be the main tool to get Tibet out of poverty.

Wu Yingjie’s interview
In a recent interview with China Tibet Online, Wu Yingjie, the TAR Party secretary was asked how he intended to solve the problem of poverty in Tibet, “alleviating poverty is an arduous task. How can Tibet overcome difficulties and help people of all ethnic groups get out of poverty?” was the question.
The Party Secretary answered: “Over the past two years, Tibet has brought 280,000 people out of poverty. Five counties and districts have been cleared out of poverty, and 25 counties and districts have reached the poverty-off line. The poverty rate has dropped to 7.9 percent. We will continue to focus on impoverished districts and concentrate on targeted-poverty alleviation. First, we must implement differentiated policies. Poverty alleviation for 10 deeply impoverished counties in Lhasa, Lhoka, Nyingchi, and Ngari prefectures should be the responsibility of their respective prefecture or municipality. Poverty alleviation for 34 deeply impoverished counties in Chamdo, Nagchu, and western Shigatse prefectures should be undertaken by the autonomous region via a concentration of resources.”
Lhatse falls under the last area.
If the TAR administration has to intervene, it means that there might be security issues and that the poverty is real a big issue in and around Lhatse.
Wu Yingjie explained his plans: “Second, we must strengthen our support of industry and employment to bring 323,000 people out of poverty. Third, on the basis of respecting the will of the people, we would steadily advance with relocation efforts.”
Whether the population is Lhatse has the power to impose their will is another issue.
Apparently not.
The tirade of the Party Secretary continued: “Fourth, we must increase aid and assistance for Tibet to ensure that 80 percent of Aid Tibet funds goes towards impoverished districts. Fifth, we must implement ecological poverty alleviation measures and integrate ecological funds so that impoverished people who are able to work can have stable jobs and salaries. Sixth, poverty alleviation should be promoted through Party building, with a focus on helping deeply impoverished counties and populations.”
This means that ‘poverty’ is really a problem in Tibet today.

The issue of defense
To bring the other issue, security and defense, the reporter quoted Xi Jinping’s doctrine for 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 Party Secretary admitted that Tibet was an important border area and ethnic region of China “with its border more than 4,000 kilometers long. It is the front line in the struggle against separatism and has the glorious mission to safeguard stability and promote harmony, which must always be our top priority.”
The new airport in Lhatse, apart from creating resentment among the Tibetans, has clearly two purposes. One is to defend China’s border, the other one is to bring tourism in the area to further develop this area and Western Tibet (Ngari region).
The trade with Nepal, south of Lhatse will be an important bonus.
Incidentally, the railway line on its way to Kyirong (and the Nepal border) should soon be arriving in Lhastse.
By bringing more Han tourists in the area, can China increase the happiness to the local population?
It is not sure at all.

PS: The new airport will also give a boost to the campaign “Winter tours in Tibet－enjoy the world's third pole”.
A Tibetan website asserted that Tibet has recently started promoting an initiative called "Winter tours in Tibet－Enjoy the world's third pole”. It affirmed that some preferential policies will "cover administration, transportation and tourist attractions."
As a result, an increasing number of tourists travel to Tibet even in off-peak season.”

Why all this fuss for a few Indian tunnels?

Rongme Ngatra Tunnel, stretching 13 kms on National Highway No 317

The meaning of ‘double standards’ is unknown in China.
After The Economic Times reported that India plans to construct 17 highway tunnels totaling 100 kilometers along the line of actual control, The Global Times bitterly complained.
The Party mouthpiece quoted Xie Chao, an ‘expert’ at Tsinghua University's Department of International Relations, who said that: “boosting border infrastructure has been Indian's consistent policy.”
A poor joke, when one knows the reality.
Another ‘expert’, Zhao Gancheng, director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies stated that "the tunnel building along the border is a further fermentation after the Doklam standoff."
He reiterated China’s baloney stand: “One June 18, Indian troops illegally crossed the border and trespassed into Chinese territory in Doklam.”
Fermentation or not, India is far behind China in the field of infrastructure.
Zhao dared to tell The Global Times: “Although some Indian senior officials made a friendly gesture toward China after the standoff, India has pursued its previous policy along the border - developing infrastructure as well as troop mobility.”
The Global Times commented; “The Indian government is playing two cards over the border issue, the situation of which will be a ‘new normal’ for the China-India border.”
Xie Chao warned: "It is the Chinese government's responsibility to safeguard border safety and China won't take the initiative to seek military force to tackle border problems. But a balanced force along the border will make China cope with the tensions."
Is it not ‘double standards’?
While India is 20 or 30 years behind China is terms of development of border infrastructure, the slightest improvement on the Indian side is shown by Beijing and its ‘experts’ as an aggressive move.

Infrastructure on the Tibetan side
Just read the Chinese press, you will understand.
On October 28, China Tibet News announced that the newly-built runway of Chamdo Bangda Airport was officially put into use, “ushering in a new period of rapid growth.”
A total of 19,000 flights took off or landed at Bangda Airport; it boasts of 1.876 million passenger throughput. The new runaway will improve further the traffic: “In 2015, with a total investment of 849 million yuan [150 million US dollars], the airfield renovation project was started and it was built on 4C standard,” said the website.
Chamdo Bangda Airport has already flights to Lhasa, Chengdu, and Chongqing; soon planes will be able to fly to Tianjin, Fujian, and other Mainland cities.
At the same time, the reconstruction project of the highway from Shigatse Peace Airport to Shigatse City has begun, Shigatse will become “a comprehensive transportation hub”.
It will be an important part “for Tibet's export-oriented economic development,” said the website. Practically it will be a next stage towards opening a road and railway to Nepal.
According to China Tibet News: “After this project is completed, it will improve the regional traffic conditions and play a key role in meeting Tibet's high grade highway demand.”

On October 23, another website, China Tibet Online affirmed: “China's central government continues to increase support for infrastructure construction in southwest China's Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan Province, striving to break the bottleneck that constraints the social development and people's livelihood improvement in those regions.”
According to the Chinese website: “Since 2012, Tibet has opened the Lhasa-Shigatse Railway, and the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway also enters its construction, starting a new era in railway construction. Highway distance increased from 62,500 kilometers in 2012 to 82,100 kilometers in 2016, an increase of 25.9 percent. There are 71 domestic and international air routes connecting Tibet with 41 cities.”
And the list goes on.

Developments in Tibetan-inhabited areas
The fast-track infrastructure development is not limited to the Tibetan Autonomous Region; it extends to the Tibetans-inhabited provinces.
So why this fuss for a few Indian tunnels, which will take years to materialize?
In the power fields too, giant steps are taken on the plateau.
China Tibet Online provides details on the Sichuan-Tibet Power Interconnection Project which has recently been put into operation, “eliminating serious power shortages in Chamdo City in the Tibet and the southern part of the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The total power installation capacity is 2.65 million kilowatts, 1.3 times more than that in 2012.”
It is said that it for the first time Tibet achieved net electric power transmission of 200 million kilowatts hour outwards.

More infrastructure in Sichuan
The same website further asserts that “Sichuan implemented two rounds of the ‘three-year transportation battle’, while completing and opening the Yading airport in the Daocheng County in Garze and the Hongyuan airport in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, construction on the Gesar Airport in Garze, the Chengdu-Lanzhou Railway, the Chengdu-Ya'an part of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway and the Ya'an-Kangding as well as Wenchuan-Markham Highways have also begun. At the end of 2016, the total distance of the highway in Tibetan-inhabited areas in Sichuan reached 45,200 kilometers.”
Does India complain each time, China open a dual-use airport on the plateau?

In Yunnan too
At the same time, in Yunan Province, “1,142 projects have been completed of the 1,344 major projects implemented over the last five years, and a total of 103.9 billion yuan (15.7 billion US dollars) have been invested.” While Gansu Province opened in 2013 the Xiahe Airport and the Linxia-Hezuo Highway, respectively the first civil aviation airport and the first highway in its Tibetan-habited areas, the first railway line, from Lanzhou to Hezuo, has also been under construction in 2016. There are currently 10,046 kilometers of highway, and 95 percent of villages are accessible to modern transportation in the Tibetan-inhabited areas.”
The highway coverage in Tibetan-inhabited areas of Qinghai Province reached 65,117 kilometers in 2016, increasing by 11,367 compared with 2012. The 251 townships and 1,659 villages in its Tibetan-inhabited areas are all accessible to highways.
This is not called ‘double standards’ when so-called experts complained after India struggling to provide genuine communication facilities for the border population in the Himalaya.

In the meantime, a combined army brigade under the PLA's 77th Group Army (former 13th Group Army) practiced at an altitude of 4,700 meters on the plateau area on November 7, 2017.
India is not making a fuss.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One more airport on the plateau

Karze (or Garzi or Kardze) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is situated in Western Sichuan, in the historical Kham province of Tibet.
Today, the so-called autonomous prefecture covers an area of 151,078 square kilometres with a population of approximately 880,000 (according to Chinese census). The Tibetans are said to represent some 78% of the total population. The capital city of prefecture is Kangding (traditionally known as Dartsedo or Tachienlu).
In the fall of 1950, the People's Liberation Army took over area. It was one of the bases chosen by Mao for the Battle of Chamdo (October 1950).
It has always been one of the most restive areas of the plateau inhabited by the Khampa tribes; Karze still has large monasteries such as Dzogchen, Dzongsar, Palpung, Sershul and more recently the Larung Gar Buddhist Institute, which has recently been in the news.
For Beijing, the best way to pacify the area is probably to bring millions of tourists.
The ‘restive’ Khampas will be then be used as tourist guides.
The immediate solution is to make Karze accessible by air.

Karze (Garzi) Gesar Airport
The new Karze (Garzi) Gesar Airport is located at the border of Laima Township of Karze County and Cuo’a Township of Derge County.
The Airport is built at 4,068m above the sea level, 52km away from the closest city in Karze County and 150km away from Derge County’s capital.
The new airport got the approval from the National Development and Reform Commission in October 2015. The projected cost is 2.26 billion yuan (US dollars 414.7 million).
The 4,000-meter-long and 45m wide runway (class 4C) is designed to handle 220,000 passengers and 660 tons of freight every year. Boeing 737 and Airbus A319 aircrafts will be able to land on the runway.
A 3,600 square meters terminal will serve the passenger.
It will be the third airport in Karze Prefecture, after Kangding Airport and Daocheng Yading Airport.
The construction has started on April 15, 2016.
First trials were scheduled for 2017, but on November 15, Kangba TV reported that sources closed to the contractor, the Kangding Airport Group Co Ltd affirmed the Karze Gesar Airport’s trial section had been completed end of October (probably ahead of schedule).

The J-20 case
Incidentally, on September 5, a photo showing China's stealth fighter J-20 was spotted on the Internet at the Daocheng Yading Airport. China Military Online commented that it “triggered the sensitive nerve of Indian media, who claimed that the ‘deployment of J-20 in Tibet’ is a counter measure against India's plan to deploy the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile along the China-India border. “
The same website explained that according to ‘Chinese experts’: “the time when the picture was taken is not clear, and even if the J-20 is put into service, it is not likely to be deployed first on the China-India border. Moreover, even if J-20 really appeared in the Daocheng Yading Airport, it may turn out to be a high altitude performance test.”
Well, either it was a J-20 or a dummy, the Chinese authorities should know.
NDTV had reported on September 2: “The image of the stealth fighter appeared on Twitter and on two defense websites, days after China warned India against deploying the supersonic BrahMos missile along the Himalayas."
The Indian media had further commented: "J-20 is a twin engine fighter with stealth features which enable it to sometimes go undetected by radar, an enormous advantage in air combat over conventional fighter jets which can be tracked on radar. The supersonic J-20 is thought to have gone into low-rate production this January.”
China Military Online remarked: “Indian media is deeply worried about the appearance of J-20 in Tibet.”
The image of the J-20 showed the fighter covered in tarpaulin. The Daocheng Yading Airport is located at an altitude of 14,000 feet, far higher than the new Karze airport; in fact, the Daocheng Yading is the world's highest civilian airport.
And of course, there no such things as ‘civilian’ airport in China.
Whatever is the truth about the J-20 in Daochen Yading Airport, the new Karze Gesar airport will be of much easier access, being at 'only' at 12,000 above sea level.
The new airport will be used of course for ‘civilian’ requirements, but also to tackle internal disturbances …and in case of a conflict with India (Arunachal is not far).

Airport infrastructure on the Tibetan Plateau

In 2015, a statement of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) asserted: "Safeguarding national unity and strengthening ethnic unity should be highlighted in work involving Tibet."
It added that: "Efforts should be made to unswervingly carry out the anti-separatism battle, promote the region's economic and social development, safeguard and improve people's welfare, and enhance exchanges and integration of different ethnic groups."
The Politburo's priorities were to strength Tibetan infrastructure, which in turn will help fostering competitive industries while ensuring environmental protection "to achieve marked improvement in living conditions and more social cohesion."
The PLA/Civil integration of the airports in Tibet greatly helps Beijing to 'strengthen the infrastructure' and consolidate its presence on the Plateau, i.e. 'to stabilize Tibet' and be ready in case of a conflict with India.
In 2015, a joint statement from the People Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC) affirmed that the integration would include joint maintenance of airport support facilities, joint flight safety support and joint airport management.
Interestingly, the Lhasa Gongkar Airport in Tibet and Sunan Shuofang International Airport in  Wuxi in Jiangsu province, were selected as the first two pilot PLA/civil airports to implement the 'integration' in China.
The PLAAF/CAAC circular further affirmed that "All the civil-military airports will conduct strengthened integration next year."
Apart from the strategic aspect, according to Xinhua: "Tibet welcomed a record 20 million tourists in 2015. ...This generated 28 billion yuan (4.26 billion U.S. dollars) in tourism revenue, nearly three times the figure in 2010. ...Regional capital Lhasa saw its tourism revenue more than triple over the past five years to an estimated 15.49 billion yuan in 2015. The number of tourists visiting the city rose by a yearly average of 23.32 percent in the period to 11.79 million in 2015."

In this context, it is interesting to draw a list all the major airpiorts on the Tibetan plateau.

List of Airports in the TAR

Lhasa Gonggar Airport 
Lhasa Gonggar Airport is the airport serving Lhasa, the capital city of the Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is located about 62 kilometres (39 mi) southwest of the city in Gonggar County of Shannan (Lhoka) Prefecture. The airport is close to the road to Tsetang, the capital of Shannan Prefecture.
At an elevation of 3,570 metres (11,710 ft), Lhasa Airport is one of the highest airports in the world. The airport was built in 1965, a second runway was built in 1994 and terminal facilities were upgraded in 2004.

Ngari Gunsa Airport
Ngari Gunsa Airport is a dual-use military and civil airport serving the town of Shiquanhe (Ali or Gar) in Ngari Prefecture, in the southwest of China's Tibet Autonomous Region near the Indian border. It started its operations on July 1, 2010, becoming the fourth civil airport in Tibet after Lhasa, Nyingchi [Nyingtri], and Chamdo airports.
Situated at 4,274 m (14,022 ft) above sea level, Gunsa Airport is the third highest airports in the world after Chamdo Bangda Airport (elevation 4,334 m (14,219 ft)) and Kangding Airport (elevation 4,280 m (14,042 ft)). Gunsa airport has a 4,500-meter runway. It is expected to handle 120,000 passengers by 2020. Construction began in May 2007 and cost an estimated 1.65 billion yuan (241.22 million U.S. dollars).

Nyingtri Mainling Airport
Nyingchi Mainling Airport is an airport in Mainling, Nyingchi Prefecture. It is one of the most challenging landing ground in the world, since the airport is in a winding valley.
Nyingchi Airport is the third airport that Tibet has put into operation. Built at a cost of 97 million U.S. dollars: this includes investment by the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC)
The airport is 2,949 meters above sea level, with a designed annual passenger flow of 120,000.

Chamdo Bamda Airport
Chamdo Bamda Airport is located in Bamda near Chamdo.
The airport is the highest airport in the world, at an elevation of 4,334 metres (14,219 ft) and has the longest paved runway in the world, with a length of 5.5 km.
The low air density at this altitude makes a higher takeoff and landing true airspeed necessary, and therefore a longer runway. Also, the aircraft's engines produce less thrust at higher elevation than near sea-level.
The airport is 2.5 hours by mountain road from the county seat of Chamdo. The long commute is the result of no flat land closer to the city being available to construct an airport.

Shigatse Peace Airport
Shigatse Peace Airport or Shigatse Air Base, is a dual-use military and civilian airport serving Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet Autonomous Region.
It is located in Jiangdang Township, 43 kilometers from Shigatse. With an elevation of 3,782 metres (12,408 ft), it is one of the highest airports in the world.
Construction of Shigatse Airport started in 1968 and was completed in 1973. It was solely for military use until 2010, when a 95 million US dollars expansion was completed. On 30 October 2010, the airport was opened as the fifth civilian airport in Tibet.

Nagchu Dagring Airport
Nagqu [Nagchu] Dagring Airport is an airport under construction near Nagchu in the Nagchu Prefecture of Tibet. When completed (later in 2015?), it will be the highest airport in the world at 4,436 m (14,554 ft), surpassing Chamdo Bangda Airport as the highest. Construction began in 2011 and is scheduled to take three/four years. The airport is part of a Chinese government development scheme to build 97 airports across China by 2020. By then, the authorities intend that four-fifths of China's population will be within a 90-minute drive of an airport.

Choedrak inspecting the site of the second airport in Lhasa

Second Lhasa Airport
On September 7, 2014, it was reported that the Lhasa Party’s Secretary Qizha (or Choedrak in Tibetan) went for an inspection tour on the site of the new airport.
The Tibet Daily said that preliminary planning and design work were carried out. Choedrak asked the people to fully understand the practical significance of the construction of this new airport.
The Township of Lhasa attaches “great importance to further strengthening the organization by building a first-class international airport,” he said.

List of airports in Sichuan Province
In Tibetan areas

Kangding Airport 
Kangding Airport is an airport serving Kangding, capital of the Gartse Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in western Sichuan Province, China. It is located 40 kilometers northwest of the city center. Construction of the airport began in September 2006 and the airport started operation on April 26, 2009.
Situated at 4,280 m (14,042 ft) above sea level, Kangding Airport is the third highest airport in the world behind Daocheng Yading Airport and Chamdo Bamda Airport, and just higher than Ngari Gunsa Airport (elevation 4,274 m (14,022 ft)).

Hongyuan Airport (Ngaba)
In 2014, Xinhua reported, "Southwest China's Sichuan Province opened its fourth high-altitude airfield, which local officials hope will boost tourism in the heavily Tibetan-populated region."
According to the official news agency, the new Hongyuan Airport is located in Aba [Ngaba] Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture at an elevation of 3,535 meters.
The Prefecture is situated in northwestern Sichuan, at the border of Gansu and Qinghai provinces.
Ngaba (or Aba in Chinese) was the epicenter of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, in which over 20,000 of local residents died.
The area has also been the epicenter of the wave of Tibetan self-immolations in 2011 and 2012.
While half of the 'Tibetan' self-immolations happened in Ngaba Prefecture, very few of them happened in Tibet Autonomous Region.

Daocheng Yading Airport
The 4,411-metre-high Kardze Daocheng Yading airport, being built in Kardtse (Garze), it became the world’s highest civilian airport when put into operation in 2014 (a year earlier than planned!!).
The Civil Aviation Administration said that its main purpose is to boost local tourism.
The Yading airport cost of 245 million US dollars. The Sichuan authorities plan to bring one million tourists (and get 1.5 billion yuan revenue!) by 2015. A quick return on investment!
But as important as tourism, the airport will facilitate the transportation of fresh troops from the Military Area Command in Chengdu to Kardtse prefecture in a short time. It has been one of the most restive areas on the Tibetan plateau.
The new Kardze Yading airport will greatly facilitate the transportation of PAP's reinforcements in case of unrest. With one stone, two birds are killed: the Tibetan protesters are 'pacified' and the deluge of Chinese tourists brings hefty revenues.

Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport
Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport also known as Jiuzhaigou Airport is an airport in Songpan County of Sichuan Province.
This airport serves two major scenic places of interest in this area, namely Huanglong, 53 kilometres away, and Jiuzhaigou, 88 km away. It is 3,448 metres (11,312 ft) above sea level.
Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport is about 240 km or 40 minutes flight from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, an aviation hub of Southwest China. It started flights on September 28, 2003, and has one runway of length 3,200 m and width 60 m.

In Qinghai Province
Tibetan areas

The Huatugou aviation Airport
A few months ago, Xinhua reported that Qinghai Province will be home to another airport. The Huatugou aviation airport, presently under-construction, is being built in the Mongolian-Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Haixi.
The Qinghai Airport Company said the airport will cover an area of 180 hectares and it will cost 114 million U.S. dollars.
It is a big investment for a Prefecture which, according the 2010 census, has 489,338 inhabitants only. The airport will have a 3,600 meters runway and a terminal covering an area of some 3,000 square meters, which is relatively small. The airport is expected to be completed within a year.

Delingha Airport 
Delingha Airport is an airport serving Delingha City, the capital of the Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, China. The airport is located 29 kms southwest of the city center, on the south bank of Bayin River.
Construction began on 27 May 2011, with a total investment of 630 million yuan. The airport was opened on 16 June 2014, with the inaugural flight China Eastern Airlines MU2241 from Xining Caojiabao Airport. Delingha is the fourth civil airport in Qinghai.
Delingha has been one of the sites used by China to launch its missiles.

Golok Airport (under construction)
The Qinghai Airport Co. authorities announced that a new civil airport will open on the Tibetan Plateau by the end of 2015.
It is located in Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai Province.
The airport has been built at an altitude of 3,500 meters.
It has a 3,800-meter-long runway and a 3,000-square-meter terminal.
The construction is expected to be completed by the end of October.
The announcement had to be made now, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (though Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is located in Qinghai).
By the end of 2015, flights from Golok to Xining, Lhasa, and Chengdu will be introduced.
It will be the sixth civilian airport in Qinghai province and the first in Golok.

The Yushu Batang Airport
The Yushu Batang Airport is the airport serving Yushu City in Qinghai Province, China. It is located 18 kilometers to the south of the city center, Gyêgu [Jyekundo], at the 3,890 meters elevation about the sea level, which makes it the highest civilian airport in Qinghai Province, and one of the highest in the world.
The construction of the airport started in 2007. The first aircraft landed at the new airport on May 29, 2009, and the airport was officially opened on August 1, 2009.
It can receive A319 aircraft. The passenger terminal is designed to serve up to 80,000 passengers per year. According to the CAAC statistics, the airport served 7,484 passengers during 2009, the first year of its operation.
The airport played an important role in the delivery of rescue personnel and relief supplies to the area affected by the 2010 Yushu earthquake.

In Gansu Province
Tibetan areas

Gannan Xiahe Airport
Gannan Xiahe Airport is an airport in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, China. It is located in Xiahe County, 72 kilometers from the county seat and 56 kilometers from Hezuo, the capital of Gannan Prefecture. Construction started in September 2010 with a total investment of 722 million yuan, and the airport was opened on 19 August 2013.

In Yunnan Province
Tibetan areas

Diqing [Dechen] Shangri-La Airport
Diqing Shangri-La Airport is an airport serving Shangri-La City, Diqing [Dechen] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China.
Accorging to the Chinese propaganda, "Shangri-la, a place where the majority people believe in Tibetan Buddhism, is full of religious atmosphere amid the sutra streamers everywhere.Shangri-la has an area of 11,613 square kilometers populated with near 130,000 people who are mainly Tibetans."
It is one of the main sites on the plateau for 'Tibet tourism' where hundreds of thousands of Chinese visitors rush every year in search of some exoticism.

In Xinjiang Province

Hotan Airport
Hotan Airport is an airport serving Hotan, a city in the autonomous region of Xinjiang in the People's Republic of China.

List of airports in Sichuan Province
At the periphery of the Tibetan plateau

Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport
Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport, also known as Jiuzhaigou Airport is an airport in Songpan County.
This airport serves two major scenic places of interest in this area, namely Huanglong, 53 kilometres away, and Jiuzhaigou, 88 km away. It is 3,448 metres (11,312 ft) above sea level.
It is located about 240 km or 40 minutes flight from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, an aviation hub of Southwest China. It started flights on September 28, 2003, and has one runway of length 3,200 m and width 60 m.

Panzhihua Bao'anying Airport
Panzhihua Bao'anying Airport is the airport serving the city of Panzhihua in China's Sichuan province. The airport was opened in December 2003. Construction of the airport began in 2000 and cost a total of 1.1 billion yuan. The airport was closed on 25 June 2011 after a major landslide, and was reopened on 29 June 2013 after two years of repair.

Guangyuan Panlong Airport
Guangyuan Panlong Airport is an airport serving Guangyuan, Sichuan province.

Guanghan Airport
Guanghan Airport is an airport southeast of Guanghan. Formerly a military airfield, known as Kwanghan Airfield (A-3) during World War II, it is now used by Civil Aviation Flight University of China for pilot training.

Yibin Caiba Airport
Yibin Caiba Airport is a dual-use military and civil airport serving the city of Yibin in southern Sichuan Province of China. Located in the town of Caiba in Cuiping District, the airport was expanded twice in 1991 and 1993.
In 2011 Yibin Caiba Airport served 326,000 passengers, a 12.4% increase over the previous year, and 2,737.6 tons of cargo. As the airport's current location limits its capability to expand, in May 2012 the State Council of China approved the building of the new Yibin Wuliangye Airport to replace Caiba Airport.

Luzhou Lantian Airport
Luzhou Lantian Airport is an airport serving the city of Luzhou in Sichuan Province. Luzhou Airport was built in 1945 and initially served an air route between China and India by the US Air Force during the World War II. Services were suspended in the 1960s, but later it was used for training purposes by the Chinese Air Force. Major renovations and expansions were completed in January 2001.

Xichang Qingshan Airport
Xichang Qingshan Airport is an airport serving Xichang, the capital city of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. The airport started an expansion project in February 2010.

Nanchong Gaoping Airport

Mianyang Nanjiao Airport is an airport serving the city of Mianyang in Sichuan Province, China. It is located in the southern suburbs of Mianyang (Nanjiao means "southern suburbs" in Chinese), 10 kilometers from the city center.
Opened on 28 April 2001, Mianyang Nanjiao is the second largest airport in Sichuan after Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. The airport is also used for pilot training by the Civil Aviation Flight University of China.
In 2011 Mianyang Nanjiao Airport served 622,816 passengers, ranking 66th among China's airports. It also handled 4,491.5 tons of cargo and 207,140 aircraft movements.

In Qinhai Province
At the periphery of the Tibetan plateau

Xining Caojiabao Airport 
Xining Caojiabao Airport is an airport serving Xining, capital of Qinghai Province, China. It is located in Huzhu County, Haidong, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of downtown Xining. The airport began operation in 1991, and in October 2011 a new 3,800 meter long runway was built to replace the old one.

In Yunnan Province
At the periphery of the Tibetan plateau

Dali Airport
Dali Airport is an airport in Dali (actually Xiaguan) in Yunnan Province.

Lijiang Sanyi Airport
Lijiang Sanyi Airport is an airport serving Lijiang, Yunnan province, China.
Built in 1995, the civil airport is 25 km to the south of the city proper.
The airport has one runway of 3,000 metres in length with turning bases at both ends of the runway.
Tibet Airlines recently opened a new air route, a daily service from Chongqing to Lijiang.

Dehong Mangshi Airport
Dehong Mangshi Airport is an airport serving Mang City in Dehong, Yunnan Province. It was formerly called Luxi Mangshi Airport.

Baoshan Yunduan Airport
Baoshan Yunduan Airport is an airport in Baoshan in Yunnan.

Lincang Airport
Lincang Airport is an airport serving the city of Lincang in Yunnan province, southwestern China. The airport started operation on March 25, 2001. The airport is 22.5 km from the center of the city in the town of Boshang.

Tengchong Tuofeng Airport 
Tengchong Tuofeng Airport is an airport serving Tengchong County in Yunnan Province. It is located near Tuofeng Village 12 kilometers south of the county seat. The airport was opened on 16 February 2009.

In Xinjiang Province

Qiemo Airport
Qiemo Airport is an airport serving Qiemo Town and the rest of Qiemo County, in the Bayin'gholin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China.

Kashgar Airport
Kashgar Airport, also known as Kashi Airport, is an airport serving Kashgar (also known as Kashi), a city in Uyghur autonomous region of Xinjiang in the People's Republic of China.

More Infrastructure on the Tibetan Plateau

According to the Tibet Business Daily, a ‘high-grade highway’ between Lhasa and Nyingchi (Tibetan, Nyingtri) is expected to begin its trial operations on September 15.
On September 10, 2015, local reporters drove from Lhasa to Meldro Gungkar (Maizhokunggar) County to ‘experience highway conditions’ on this section of the new Lhasa-Nyingchi highway.
Their ‘trial’ ride lasted 40 minutes.
The Lhasa-Nyingchi high-grade highway is one of key projects of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan. It runs on a distance of 410 kilometers from the Tibetan capital to Nyingchi, located north of Arunachal Pradesh (i.e. the McMahon Line).
Once it opens to traffic, the journey from Lhasa to Nyingchi will be two hours shorter, compared to the present drive.

It is said that three rows of induction lamps will light up the tunnel, allowing drivers to have a good sight of road condition while inside the tunnel, says the China Tibet Online.
The entire highway seems to be built for the sake of the Chinese tourists ...and the PLA (the main PLA's Headquarters in located in Bayi town, the terminus of the road).
Soon after leaving Lhasa, the visitor can stop at a viewing point called Bagaxue Viewing Deck.
With black-necked cranes crossing this wet land area in winter, passengers can see the birds ...if they are lucky.
Then, 40 minutes away from Lhasa, in Meldro Gungkar, the visitor can take a bath in Dezhong Hot Spring.
Reporters were told that “once the monitoring equipment is adjusted, the high-grade highway between Lhasa and Nyingchi will start its trial operations.”
What is this monitoring equipment?
Probably surveillance cameras to check the vehicular traffic!
The Chinese website mentions that besides, monitoring equipment, all relays need to be fitted with solar panels and wind generators; further large LED screens will be installed to display information about the regions crossed and the traffic situation.

A new Airport on the Plateau
Another piece of information on the fast-growing infrastructure development on the Tibetan plateau is given by Xinhua.
The Qinghai Airport Co. authorities announced that a new civil airport will open on the Tibetan Plateau by the end of this year.
It is located in Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai Province.
The airport has been built at an altitude of 3,500 meters.
It has a 3,800-meter-long runway and a 3,000-square-meter terminal.
The construction is expected to be completed by the end of October.
The announcement had to be made now, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (though Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is located in Qinghai).
By the end of this year, flights from Golok to Xining, Lhasa, and Chengdu will be introduced.

It will be the sixth civilian airport in Qinghai province and the first in Golok.
Xinhua says: “Golok boasts rich ecological and tourist resources. The new airport is expected to make travel more convenient for tourists and scientific researchers who come to the prefecture.”
The Golok tribes have for century been the most unruly Tibetans.
Beijing probably expects the airport and the hordes of tourists to transform the Goloks into docile tour guides.

A new hardening of the policies
At the same, the Chinese policies for the Roof of the World have hardened. The moderate South China Morning Post says: “The Tibetan spiritual leader [the Dalai Lama], still widely revered by ordinary Tibetans, is often portrayed by the state media as a crook.”
The Hong Kong newspaper continues: “Although Chinese officials now place social stability in Tibet higher than economic development, apart from the old formula of stick and carrot - security crackdowns and economic investment - one cannot see any new alternatives being offered. Instead, the tough warnings against separatism appear to be signaling harsher restrictions on Tibetans in an atmosphere that is already tense and repressive.”
It concludes: “Instead of resorting to more hard-line policy to preempt possible insurgencies, the authorities could perhaps consider listening to the grievances of the Tibetan people and look into the underlying causes of self-immolation protests to understand their frustrations.”
But Beijing has decided to develop the infrastructure instead and bring more millions of Chinese tourists.
This will not help removing Tibetan resentment.

The dual use of airports in Tibet

This is an update of a two-year old post about the airports in Tibet.
I have often mentioned on this blog the dual-use of the airports on the plateau.
Yesterday, Xinhua announced the integration of civil-military airports to "strengthen aviation safety and combat support capabilities."
A joint statement from the People Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC) said that the integration will include joint maintenance of airport support facilities, joint flight safety support and joint airport management.
Interestingly the Lhasa Gongkar Airport in Tibet and Sunan Shuofang International Airport in  Wuxi in Jiangsu province, will be the first two pilot PLA/civil airports to implement the 'integration'.
It will be done during the second half of 2015.
The PLAAF/CAAC circular further affirms that "All the civil-military airports will conduct strengthened integration next year."
Is this decision linked with the 6th Tibet Work Forum?
Probably!
Apparently, the first meeting of the Forum took place yesterday.
Xinhua reported that top Chinese leaders have met "to discuss economic and social development in Tibet, and how to ensure the autonomous region achieve prolonged stability."
The statement of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) further noted: "Safeguarding national unity and strengthening ethnic unity should be highlighted in work involving Tibet."
It added that: "Efforts should be made to unswervingly carry out the anti-separatism battle, promote the region's economic and social development, safeguard and improve people's welfare, and enhance exchanges and integration of different ethnic groups."
The Politburo (or probably an extended Politburo) is said to have agreed that "strengthening Tibetan infrastructure, helping it foster competitive industries while ensuring environmental protection are the means to achieve marked improvement in living conditions and more social cohesion," were the priorities for the restive region.
The PLA/Civil integration of the airports in Tibet will probably help Beijing to 'strengthen the infrastructure' and consolidate its presence on the Plateau, i.e. 'to stabilize Tibet' in Marxist terminology.

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

Other airports in Tibet


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

Ngari Airport

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

Nyingtri Mainling Airport

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

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

Chamdo Airport

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

Shigatse Airport

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

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

'Comprehensive' infrastructure development on the Roof of the World

The Mainling Airport, north of the LAC

While the Tibetan Diaspora continues to debate which paths to take for future Tibet (Independence or the Middle Path), China is building up at mad pace its infrastructure on the Roof of the World: whether it is expansion of existing airports, new highways or railway lines.
And there is no question of debate or discussions for China, Beijing is just forging ahead rapidly.
I have already mentioned the roads to the border in a recent post.

Expansion of airports
China Tibet Online announced a few days ago that, on March 15, the construction of an expansion project for Mainling County Airport in Nyingchi (Nyingtri) Prefecture, north of the Indian border of Arunachal, has started.
That is not all, the Lhasa Gongkar Airport and Chamdo Bangda Airport are also being expended “to ease the pressure of increasing passenger traffic coming in and out of Tibet.”
Let us remember that 15 million Chinese tourists visited the Roof of the World (TAR only) in 2014.
The reports says that Mainling/Nyingchi Airport is located in the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) valley at an attitude of 2,900 meters (it is the ‘lowest’ airport in Tibet).
China Tibet Online adds that this is part of China's “efforts to raise Tibet’s civil aviation capacity and safety standards, while also supporting Tibet’s economic and social development.”
In other words, the policy to ‘invade’ Tibet with tourism will continue.
The website states that “At the start of the second half of 2014, 800 million yuan (US$ 130 million) were invested in ‘airport expansion projects’ in Lhasa, Chamdo, and Nyingchi.
Wang Dasong, director of the Mainling Airport explained that the project had been officially sanctioned in June 2014: “[it] was based on the need to meet estimated passenger traffic of 750,000 people and a targeted cargo handling capacity of 3,000 tons by the year 2020.”
It will include a new 10,360-square-meter terminal, a 3,000-square-meter 'comprehensive' [everything is 'comprehensive these days in China] safe house, a new fire station and some pump stations; the restoration of the old terminal will cost 270 million yuan (US$ 45 million).
This airport is the most strategic airport vis-a-vis the Indian border in Arunachal as it is located a few kilometers north of the McMahon line (LAC) only.

Lhasa Gongkar Terminal

For the Lhasa airport, the 12th Five-Year Plan  allotted 170 million yuan for the relocation of the Gongkar Airport air traffic control tower. The work started in March 2015.
While in Chamdo, the construction of a second runway has begun in November 2014.
A Chinese official website explains: “In recent years, the growth rate of tourists entering Tibet has been comparatively large, especially during the peak tourism season, due to the rapid development of tourism in Tibet as well as increasingly strong international ties. So much so, that it is often the case that ‘one plane ticket is hard to get’, which prompted a need for Tibet Airlines to increase their transportation capacity.”
For Beijing, this is always good as these airports can also be used for military purposes, if need be.
The number of flights is also expanding. On March 19, Xinhua announced the opening of a new flight between Guangzhou Baiyun Airport and Nyingchi Mainling Airport.
China Southern Airline will now fly non-stop between Guangzhou and Nyingchi on every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The flight time is about three and a half hours. Comparatively, it used to take a night and two days for the same travel. "The new line is more convenient and efficient", says Xinhua.

Railway lines
An indication of what is coming in terms of railways could be heard during the Two Sessions recently held in Beijing.
The same China Tibet Online reported: “During the ongoing national ‘Two Sessions', a proposal submitted by Losang [Lobsang?] Sherdun, a CPPCC member from western Tibet's Ngari Prefecture, highlighted how the locals in his region have expectations for a railway.”

Lhasa Railway Station

Losang said: “Though a number of projects have consistently lead to a higher quality of life, where the people of Ngari lag behind is in transportation infrastructure, which has had an impact on the regional economic and social development.”
Losang/Lobsang is said to be Vice Chairman of the regional CPPCC of Ngari Prefecture.
For Beijing, it is an indirect way to announce the forthcoming railway line: one ‘deputy’ requesting the Central Government to help the masses.
In turn, it will help the masses  ...of Chinese tourists and ...the PLA posted near the Ladakh border.
The Tibetan deputy affirmed: “with the rapid development of tourism in Ngari and the progress of China's Western Development plans, passenger and freight volume in and out Ngari have been rising annually by an average of 45 percent. But the major means of transportation in the region remains road transportation, with support from air transportation [Ngari airport], which in itself is very limited and hinders the exports of locally produced goods.”
Losang’s 'proposal' is likely to be 'accepted' by the Central Government in Beijing: extension of the Southern Xinjiang Railway and Lhasa-Shigatse Railway to Ngari will ‘provide a rare opportunity for Ngari’, commented the website.
But that is not all. The Sichuan delegation at the National People's Congress made a similar request: “thee Sichuan-Tibet railway [lines] should be incorporated into the country's next five-year plan.”
The delegation requested Beijing for a special fund allotted for the 1,800-kilometer line which will connect Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, to Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. It will cost some 200 billion yuan (US $32 billion).
As mentioned earlier, the construction of Lhasa to Nyingchi and the Chengdu to Ya'an lines started last year.
The delegation was particularity keen on 2 sections, i.e. Ya'an to Kangding and from Kangding to Nyingchi. It should start during the current year, they requested.
The Chinese website concluded: “After completion, the railway will form a ring with the Qinghai-Tibet line, which began operation in 2006. …The 13th Five-Year Plan will cover 2016 to 2020. By the time it gets underway, Sichuan will have nearly 7,000 kilometers of railway.”
Wei Hong, Sichuan's Governor affirmed during the Beijing Meet that the railway will improve regional transportation capacity and integrate Tibet more closely with other parts of China and …it will play an important role for the proposed Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, ‘promoting ethnic unity and stability.’
How the railway lines in the landlocked Sichuan will help the Maritime Silk Road is however not clear?
Any excuse is probably good to get funds in China.

Developments of Roads and Highways
Same tactic for the roads and highways: Beijing asked the ethnic faces to make a ‘request’ for the masses.
Gyare Lozang Tenzin, a Vice Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region declared in Beijing: "The length of highways opened to traffic in Tibet reaches 70,591 kilometers, but there is still no expressway in the real sense in Tibet."
China Tibet Online commented: “In July 2014, China's Ministry of Transport reported that China aims to extend highways in the Tibet Autonomous Region to 110,000 kilometers, expand railways to 1,300 kilometers, and increase travel by civil aviation to seven million passenger journeys by 2020.”
Xinhua reported that Tibet had invested 16.1 billion yuan (3 billion US $) into road construction in 2014, opening 4,332-kilometer new roads to traffic.
This is in addition to the Lhasa-Shigatse railway which was inaugurated in August 2104.
Xinhua admited: “Even though Tibet's transportation has seen leapfrog development in recent years, the conditions and networks in remote agricultural and pastoral areas still need further improvement.”
And as mentioned earlier on this blog, more and more roads leading to the Indian border are being built: “In recent years, road traffic rapidly develops in Nyingchi prefecture, especially in rural areas. Data shows that the total length of road up to 5,351 kilometers in Nyingchi Prefecture, and the rate of road access in towns and villages respectively occupy 96.3 pct. and 95.7 pct."
On the Indian side, the Border Road Organisation (BRO) is still struggling against inertia, bureaucracy, corruption, difficult terrain and other difficulties.

A consoling news?
The Chinese Defence Ministry recently affirmed that a road linking a village on border with Vietnam to Chinese city 100 km away would 'definitely be serious threat to national defence and security'.
The South China Morning Post reported: "China’s People’s Liberation Army halted a city government’s road construction project on the border with Vietnam last month because of fears it could be used as a shortcut for a 'Vietnamese invasion'."
A PLA officer in charge of border affairs in Fangchenggang city, in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region said that if finished, the road would “definitely become a serious threat to national defence and security”.
The two-lane road would have linked the village of Tansan, on the border with Vietnam, to the centre of Fangchenggang city, about 100 km away.
The PLA warned the residents of Tansan about the rationale of the move: "If war broke out between the nations, Vietnamese troops could use the road to launch an attack on the Chinese army."
Well, I always thought that it is an old Indian theory, held in the 1950s by the Indian ministry of Defence and External Affairs: "let us not built roads in NEFA, the Chinese can use them!!".
China even steals India's War Theories now!