Chinese leader Xi Jinping has made a rare trip to Tibet and hailed the crushing of “separatism” in the once-restive region, as Beijing prepares for a looming struggle over the successor of the aging and exiled Dalai Lama and the hearts and minds of millions of Tibetans.
Communist Party cadres waved Chinese flags, People’s Liberation Army soldiers marched with rifles, and Tibetans in colorful robes performed traditional dances at a ceremony marking 60 years since the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
From a stage in front of Lhasa’s towering Potala Palace, Xi watched the meticulously choreographed celebration of Beijing’s firm control over the remote, resource-rich region that has a long history of resistance against Chinese rule.
The Potala Palace once served as the winter residence of successive Dalai Lamas who ruled Tibet as its spiritual and political heads for centuries – until the current Dalai Lama fled into exile after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.
On Thursday, the square in front of the palace was packed with a massive audience, including schoolchildren, who clapped in unison during official speeches and a parade attended by thousands. The crowd was flanked by two giant portraits — one of Xi alone, and another of him alongside his predecessors.
Xi’s attendance of the event marked a break with precedent. In the past, Beijing sent senior Communist Party leaders to Lhasa for each decennial celebration of the regional government — but never the top leader himself.
At 72 years old, Xi is the oldest top Chinese leader ever to visit Lhasa, the capital of the Himalayan region that sits at 3,700 meters (12,139 feet) above sea level. He last visited the city in 2021 to mark 70 years of what Beijing calls Tibet’s “peaceful liberation” – when Chinese Communist troops took control of the region. Tibetan exiles see it as the brutal invasion and occupation by a foreign army.
“To govern, stabilize and develop Tibet, the first thing is to maintain political stability, social stability, ethnic unity and religious harmony,” Xi told senior Tibet officials at a meeting after landing in Lhasa on Wednesday, state news agency Xinhua reported. He did not speak at Thursday’s ceremony.
