In the People's Daily on March 25, 2021, Che Dalha, who is the Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, wrote about connecting Tibet better to the mainland, not just physically but also in a deeper sense of identity. He starts from Xi’s call at the Tibet work conference last year about digging out historical information to this effect.
Che argues that “a large number of studies in history, anthropology, linguistics, and biology have shown that Tibet has a long history of communication with the inland of the motherland, Tibetans and other ethnic groups.” He then goes on to provide what he says are some examples of this and points out the economic development that’s taken place.
What he wants going ahead is for the Party to “adhere to the general tone of the work of seeking progress while maintaining stability, forge a sense of the Chinese nation’s community, and promote greater development of various undertakings in Tibet and reach a new level.”
He also calls to “steadily promote the formulation and revision of various administrative regulations and local regulations in Tibet to maintain the unity of the rule of law in the country. Continue to strengthen party building, especially political building, and carry out in-depth special education on ‘political standards, stricter party spirit, and stronger organizational discipline’.” This is interesting in that it could potentially mean that autonomy would further be eroded, with stricter assimilationist policies being adopted.
Here’s more to support my view: “Vigorously cultivate and practice the core values of socialism...educate the people in the region, and deeply understand that the Chinese nation is a community with a shared future. Promote the national common spoken and written language education, continue to consolidate and upgrade the results of education reform and construction, and build 18 Putonghua proficiency test stations. Take multiple measures to cultivate and practice the core values of socialism, implement the visual image project of the Chinese nation, compile a batch of reading books and textbooks that have built the sense of community of the Chinese nation, and build historical exhibition halls...so that Chinese culture has always been the emotional bond and spiritual belonging of all ethnic groups in Tibet.”
And this: “Encourage and guide Tibetan college graduates to work and start businesses in the Mainland, and attract Mainland enterprises and individuals to start businesses in Tibet.”
Here’s more on local cadre: “The people of all ethnic groups in Tibet share the same heart with the people of all ethnic groups in the country, cherishing national unity as cherishing life, and the consciousness of the Chinese nation's community is deeply integrated into the blood of the people of all ethnic groups in Tibet. Cadres in ethnic areas, especially ethnic minority leading cadres, must strengthen the ‘four consciousnesses’, strengthen the ‘four self-confidence’, and achieve the ‘two safeguards’, continuously improve political judgment, political understanding, and political execution ability, and constantly improve their grasp of the new the development stage, the political ability to implement the new development concept, the construction of a new development pattern, the strategic vision, and the professional level, and consciously assume the responsibility and mission of forging a sense of community of the Chinese nation.”
Finally, on the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation: “Adhere to the unshakable direction of Sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism, and strengthen the promotion of the laws and regulations, religious rituals and historical customization of the reincarnation of the living Buddha, so that the reincarnation of the living Buddha must adhere to the important principle of ‘domestic search, golden vase drawing, and central approval’.”
Read the full post in my People's Daily Tracker here.