In his government work report<\/a> during the opening of the National People\u2019s Congress on 5 March, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang extolled the \u201chistoric new achievement\u201d of the goals and tasks set for \u201cpoverty alleviation\u201d in the 13th Five Year Plan. While the premier provided impressive figures for poverty eradication in his speech, the methods and effects of the government\u2019s relocating of millions of Tibetans for \u201cpoverty alleviation\u201d (628,000<\/a> in the TAR alone seemingly during the 13th Five-Year Plan) is left unstated. The coercive relocation of millions of \u201cpoor\u201d rural Tibetans has not only led to their displacement from their ancestral lands but converted their proud self-sufficiency into dependence on the Chinese state and manufactured political gratitude to the Chinese Communist Party for its continued subsidies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the premier\u2019s government work report affirmed the implementation of \u201cthe Party\u2019s basic policy on religious affairs, and work to guide religions in adapting to socialist society,\u201d the CCP-installed Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu\u2014who is a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People\u2019s Political Consultative Conference, vice president of the Chinese Buddhist Association and president of the TAR branch of the Chinese Buddhist Association\u2014reportedly expressed his support to the state leadership\u2019s policies<\/a>. A longer report in Chinese state media<\/a> quotes him as saying, \u201cTibetan Buddhism is constantly moving in the direction of Sinicization under the conditions of adapting to the socialist society with Chinese characteristics \u2026 and that from an objective point of view, Sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism is the only way forward for the development of Tibetan Buddhism.\u201d This is consistent with the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s call for the Sinicization of all religions, including Tibetan Buddhism, at the 19th Party Congress in 2017, and the subsequent 2019 five-year plan to Sinicize Buddhism launched by the state-backed Chinese Buddhist Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sinicization is a campaign by the Chinese government to bring all aspects of society under the control of the Chinese government. In Tibet, Sinicization includes giving the government total authority over Tibetan Buddhism and attempting to eliminate Tibetans\u2019 unique religious, linguistic and cultural identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, state media reported<\/a> that one of the delegates of the Political Consultative Conference, Thupten Khedup, a professor at Tibet University, \u201cproposed\u201d that Beijing should promote \u201cred tourism\u201d resources in the \u201cethnic regions in the frontier.\u201d He said this will \u201cpromote members of all ethnic groups to identify with the common identity of the Chinese nation.\u201d Red tourism<\/a> is a propaganda initiative that encourages Chinese people to visit places of historical significance to the CCP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his opening speech<\/a> on 4 March, the chairman of the conference, Wang Yang, stressed the party\u2019s denunciation of US legislation in support of the rights of Tibetans, Uyghurs and democracy activists in Hong Kong. Speaking of the legislation to conference members, Wang Yang remarked, \u201cwe denounced in the strongest terms US legislation concerning Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While human rights are universal and indivisible, leaders in China have consistently maintained that its record of human rights abuses is an internal matter according to China\u2019s position of the culturally specific relativity of human rights. China has consistently argued that national sovereignty outranks all other international law, making any assessment of human rights into an interference in China\u2019s internal affairs and exclusive jurisdiction. During the \u201ctwo sessions,\u201d the principle of non-interference in internal matters was stressed prominently to shield China\u2019s rights abuses of Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hong Kong democracy activists, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the National People\u2019s Congress, Chinese president Xi Jinping participated in the deliberations of the Qinghai delegation on 7 March. Not wasting an opportunity to portray the party\u2019s benevolence over the earthquake that struck Yushu Tibetans in April 2010, he recalled his visit to Yushu<\/a> after the earthquake and his \u201cconcerns\u201d for the Tibetans living there. Underscoring the party\u2019s benevolence and its poverty alleviation program, Xi remarked, \u201cAt that time, I went to understand what the people live on. Some people went up the mountains to dig cordyceps. After a few days, returning to home was returning to a poor life. Through nationwide poverty eradication \u2026 people have seen the care and strength of the party through earthquake relief and poverty alleviation in achieving results to tackle tough problems. For that they [Tibetans] sing folk songs for the party from their hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Tibetans in Yushu raised many concerns with the reconstruction plan after the earthquake. Hundreds of Tibetans demonstrated in Kyegu town in Yushu a year after the earthquake<\/a>, holding banners and signs with slogans saying, \u201cHelp for the Yushu disaster area should put ordinary people\u2019s benefits first. This concerns people\u2019s lives. Reasonably plan the land of our lives.\u201d The protests have resulted from local concerns over the government\u2019s reconstruction policies, which exclude Tibetans from the planning process, and the allocation of land. Some Tibetans said their hometown was being rebuilt<\/a> from the original thriving, traditional trading hub for Tibetan pastoralists into a Chinese tourist hub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Xi, stressing Beijing\u2019s recognition of the Tibetan Plateau as critical for China\u2019s \u201cecological security\u201d and sustainable development, also instructed<\/a> the Qinghai delegation to \u201cundertake the major mission of maintaining ecological security, protecting the source of the Three Rivers, and protecting the \u2018Chinese Water Tower.\u2019\u201d However, in recent years, thousands of Tibetan herders have been sedentarized to \u201cprotect\u201d the source of Three Rivers: the Machu (Yellow), Drichu (Yangtze) and Dzachu (Mekong). China\u2019s construction of a cascade of dams on rivers originating from Tibet to harness hydropower and divert water to mainland Chinese cities has not only led to sedentarization of Tibetan pastoralists under the pretext of \u201cecology conservation,\u201d but also denied access to Tibetan rivers to people in downstream countries in South and Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beijing maintains tight security in Tibet to achieve its policy goals. As in the past year, this year, too, China\u2019s Minister for Public Security and State Councilor Zhao Kezhi attended the deliberations of the TAR delegation during the 13th National People\u2019s Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Owing to sensitivity of multiple dates and events this year\u2014the two sessions, Tibetan Uprising Day, the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party, the 70th anniversary of the \u201cpeaceful liberation of Tibet\u201d\u2014security is tight in Tibet. To deter Tibetans from expressing their grievances against Chinese rule on the 62nd Tibetan National Uprising Day<\/a>, which coincided with the second-to-last day of the 13th Congress, a TAR and Lhasa City Stability Maintenance force mobilization meeting<\/a> was held in Lhasa, Tibet\u2019s capital, on 10 March. The Stability Maintenance force comprises of troops from the People\u2019s Liberation Army, People\u2019s Armed Police, Public Security Bureau officers and Fire Brigade. The security troops were ordered to \u201cBe Loyal to the Party, keep mission in mind, fight terrorism, control violence, stabilize the border, strengthen the foundation, unite the people, and resolutely win the battle to maintain stability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nSinicization of Tibet<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Party reacts to US legislation on Tibet<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Xi Jinping recalls his visit to Yushu<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Security drills in Tibet<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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