However, as mandated, this year\u2019s \u201cTwo Sessions\u201d put into office a new set of leaders (both the NPC and CPPCC chairs have had connections to Tibetans) whose possible impact on Tibet policy is yet to be assessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wang Huning and \u2018Central Tibet Work Coordination Group\u2019<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The first new leader who would have a decisive role in Tibet policy is Politburo Standing Committee member Wang Huning, who is the new Chairman of China\u2019s top political advisory body, the Chinese People\u2019s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Successive chairs of the CPPCC have headed the Central Tibet Work Coordination Group (Chinese: Zhongyang Xizang Gongzuo Xietiao Xiaozu), which has become the main coordinating agency under the Chinese Communist Party. It can be assumed that Wang will be heading the Group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Wang was a member of the Tibet Autonomous Region delegations<\/a> to the 11th and 12th National People\u2019s Congress (NPC), the Chinese Parliament, in 2008 and 2013, respectively. Wang also participated in the deliberations of the delegation of Qinghai during the 2018 NPC session, according to state media. Qinghai is a traditional Tibetan area, including being the birthplace of the present 14th Dalai Lama. As Wang was involved in some of the deliberations<\/a> during this period, he would have some understanding of the Tibetan issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wang had been in charge of ideology, the propaganda apparatus and Party organization<\/a>, heading the secretive Central Policy Research Office. He has worked with China\u2019s former top leaders Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, and now continues to be influential under Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In November 2012, during the 18th Chinese Communist Party Congress, Wang participated in the discussions of the delegation from the Tibet Autonomous Region on then-leader Hu Jintao\u2019s report. State media reported Wang as having praised Hu Jintao and \u201cfully affirmed Tibet\u2019s remarkable achievements in economic and social development.\u201d Further, Wang is reported to have said, \u201cThe work in Tibet has important strategic significance in the overall work of the party and the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Very little is known about the composition and activities of the \u201cCentral Tibet Work Coordination Group.\u201d But the concept of such coordinating groups with specialized tasks has been there as part of the Chinese Communist governance system under the name of \u201cLeading Small Groups\u201d (lingdao xiaozu, \u9886\u5bfc\u5c0f\u7ec4). China analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report in 2017<\/a> that this concept was expanded under Xi Jinping\u2019s rule, although its origin can be traced back to the revolutionary period. They further said that Leading Small Groups \u201care coordinating bodies that address important policy areas that involve several different (and occasionally competing) parts of the bureaucracy\u201d and that the Party continued to rely on these institutions as a key coordinator of policy. They added that the groups are much more involved in the policy process under Xi Jinping than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The United Front Work Department, the CCP\u2019s organ tasked with outreach to non-Communists, is the \u201cCentral Tibet Work Coordinating Group\u2019s\u201d main implementation agency. As per tradition, its current head, Shi Taifeng, has also been appointed as a vice chair of the CPPCC. The United Front has been charged with outreach to the Tibetan people, both within Tibet and in exile through overt and covert activities, including through its staff who are posted as \u201cdiplomats\u201d in some of the Chinese embassies and consulates in India, Nepal, Australia, Canada, the United States and Europe. Until 2005, when a separate seventh bureau was set up on Tibet affairs, the United Front\u2019s second bureau dealing with religion and ethnic affairs oversaw Tibet. Since 2018, the United Front\u2019s role has been strengthened by putting the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, a government office that also has a role on Tibet<\/a>, under it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interestingly, the \u201cCentral Tibet Work Coordination Group\u201d appears to have multiple research groups under it. At least two such research working groups, one on foreign affairs and the other on economic and social development, have been conducting fact-finding trips and organizing events on Tibet. The Group has also been tasked with organizing the Tibet Work Forums, seven of which have been held since 1980, the most recent one being in August 2020<\/a>. In fact, Wang attended the seventh forum, during which Xi Jinping outlined his policy on the assimilation of Tibet, including saying, \u201cIt is necessary to actively guide Tibetan Buddhism to adapt to the socialist society and promote the Sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Former United Front Vice Minister Sithar (Si Ta), who is Tibetan, has been identified by Chinese state media as the deputy head of the \u201cCentral Tibet Work Coordinating Group.\u201d Sithar has been with the United Front for many years, including serving in Chinese embassies and consulates in India and Switzerland as part of the strategy to win over Tibetans in the diaspora. Sithar had also been part of the Chinese official team that conducted the dialogue process with envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the 2002-2010 period. He retired from the United Front in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As on Tibet, a similar \u201cCentral Xinjiang Work Coordination Group\u201d has also been set up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Politburo Standing Committee member Zhao Leji is the new Chairman of the National People\u2019s Congress, likely to have a say on Tibet policy. He is the only member in the Politburo with many years of experience working with Tibetans. He was born in the traditional Tibetan area known now as Qinghai province and began his career there in 1974. He has spent most of his working life there, moving up the leadership ladder until his transfer in 2007 as Secretary of Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zhao\u2019s record on Tibet to date does not look promising. As Qinghai\u2019s Party Secretary, Zhao was prominent in efforts to \u201ccombat foreign hostile forces<\/a>, in particular, the 14th Dalai Clique\u2019s infiltration and sabotage activities in Qinghai Province,\u201d according to the Chinese state media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zhao also headed the Central Organization Department and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, thus becoming the main person behind Xi Jinping\u2019s \u2018anti-corruption\u2019 campaign. In Tibet, the campaign had also been used in attempts to extinguish loyalty to the Dalai Lama<\/a>, with Party officials \u201cwho have fantasies about the 14th Dalai Clique\u201d being warned of punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the \u201cTwo Sessions\u201d in 2018, Zhao attended the deliberations of the delegation from the Tibet Autonomous Region at the 13th NPC session. Chinese state media reported on his attendance, saying, \u201cSecretary Zhao Leji listened and took notes, and had in-depth exchanges with everyone on relevant issues from time to time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further, \u201cZhao Leji fully affirmed the development and stability of Tibet and the various tasks of party building. He emphasized that the party\u2019s style of work is related to the support of the people and the life and death of the party.\u201d A Chinese state media report in Tibetan then said that Zhao specifically called for the implementation of an eight-point regulation adopted by the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on improving work style in eight aspects, focusing on rejecting extravagance and reducing bureaucratic visits and meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zhao also attended the Seventh Central Tibet Work Forum in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interestingly, Zhao\u2019s father Zhao Ximin also worked in Qinghai and is said to have had a personal relationship with Xi Jinping\u2019s father, Xi Zhongxun<\/a>. Zhao senior, who died in 1999, was deputy head of Tsoshar (Haixi) Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and had also served as deputy editor of Qinghai Daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his speech to the NPC on 13 March 2023<\/a>, President Xi Jinping reiterated his focus on security, saying, \u201cSecurity is the foundation of development and stability is the prerequisite for prosperity. We must resolutely pursue a holistic approach to national security, improve the national security system, strengthen our capacity for safeguarding national security, enhance public security governance, and improve the social governance system.\u201d This can only mean that even in Tibet, the securitization at all levels will not only continue, but also be strengthened. There were mere tangential references to \u201cethnic groups\u201d in Xi\u2019s speech, although Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan were identified. As part of the strengthening of the CCP\u2019s hold, some observers say that the offices dealing with Hong Kong and Macau that are currently under the State Council will now be placed under the direct supervision of the Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Newly appointed Prime Minister Li Qiang did not give any indications about his views on issues like Tibet in his hour-long press conference following the \u201cTwo Sessions.\u201d He also does not appear to have had any connections to Tibet in the past. However, his position as the Premier means that he may be called upon to talk about Tibet in his interactions with foreign leaders, given Tibet\u2019s role in China\u2019s international relations. Previous Premiers, including Wen Jiabao, have had to address Tibet during such foreign engagements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But one of Li\u2019s new vice premiers, Zhang Guoqing (also a Politburo central committee member), although having no apparent Tibet background, could be involved as a member of the Tibet policy circle. In January 2023, Chinese state media reported that he was one of the four nominees from the leadership in Beijing as a delegate from the Tibet Autonomous Region to the just concluded NPC session. They also reported his attendance at a plenary meeting of the Tibet Autonomous Region delegation to the NPC on March 5, 2023, to review the government work report made by outgoing Premier Li Keqiang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zhang is from Henan province and a former corporate executive who subsequently became CCP Secretary of Liaoning province. China watchers see Zhang as part of the sixth generation of Chinese leadership. Given that much of his career was spent as a corporate executive rather than in politics, his involvement in Tibet-related matter needs further scrutiny. It could be an indication about the authorities wanting to focus on the economic development of Tibet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the time of this report, Zhang\u2019s specific portfolio as a vice premier has not been outlined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No Tibetan finds a place among the Ministers under the Li Qiang government. In fact, to date only one Tibetan, Dorje Tsering (Duoji Cairang), has served at the level of a Minister in Beijing. Dorje is from Kanlho (Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province. He was posted in the Tibet Autonomous Region, eventually climbing up the bureaucratic ladder. In 1983, he became Vice Chairman of the region and Chairman in 1985. He was Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs in May 1990 and made a Minister in March 1993, serving in that position till March 2003, when he was made Chairperson of the NPC Ethnic Affairs Committee. While serving as Minister of civil affairs, Dorje Tsering also engaged with President Jimmy Carter<\/a>, whose Carter Center had a program of advising the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs since 1998 in projects to improve the process of democracy at the village level and to standardize electoral procedures in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, to date no Tibetan has ever been in any post above the Minister level, whether as State Councilor or Vice Premier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u201cTwo Sessions\u201d this year saw the elevation of Lobsang Gyaltsen (Luosang Jiangcun) as one of the two main national-level Tibetan leaders after he was announced as one of the 14 Vice Chairs of the NPC on March 10, 2023. Gyaltsen, who currently heads the TAR People\u2019s Congress too, replaced Pema Thinley (Baima Chillin) in the position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to his official bio, he is from Dragyab in eastern Tibet and joined the party in 1978. His career path included being Deputy Party Secretary of Nagchu (Naqu), as well as that of Lhasa City. He also served as Lhasa Mayor before becoming a Vice Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region government in 2003<\/a>. He received successive promotions thereafter and in December 2012 became Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region government. He visited the United States and Canada in 2014<\/a> while in this position as part of a Chinese strategy to project an impression that the situation in Tibet was normal and harmonious. In 2017, he became head of the Tibet Autonomous Region People\u2019s Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On 10 March 2023, at the 14th National People\u2019s Congress, Gyaltsen was elected as the Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NPC Standing Committee includes one Tibetan, Jamyang Shepa, among senior the lamas of the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, who is the abbot of Labrang Tashikyil Monastery in Kanlho (Gannan). His full name is Jamyang Lobsang Jigme Thupten Choekyi Nyima, and he has a range of religious and political positions. He is currently a member of the Standing Committee of the 14th NPC, Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the 14th Gansu Provincial People\u2019s Congress, Vice President of the Buddhist Association of China, Dean of the Advanced Buddhist Institute of the Chinese Tibetan Language Department, President of the Buddhist Association of Gansu Province, and President of Gansu Buddhist Academy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The other Vice Chair at the national level is the long-lasting Phakpalha Gelek Namgyal (Pabala Gelie Langjie), who was re-appointed one of the 23 vice chairs of the CPPCC, also on March 10, 2023. Phakpalha has been on and off in this position since the 1970s. Eighty-three-year-old Phakpalha, a reincarnation of a lama from Chamdo, also continues to be the head of the Tibet Autonomous Region CPPCC. Current United Front head Shi Taifeng and former TAR deputy party secretary Hu Chunhua are also CPPCC vice chairs. As an aside, Hu is reported to be \u201cfluent Tibetan speaker<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Below them, five Tibetans are listed as being on the CPPCC Standing Committee, which has a total of 299 members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, Penpa Tashi (Bianba Zhaxi) from Lhoka in Tibet, who rose up quickly in the Tibet Autonomous Region, is identified being a deputy director of the Ethnic and Religious Committee of the CPPCC National Committee. He does not find a place in the Standing Committee though. After several years of working at different positions in the Tibet Autonomous Region and also in Beijing, where he was head of the seventh Bureau of the United Front, he became a Deputy Director of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission (SEAC) in 2020. He was expected to move up the chain of authority. He is a member of the party group and Deputy Director at SEAC and Deputy Director of the Ethnic and Religious Committee of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People\u2019s Political Consultative Conference. During one of the meetings with the envoys of the Dalai Lama in the dialogue process between 2002-2010, he was involved as part of the Chinese government team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the above are in the Standing Committee, the following Tibetans are also listed as being members of the CPPCC Committees (which has 99 members).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another Tibetan, Alai, also finds a place in the CPPCC committee. He is a writer from Barkham in eastern Tibet. According to his bio, his mother is Tibetan and his father is Hui. In 2018, he was elected as a representative of the 13th National People\u2019s Congress. He is listed under the \u201cIndependent\u201d category in the CPPCC committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some observers say that these national-level appointments, in particular when they are for the Political Consultative Conference, generally do not involve governance and high-level decision-making on policy and are rewards for loyalty to the party. Be that as it may, following the passing away of the 10th Panchen Lama<\/a> (in 1989), Ngawang Jigme Ngapo<\/a> (in 2009) and Phuntsog Wangyal Goranangpa<\/a> (in 2014), no Tibetan has had a visible presence at the national level of the Chinese leadership. Tibetan observers have said that one reason could be that there is no one under the current Chinese system who commands authority over the Tibetan people like these three personalities did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year\u2019s \u201cTwo Sessions\u201d did not see any visible references to the political aspects of the Tibetan issue. However, Chinese state media reported on \u201cproposals\u201d and \u201crecommendations\u201d made by some Tibetan delegates to the \u201cTwo Sessions\u201d on different aspects of non-political life, including \u201cRecommendations on Supporting Tibet\u2019s Creation of National Ecological Civilization Highlands.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This year\u2019s annual meetings of China\u2019s National People\u2019s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People\u2019s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)\u2014popularly called the \u201cTwo Sessions\u201d (Chinese: Lianghui)\u2014saw a markedly lower level of focus on Tibet than in recent years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[691],"news_tag":[674],"class_list":["post-12881","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","hentry","categorie-news","news_tag-chinese-policy-and-leadership"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFormer Qinghai Secretary is NPC Chair<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Xi Jinping prioritizes security<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
No Tibetan among national-level Ministers<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
National-level Tibetan leaders<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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No visible Tibet references<\/h4>\n\n\n\n