By Tenzing Dhamdul*

With the 20^th National Congress of China around the corner, Tibet is witnessing heightened repression. The relocation of Tibetans in Tsonyi continues with the addition of another 300 Tibetans in the name of protecting the fragile Tibetan ecology¹. The Lhasa Municipality Bureau has announced a reward of 300,000 Yuan³ for reporting so called crimes against security.  Rights activist Jigme Gyatso² gave up his fight and succumbed to injuries sustained during his multiple arrests. Simply put there is no dull moment in Tibet right now.

There are mummering’s of how president Xi Jinping is being threatened by certain factions within the Chinese Communist Party⁴ (CCP), thereby bringing unwanted weight at the 20^th National Congress. Hence, to shield himself of such critics, President Xi is said to be building a strong wall of “stability”.  The November event is designed to herald the “New Era⁵” ( some call it Xi era), which has been his political agenda since coming to power nine years ago in 2013.

NPC Significance

The National People’s Congress (NPC) is China’s highest organ of state power. It is the national legislature of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that meets for roughly two weeks every year and passes important legislation. In reality, however, NPC is no more than a rubber stamp parliament⁶ for the CCP.

More significant than legislation at the NPC meet this time around will be the crowning of Xi Jinping as the Chinese supremo for an unprecedented 3^rd time. It all started to fall-in place when the NPC announced a constitutional amendment in early 2018 and approved the removal of the two-term limit on the presidency, set under Art 45. And three years later on Nov 11, 2021, the Sixth Plenary Session of CCP’s Central Committee adopted the 2021 historical landmark resolution putting Xi⁷ on the same pedestal as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping in terms of leadership acumen.

Sinicization, Repression

A major shift since president Xi got the constitutional amendment in 2018⁸ was the tightening of state apparatus in the occupied regions, most notably Tibet, Xinjiang and Honk Kong. All the three were the victims of an unhinged Xi at helm who was testing his powers prior to his moment of glory – a third term.

Tibet has been bearing the brunt of pronounced authoritarian activities in the past few years. The regime in Beijing does not take any consideration or even meaningful and concerned opinion of Tibetans living in Tibet. It rather views them as mere tools to be used.

A case in point is the recent report of the Tibet Action Institute. It calls for the establishment of colonial style boarding schools⁹. Tibetan children are forced to take admission and study mandarin in such schools to take Sinicization to the next stage even at the grass roots level in Tibet.

It is not only education that has been under attack since 2018; religious centers, Tibetan traditional establishment, charismatic Tibetans, cyber space and even environment are facing the brunt of Sinicization.  All these facets of Tibetan society find a mention in the White Paper on Tibet¹⁰ released by CCP last year. And highlight not the reality but an illusion of Tibet in the name of development. Like a colonial and imperialist entity that harass, loot and traumatize the occupied regions in the name of development and civilizing mission!

Viewed against this backdrop, President Xi Jinping’s visit to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet last year¹¹ was a show of power to his comrades in Beijing. Also to reassure the Chinese officials working in Tibet.

However, even after his visit, there had been a string of incidents demonstrating that all is not well in Tibet.

In the months after Xi’s visit, Tibet saw rapid policy changes, which inter alia   attacked the Tibetans and Tibet as a whole.

To illustrate, Drakgo, a region in Kham, a monastery  was desecrated and forcibly  demolished^12.   Several Buddhist edifices are also being removed across the land, drawing parallels to the Cultural Revolution of the 1960’s that destroyed a majority of Tibetan cultural establishments and its paraphernalia.

Furthermore, Tibetans are banned from higher education if they do not adhere to and follow Beijing’s Marxist thought. Immolation protests are continuing. So is the torture of jailed Tibetan political activists in the most inhuman way.  In these days of high-speed internet bridging the communication divide, Tibetan cyber space is crumbling under the weight of surveillance.

Conclusion

From all accounts, President Xi has been flexing himself in Tibet and other occupied regions. This show of authority is now being implemented in Mainland China as well through his Zero-Covid policy that has created an environment of fear among the Chinese people – akin to the sense of fear that has been engulfing the Tibetans and other occupied people day- in- and -day- out for more than 70 years.

One does not know whether Xi Jinping would consolidate his power with reports saying that ‘all is not well in the Kingdom of Xi’13. He may, given his grip over CCP, but one aspect that we clearly know and understand is that repression, duress, harassment, killing and many more other harrowing incidents in Tibet are increasing in the run up to the 20th Congress of Chinese Communist Party.

—— * The writer is a researcher with roots in Tibet

References:

1. https://www.tibetanreview.net/china-relocates-300-more-tar-tibetans-target-is-over-26300-by-aug-11-over-130000-in-eight-years/   
2. https://www.phayul.com/2022/07/05/47303/
3. https://savetibet.org/lhasa-police-offer-rewards-for-reporting-dissenting-views-tibetan-activism/
4. https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/trouble-in-middle-kingdom-xi-li-tussle-comes-to-the-fore-1115381.html
5. https://ecfr.eu/publication/chinas_new_era_with_xi_jinping_characteristics7243/
6. https://www.france24.com/en/20190305-chinas-rubber-stamp-parliament-glance
7. https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Full-text-of-the-Chinese-Communist-Party-s-new-resolution-on-history
8. http://www.npc.gov.cn/englishnpc/constitution2019/201911/36a2566d029c4b39966bd942f82a4305.shtml#:~:text=The%20Amendment%20to%20the%20Constitution,hereby%20promulgated%20to%20take%20effect.&text=Our%20country%20will%20long%20remain%20in%20the%20primary%20stage%20of%20socialism.
9. https://tibetaction.net/colonial-boarding-school-report/
10. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-05/21/c_139959978.htm
11. https://theprint.in/world/xi-makes-first-official-visit-to-lhasa-reminds-tibetans-about-following-communist-party/701337/
12. https://www.tibetanreview.net/no-place-for-tibetan-buddhism-in-chinas-tibet/
13. https://www.firstpost.com/opinion/ahead-20th-congress-of-chinese-communist-party-all-is-not-well-in-the-kingdom-of-xi-10791061.html