(TibetanReview.net, Oct17’23) – China says all the nearly 700 towns (including Townships and sub-districts) in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) have now been covered by 5G network after a 5G base station started operation in Gogmo (Tibetan: Tradong) Township in Gerze County of Ngari Prefecture in remote west.
While this has been presented as a progress in the continued development and modernization of the region, the fact remains that 5G remains the latest and therefore most effective technology for electronic and artificial intelligence surveillance and control of the Tibetan people and society to the Chinese government.
China’s official Xinhua news agency Oct 16 cited the regional communications administration as saying Oct 16 that TAR had invested 3.2 billion yuan (about $445.7 million) in the construction of 5G infrastructure.
A total of 8,710 5G base stations have been established, providing 5G services for 1.84 million users. There are 23 5G base stations per 10,000 people in the region, which reaches the national average level, the report said.
The administration has said the constant improvement of 5G network services had injected strong momentum into the high-quality development of the region’s economy and society.
The report said the 5G technology had been applied to a wide range of fields across the region, including agriculture and husbandry, education, healthcare, and tourism.
More than all that, the technology plays a key role in monitoring and exercising more effective and less outwardly obvious control than ever before over the activities and movement of the Tibetan people by a security-paranoiac government.