(TibetanReview.net, Feb19’22) – Wang Junzheng, known as the “butcher of Xinjiang”, who became the communist party state of China’s top leader of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in October last year, has visited monasteries in Tibet’s capital Lhasa to warn monks against engaging in activities which could be deemed as anti-China ahead of the Tibetan New Year on Mar 3 and especially the 63rd anniversary on Mar 10 of the Tibetan National Uprising Day.
Wang, the TAR’s party secretary, visited the Ramoche Temple in Lhasa and the Gaden Monastery in the Tibetan capital’s outskirt on Feb 17 to remind monks of their obligation to be “patriotic and law-abiding” citizens, loyal to the party, reported the Tibetan Service of rfa.org Feb 18, citing local media reports.
Wang was also stated to have instructed the monastery management committees in both the places, which are government-approved, to enforce rules against making assertions of Tibetan cultural and national identity as they are deemed to be “separatist” activities, the report suggested.
China routinely tightens security in Tibet ahead of these two festive and memorial events. Additional restrictions imposed in past years have included closing the region to travellers from countries other than China and enforcing a “strike hard” campaign against crime targeting freedom and human rights activists. These are not officially announced but strictly enforced.
Wang, 58, is the most internationally sanctioned Chinese leader because of his role in the globally condemned genocidal campaign in Xinjiang where he was a deputy party secretary and the security chief.