(TibetanReview.net, Mar 07, 2009) — Qiangba Puncog, the governor of Tibet Autonomous Region, has claimed that the region was stable and would remain so ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan national uprising day. The official Xinhua News Agency Mar 5 cited him as saying that reports of recent instability in the Himalayan region were “pure rumor”.
However, it was not clear what reports of instability he was referring to. He has also expressed confidence that there will be no “big problems” of stability in the region this year. However, Radio Australia News Mar 5 cited Puncog as saying there were “problems” every year around the anniversary of the 1959 uprising. “They (Tibetans) take the opportunity of (the anniversary) of the suppression of the rebellion; there is always this type of situation every year,” it quoted him as saying.
Most foreigners and overseas journalists are barred from entering.the region, so Puncog’s claims about stability could not be confirmed. Puncog was also quoted as saying the newly declared “Serf Liberation Day” of Mar 28 would be marked in Beijing and the Tibetan capital of Lhasa with “grand celebrations”.
Puncog was speaking in Beijing, where he was attending the Chinese National People’s Congress.