(TibetanReview.net, Aug30’20) – Speaking at the seventh Central Symposium on Tibet Work over Aug 28-29 in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping has set his country’s policy directions for developing Tibet, calling for building a ‘new modern socialist’ Tibet that is united, prosperous, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful. He has called for a new push to stop “separatist elements” in Tibet and for the ‘sinicisation’ of Buddhism there. He has also called for the building of an ‘impregnable fortress’ for stability in Tibet and so on, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency Aug 29.
In particular, he has called for efforts to ensure national security and enduring peace and stability, steadily improve people’s lives, maintain a good environment, solidify border defense and ensure frontier security.
He has said work related to Tibet must focus on safeguarding national unity and strengthening ethnic solidarity.
In particular, he has called for more education and guidance for the public to mobilize their participation in combating separatist activities, thus forging an ironclad shield to safeguard stability.
For this purpose he has called for long-term commitment to the CPC Central Committee’s policy to ensure Tibet has support from the central authorities and assistance from the whole country.
Cadres and workers in Tibet should be cared for and supporting policies regarding their income, housing, medical care and retirement, as well as education for their children, should be further improved and well implemented, Xi has said.
He has said the ecology of the Tibetan Plateau is the greatest contribution to the survival and development of the Chinese nation, although it has an extremely poor record in this field, with local Tibetans being severely persecuted for complaining against illegal mining and development activities that cause landslides and pollute and air and water.
Xi has said that since the sixth symposium in 2015, Tibet had made comprehensive progress and historic achievements in its various undertakings. He has noted that achieving sustained stability and rapid development in Tibet constituted a major contribution to the overall work of the Party and the state.
Continued and increasing support will be offered to Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces in their Tibet-related work, Xi has said.
The symposium was stated to have been presided over by Prime Minister Li Keqiang. Li Zhanshu, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng were stated to be other senior leaders who attended the symposium Wang Yang spoke to sum up the event.
