(TibetanReview.net, Jun10’21) – Chinese President Xi Jinping has on Jun 9 concluded a three-day visit to Qinghai Province, which is made up of most of the traditional Tibetan province of Amdo and the Yulshul part of historical Tibet’s Kham Province. He has called the province a ‘model of national unity’ and told local officials to uphold the party’s policies on governing Tibetan and other minority areas. The province is the birthplace of the Dalai Lama.
While highlighting environmental protection, claiming that China was now taking centre stage in the world’s biodiversity and environmental protection drive, he has also stressed the province’s importance for maintaining order in neighbouring Xinjiang and Tibet Autonomous Region.
Less than 25% of the province’s population is Tibetan, thanks to China’s relentless policy of encouraging Chinese immigration into it over the past several decades, which resulted in the formation of entirely new sprawling Chinese-populated cities like Golmud.
Xi, whose power derives from his positions as the general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and as Chairman of the party’s Central Military Commission, focused his visit to the provincial capital Xining and the Haibei (Tibetan: Tsojang) Prefecture.
He told local officials to adhere to Beijing’s ethnic policies and continue the sinicization of religion, reported the scmp.com Jun 10.
Xi was reported to have described the province as “a strategic key place in maintaining stability in Xinjiang and Tibet”, adding: “It must comprehensively implement the party’s policy on how to govern Tibetan areas and shoulder responsibility.”
“As we enter the new stage of development … the importance of Qinghai in terms of ecological security, homeland security, resources and energy security has become even more conspicuous,” Xi has said.
Qinghai is an enormously resource-rich region with many illegal mining operations being carried on with official connivance.
While visiting Gangcha (Tibetan: Kangtsa) County of Haibei Prefecture, where most residents were ethnic Tibetans, Xi used the Tibetan greeting “Tashi Delek” to wish the locals luck, the report noted.
Xi, whose visit came amid preparations for the Communist Party’s centenary on Jul 1, also sent a message to party members, reminding them of their oath to make sacrifices for the benefit of the country, the report noted.
“We are all brothers and sisters. On the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese nation will inevitably stand stronger among the peoples of the world,” China’s party mouthpiece People’s Daily has on Jun 9 quoted Xi as saying.
Also delivering an environment message, Xi has reminded local cadres of the importance of conservation and protecting the environment. And he has said Qinghai boasted some of China’s most valuable natural habitats and resources that must be protected.
Hailing Qinghai Lake’s important and strategic position in ecological civilization, Xi called for more efforts to build the ecological civilization and protect ecological resources in Qinghai, implement the national ecological strategy and build national parks, according to the official news.cgtn.com Jun 9.
Ecology is our resource, wealth and treasure, Xi has stressed.
