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Chinese President Xi Jinping has traveled to Tibet on his first trip as the country's leader to that region, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the "peaceful liberation" according to China, a military invasion according to his critics, which put on the Roof of the World under Beijing control in 1951. The visit, the first by a Chinese president to Tibet in 31 years, was made public two days after the arrival of the head of state.
Xi's visit comes as Chinese authorities increase control over the culture of this Buddhist region, while emphasizing economic development and infrastructure construction.
The presence of the leader, in a visit surrounded by security - the photos released by the official Xinhua news agency show a deployment of bodyguards much higher than that seen in other visits - reinforces Chinese sovereignty over the region in a year in The one that China celebrates the centenary of the Communist Party and its leaders, with Xi at the helm, reiterate the same message over and over again: that this country, now the second largest economy in the world, will not allow itself to be overwhelmed by any other nation and will defend its interests forcefully.
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Bordering India, Tibet is a territory of fundamental strategic importance for Beijing.
The trip comes in a context of tensions with New Delhi after a series of frictions last year on the border over the Himalayas.
The most serious of them, the most serious since the 1970s, claimed the lives of soldiers from both countries.
The visit also takes place amid tensions with the West over Xinjiang, the autonomous region neighboring Tibet where the United States and its allies accuse China of perpetrating serious human rights abuses against the Uighur minority.
In the photos released by Xinhua of the visit, Xi is seen accompanied by General Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, the highest command body over the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Also according to Xinhua, on the first day of his trip, the Chinese president visited the city of Nyingchi, the largest near the border with India and 2,800 meters above sea level, where he inspected ecological conservation work in the Yarlung Zangbo river basin. , in which China builds a dam that has sparked Indian protests.
It also examined rural revitalization projects.
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After spending the night in Nyingchi, Xi traveled by train to Lhasa, the Tibetan capital at 3,600 meters of altitude, where “he was informed about the work that is carried out on ethnic and religious issues, the preservation of the ancient city and the protection and legacy of Tibetan culture ”. The Chinese president had last visited Tibet in 2011, when he was still vice president, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of annexation. The last president to travel to the region was Jiang Zemin, in 1990.
China seized control of Tibet in 1950 by dispatching soldiers from the People's Liberation Army in what it describes as a "peaceful liberation" of the region. Beijing says that, under his rule, Tibet has developed its economy and its society has progressed. In contrast, Tibetans in exile and non-governmental organizations accuse that Government of systematic violation of human rights and repression of culture, religion and political dissent.