BEIJING, Aug 22 – Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday attended a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Tibet autonomous region, state-run media said, the first time the top leader has been present at such an event in the Himalayan territory.
Around 20,000 local officials and residents sang the national anthem and waved red flags in celebration at Potala Palace square in Lhasa, the region’s capital, media reports said. The palace was the former winter residence of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.
The ruling Communist Party designated the area as an autonomous ethnic region in September 1965, after the 14th Dalai Lama, now 90, fled to India in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule. He later set up a government-in-exile in Dharamsala, northern India.
Wang Huning, who is ranked No. 4 in the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership, stressed in his speech that Tibet “has always been an inalienable part of China’s sacred territory,” adding, “We do not tolerate any external interference.”
“Any intentions that aim to separate our nation and harm the stability in Xizang are doomed to fail,” Wang said, referring to the region by the Romanized Chinese name.
Beijing regards the 14th Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his nonviolent opposition to Chinese rule in Tibet, as a separatist seeking independence for the region.
The United States and European nations have condemned Beijing for violating the human rights of Tibetans through assimilation policies, while calling for their religious freedom and the preservation of their cultural heritage.
Days before his 90th birthday in July, the 14th Dalai Lama said his successor would be chosen by identifying his reincarnation after death, amid deepening conflict with China over who has the authority to recognize the next Tibetan Buddhist leader. Beijing claims sole authority to decide his successor.
