From Tibet to Xizang: China’s strategic moves

Changes in education and infrastructure in Tibet are indicative of the Chinese government’s strategies to solidify its position in the region

At No 8 Middle School in Lhasa, a 13-year-old girl, along with other students, is learning about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the manufacturing of electronic devices. She speaks broken English, along with Tibetan and Mandarin.

“Our main focus is on skilling. Nearly half the time, students practice using different tools,” says Caiyang Zhuoma, principal of the school. While more than a dozen distinct local dialects are spoken in the high plateau region, the focus at the boarding schools is on teaching Mandarin and English.

The transformation of education and infrastructure development is among the key strategies of the President Xi Jinping-led Chinese government to solidify its position in the Tibetan issue.

The name ‘Tibet’ has been dropped in official references. In all official communications, the region is now referred to in the Mandarin name, ‘Xizang’.

It started with the release of a white paper in November 2023. The paper, titled ‘CPC (Communist Party of China) Policies on the Governance of Xizang in the New Era: Approach and Achievements’, outlines development in the region since President Jinping came to power in 2012. Now in all official communications, the region is referred to as ‘Xizang Autonomous Region’.

While the Lobsang Sangay-led Tibetan government-in-exile has termed the move as “Sinicisation of Tibetan Buddhism”, as per Chinese authorities, the name change is intended to strengthen national identity in the ethnic minority region.

Ren Wei, the Executive Vice Chairman of the People’s Government of Xizang Autonomous Region, says the government fully guarantees the freedom of religious belief.

Wei points out that China is a multiethnic country, having 56 ethnic groups. Han is the largest ethnic group, accounting for around 92 per cent of the country’s population. The remaining 55 ethnic groups, including Tibetan Buddhists and Muslims, are categorised as ethnic minorities.

As per China’s national census data from 2020, Tibetans account for 86 per cent of the Xizang region’s total population of 3.65 million. However, between 2010 and 2020, the share of Tibetans in the population declined from 90.5 per cent to 86 per cent.

Reports suggest that there are concerted efforts from the Chinese government to encourage its majority Han population to work and live in the Tibet region. Consequently, there has been a sharp jump in the Han Chinese population in the region. As per official data, the share of Hans in the total population of the Xizang Autonomous Region jumped to 12.2 per cent in 2020 from 8.2 per cent in 2010.

The region hosts around 1,700 sites for Tibetan Buddhism activities, with nearly 46,000 Buddhist monks and nuns, as per data provided in the white paper.

Han Chinese are more urban, educated and mobile. Luxury cars and high-rise apartments in the capital city of Lhasa and Shigatse, the second-largest city in the region, demonstrate the changing demographics.

High-rise apartments have come up on the outskirts of Lhasa city, especially along the Kyichu river, which is also known as the Lhasa river. “My dream is to have a house in any of these apartments,” said a Tibetan, pointing to the high-rise apartments developed along the Kyichu river.

Those who opt to work in the Xizang Autonomous Region are paid substantially higher salaries when compared with other parts of China. In most cases, it is almost double. This acts as a major incentive for the Han Chinese population to relocate to the region, where oxygen level is only about 60 per cent of that at sea level.

A Chinese government employee, who did not want to be named, said the government pays higher salaries to those working in the Xizang Autonomous Region because the living conditions are tough. Low oxygen levels pose serious health concerns. The Tibetan plateau has an elevation of over 4,500 meters (14,800 ft) above sea level.

Belt and Road Initiative

Tibet acts as China’s bridge to South Asia under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), President Xi Jinping’s most ambitious foreign policy programme. Under this initiative, China has financed or proposes to finance billions of dollars of investment in roads, railways and other infrastructure in several countries in Asia, Africa and Europe. This includes India’s neighbours Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Tibet borders India, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar in the Himalayas. The world’s highest peak Mount Everest, which rises to 8,850 metres (29,035 feet) is on the Nepal-Tibet border. This makes Tibet immensely important from China’s strategic point of view.

Due to its harsh and rugged terrain, Tibet is sparsely populated. In terms of area, Tibet is around two-thirds the size of India, while its population is just around a quarter of Bengaluru’s population. A majority of the population lives in cities like Lhasa and Shigatse. Historically, there have been very few people in Tibet living close to its border with India, Nepal and Bhutan. However, in recent years, China has built hundreds of villages in Tibet, close to the India and Bhutan borders.

Officially, such villages have been developed to provide better living conditions and alleviate poverty, but the location and population mix indicate that the main focus is strategic and military in nature. Reports suggest that some villages have been built on the disputed boundary with Bhutan. The population in such villages is a mix of Chinese troops and locals.

Border infrastructure

China has invested heavily in the development of roads, railways and other infrastructure along Tibet’s border near Nepal, Bhutan and India. Gyirong Port on the Nepal-Tibet border is one of the key land routes to connect the northern and southern regions of the Himalayas. The Nepali side of the border is called Rasuwagadhi, which is around 160 km from the capital city, Kathmandu. From the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, the border is around 820 km. While on the Nepali side, the condition of the road is bad, to say the least, the Tibetan side has four to six-lane highways. There is a stark difference.

China plans to develop railways between Kathmandu and Shigatse, which is the seat of the Panchen Lama. Shigatse is already connected through high-speed trains with Lhasa. China’s move is seen as a counter to India’s projects to connect with Kathmandu through a cross-border railway via Raxaul in Bihar.

Nyingchi, which is on the Tibetan border close to Arunachal Pradesh, was recently connected to Lhasa by high-speed bullet train. Nyingchi airport, located along the Brahmaputra river is very close to the Indian border.

China has significantly ramped up its airport infrastructure in the Tibet region. It has an international airport named Lhasa Gonggar Airport, which is located around 60 km from Lhasa city. China aims to develop 30 airports in the Tibet region.

Village relocation

A large number of Tibetans living in rural areas have been moved to new settlements. The village resettlement process has been accelerated since 2016.

As per a white paper released by the Chinese government, since 2021, Xizang has built a total of 300 “beautiful and livable” villages and created and certified 505 “demonstration villages”.

As per Chinese authorities, the relocation is voluntary and the main objective is poverty alleviation and raising the standard of living. However, a report by New York-based Human Rights Watch shows that Chinese authorities have been using coercive tactics to mass relocate Tibetan villagers and herders in order to assimilate them into the majority Han Chinese society.

The report notes that most rural Tibetans have been impacted by Chinese government relocation or rehousing policies in the past two decades.

While such mass relocations of residents have been occurring elsewhere in poor rural areas in China, these drives risk causing a devastating impact on Tibetan communities.

Together with current Chinese government programmes to assimilate Tibetan schooling, culture and religion into those of the “Chinese nation,” these relocations of rural communities erode or cause major damage to Tibetan culture and ways of life, the report said.