China's Xi makes rare visit to Tibet, says Tibetan Buddhism needs to change

Chinese President Xi Jinping made a rare visit to Tibet, emphasising Beijing's determination to assert control over the region on its 60th anniversary as a Chinese autonomous region. Speaking to a crowd of 20,000 in Lhasa, Xi highlighted the political importance of the visit amid ongoing tensions over the Chinese occupation of Tibet. Notably, he did not mention the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader revered by Tibetans, but said that Tibetan Buddhism needed to change.

On the 60th anniversary, it seems China is doing everything possible to tighten its grip on Tibet. Earlier this month, Beijing announced its plans to build a massive railway line linking Tibet and northwestern Xinjiang.

In his address in Lhasa, Tibet's capital, Xi stressed, "To govern, stabilise and develop Tibet, the first thing is to maintain political stability, social stability, ethnic unity and religious harmony," signalling his focus on consolidating authority in the region.

The Tibet visit was also a health test for the 72-year-old Chinese President, because of the high-altitude conditions in Lhasa.

This marked his second presidential trip to the tightly controlled region, where he praised local authorities for their "thorough efforts against separatism," referencing the decades-long resistance by Tibetans to Beijing's governance.

Rights groups advocating for Tibetan autonomy characterised Xi's visit as an effort to gloss over his administration's human rights record in the region.

"For Tibetans, the anniversary of the People's Republic of China’s creation of the Tibet Autonomous Region is no cause of celebration, but a painful reminder of China’s colonial occupation," Dorjee Tseten, the Asia Program Manager at the Tibet Action Institute and a member of Tibet's exiled Parliament, told The New York Times.

VISIT COMES AFTER DALAI LAMA'S REMARKS ON SUCCESSOR

The visit comes just two months after the Dalai Lama stated that his office, rather than China, would select his successor. The Chinese authorities insist that only they have the authority to oversee that process.

At 90 years old, the spiritual leader has consistently promoted a "middle way" approach for Tibet's status—genuine self-rule within China—but Beijing continues to label him a separatist.

"The succession of the Dalai Lama is a symbolic battleground and symbolic opportunity for the party" to make a fundamental claim about who rules Tibet, Robert Barnett, a scholar of Tibet at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, told The New York Times.

But the succession alone does not reflect an "existential threat" to Chinese power, Barnett said, and was most likely just one of the many Chinese ambitions at play in Xi's visit. He said the trip reflected a broader campaign by Beijing to exert control in Tibet.

TIBETAN BUDDHISM NEEDS TO ADAPT TO SOCIALIST SOCIETY: XI

China maintains that Tibetans are free to practice their religion, yet human rights organisations argue that their cultural and religious identity, deeply rooted in centuries of tradition, is being gradually undermined.

However, during a BBC visit to a Tibetan monastery in Sichuan province in June, monks reported that Tibetans were being denied basic human rights and accused the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of ongoing "oppression and persecution". Beijing, however, rejects these accusations, claiming that living standards for Tibetans have significantly improved under its governance.

In recent years, Tibet has experienced significant migration of Han Chinese to the high-altitude region, strict restrictions on journalists and foreign visitors, and the suppression of any political or cultural activities not aligned with Communist Party authority, according to The Associated Press.

The CCP established the Tibet Autonomous Region, known in China as Xizang, in 1965, six years after a failed uprising against Chinese control.

Xi's unexpected visit dominated state media coverage on Thursday, with newspapers and television channels portraying his tour of Lhasa as a celebratory event. Front-page photographs showed him being welcomed by Tibetan dancers and cheering crowds.

During a meeting with local officials on Wednesday, attended by senior CCP leaders, Xi promoted bilateral exchanges in economy, culture, and personnel, along with the widespread adoption of a national language and script.

Chinese state media reported that he outlined what the CCP sees as four key priorities for Tibet: maintaining stability, promoting development, protecting the environment, and strengthening border security.

The CCP has implemented policies requiring Tibetan children to attend state-run Chinese schools and learn Mandarin under new education laws. Xi also called for tighter oversight of "religious affairs" and emphasised the need to "guide Tibetan Buddhism to adapt to socialist society".

XI's VISIT COMES AMID DAM ON TSANGPO, RAILWAY LINE IN TIBET

Xi's visit comes a month after construction began on what is set to become the world's largest dam in the region.

Known as the Motuo Hydropower Station, the project is located on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, which winds across the Tibetan plateau.

Once completed, the dam is expected to surpass the Three Gorges Dam in size and could produce three times as much energy. Beijing asserts that the 1.2 trillion yuan ($167 billion) project will prioritise ecological protection while boosting local prosperity.

However, experts and officials have raised concerns that the dam could give China the ability to control or divert the transboundary Yarlung Tsangpo, which flows south into India's Arunachal Pradesh and Assam states, as well as into Bangladesh, feeding the Siang, Brahmaputra, and Jamuna rivers.

Beijing also announced that it was all set to begin construction of the Tibet-Xinjiang (northwestern province) railway project through Aksai Chin, and right near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India.

Xi's uncommon visit to Tibet was seen by officials in exile as a sign that China has not fully secured the support of local residents.

"The Chinese have found themselves on the back foot," Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa, an official of the Dalai Lama’s office in northern India, told The NYT.

He added that Xi's visit was another attempt by China to "legitimise its occupation of Tibet", especially in the wake of the Dalai Lama's insistence that his post will have a successor chosen in the traditional way.

Xi's visit underscores Beijing's determination to tighten control over Tibet. The visit combined symbolic messaging and large-scale development projects to reinforce authority.

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