NEWSLETTERS

ICT’s Tibet Roundup—2023 Issue 2 (Feb. 15-28)

ICT’s Tibet Roundup is a twice-monthly compilation of curated news from various sources, including Chinese state media, official Chinese documents, briefings, information reported by Tibetans in Tibet and international commentary on Tibet. The roundup is organized in categories, including law, politics, culture, economics, climate and commentary. The focus is on presenting news and reports with limited analysis and editorializing. The frequency and format of the digest may evolve over time.

POLITICS

1. Tibetan delegates to 14th National People’s Congress on March 5
Thirty-three out of 2,977 delegates to the 14th National People’s Congress are Tibetans.

Province/Region Delegates
Tibet Autonomous Region 14 of 24 delegates are Tibetans (58.33%)
Sichuan 7 of 147 delegates are Tibetans (4.76%)
Gansu 2 of 53 delegates are Tibetans (3.77%)
Qinghai 4 of 24 delegates are Tibetans (16.67%)
Yunnan 2 of 91 delegates are Tibetans (2.2%)
Henan 1 of 174 is Tibetan (0.57%)
Hubei 1 of 113 is Tibetan (0.88%)
People’s Liberation Army/People’s Armed Police 2 of 281 PLA/PAP delegates are Tibetan (0.71%)

The 33 Tibetan delegates account for 1.11% of the total 2,977 delegates. Nine hundred sixty-nine representatives of party and government leading cadres account for 32.55% of the total number of delegates according to state media reports.

The names of the Tibetan delegates extracted from the official list are below. Eleven of the 33 delegates go by their Chinese name although they are Tibetan nationals. (?) indicates probable Tibetan name based on the official list in Chinese.

Tibet Autonomous Region

  1. Tashi Nyima (Zhaxi Nima)
  2. Pathar (?) (Ba Ta)
  3. Pema Tso (Baima Cuo) (female)
  4. Nyima (Nima) (female)
  5. Nyidron (Nizhen) (female)
  6. Tsering Tsomo (Ciren Cuomu) (female)
  7. Yan Jinhai
  8. Yang Xiaoming
  9. Lhakchung (La Qiong) from Lhasa’s Chengguan district
  10. Lhakchung (La Qiong) from Lhasa’s Taktse district
  11. Chi De (?) (Qide) (female)
  12. Luo Qingwu
  13. Lobsang Gyaltsen (Luosang Jiangcun)
  14. Kelsang Dolma (Gesang Zhuoma) (female)

Gansu

  1. Yang Zhenlin
  2. Jamyang Lobsang Gyurmey Thupten Choekyi Nyima (Jiami Yang Luosang Jiumei Tudan Queji Nima)

Qinghai

  1. Rinchen Tashi (Renqing Zhaxi)
  2. Sonam Tenzin (Suonan Danzeng)
  3. Shawo Dolma (Xiawu Zhuoma)
  4. Guo Jinping

Sichuan

  1. Gyaltsen Lhorong Jampa (?) (Jiadeng Luorong Xiangba)
  2. Feng Fagui
  3. Gyalkyitson (?) (Jiang Jicun)
  4. Xu Dechun (female)
  5. Luo Zhenhua
  6. Geshul Wangmo (?) (Gexi Wangmu) (female)
  7. Shingja Tamdrin (?) (Xinjia Danzhen)

Yunnan

  1. Yangye Qin (female)
  2. Zhang Weidong

People’s Liberation Army & People’s Armed Police

  1. Dhondup Tsering (Dongzhu Cailang)
  2. Sonam Gonpo (Suolang Gongbu)

Henan

  1. Chu Xiaofei (female)

Hubei

  1. Khokho (?) (Keke)
2. Tying together party policies and “national common language”
Chinese state media on Feb. 13 reported that village “work teams” in Gongjo (Gonjo) County in the TAR tied together the training of Chinese language as the “national common language” with the study, publicity and implementation of the spirit of the 20th Party Congress. The work teams had carried out 130 trainings, reaching more than 800 people (cadres, farmers, herdsmen) in the county in promoting Chinese language based on the theme of “the spirit of the 20th Party Congress to solidify the party and Chinese language reach to the deepest level of society in Gongjo County.
3. Bureaucrats in Samdruptse (Sangzhuzi) District in Shigatse (Rikaze) tested for 20th Party Congress knowledge
The Communist Party establishes its reach in the different levels of society and governments through various activities. For the bureaucrats in Shigatse’s Samdruptse district, the party held a written test and quiz competition on the theme of the 20th Party Congress to test the bureaucrats’ knowledge of the new theories, measures, major strategic deployments, conclusions, etc. for implementation in Samdruptse District. Bureaucrats from the Samdruptse Education Bureau, Market Supervision Administration, Court Development and Reform Commission, Finance Bureau, Rural Revitalization Bureau, Taxation Bureau, etc. were tested for their understanding of the report of the 20th Party Congress held in October 2022.
4. 15th Tibet Autonomous Region United Front Work Conference held in Lhasa
The 15th Tibet Autonomous Region Party Committee United Front Work Conference was held in Lhasa on Feb. 16. During the conference, TAR Party Secretary Wang Junzheng in his speech emphasized the need “to educate, guide, inspire and unite people, and guide the masses of all ethnic groups to listen to the party, appreciate the party’s favor, follow the party” according to Xi Jinping’s socialist ideology with Chinese characteristics in the new era. He instructed the United Front cadres to maintain national security and social stability and maintenance of stability as the first step by active participation in comprehensive social governance and community grid management. Wang also instructed the cadres to persist in “forging a sense of the community of the Chinese nation” by promoting assimilation of various ethnic groups for ethnic unity and implementation of the national common language project. He also instructed the cadres to “do a good job in the affairs of overseas Tibetans and overseas Chinese … to strengthen the patriotic united front.”
5. 1,337 “rural revitalization” projects in 2023
A total of 1,337 “rural revitalization” projects are planned for implementation in 2023, out of which 84 projects have been started and 809 projects are in the bidding process, according to a Chinese state media report on Feb. 8.
6. China alleges US high-altitude balloons over Tibet
In response to a question by the AFP news agency, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin during the regular press conference on Feb. 15, 2023, alleged that the US has released high-altitude balloons over Tibet and Xinjiang more than 10 times since May 2022. Quoting the US National Security Council’s John Kirby, the US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in her general remarks at the Brookings Institute on Feb. 15 stated that there is no US government balloon in China.

RELIGION

1. Database for government approved and legally certified Buddhist clerics
Chinese state media announced the launching of a database with a web interface on Feb. 22 for all government-approved and legally certified Buddhist and Taoist clerical personnel information query system. State media say that Buddhist or Taoist religious clerics whose name does not show up in the government query system are fake. The database is projected as Buddhist and Taoist religious groups fulfilling their statutory obligation of identifying and managing their religious personnel according to the Regulations on Religious Affairs, Measures for the Administration of Religious Organizations and the Measures for the Administration of Religious Clerical Personnel.
2. Dechen (Diqing) Party Secretary instructs monastics to practice four standards policy
Luo Chaofeng, the Party Secretary of Dechen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan visited Ganden Sumtseling Monastery in Dechen on Feb. 16 to wish the monastics for the then-upcoming Tibetan New Year. During his visit, the Party Secretary instructed the monks to practice the four standards policy for religious personnels laid out by Xi Jinping. The four standards for the religious clergy—“political reliability,” “profound in religious knowledge,” “moral integrity capable of impressing the public” and “to play an active role at critical moments”—in essence require the monks and nuns to be party and government propagandists by embracing socialism with Chinese characteristics. The monastics are required to spread official messaging to the Tibetan population via the four-standards policy launched in 2018.

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