President’s remarks in Lhasa underline the high importance Beijing attaches to stability while firmly opposing any attempts at separatism
His remarks further reinforced the message 10 years ago from Yu Zhengsheng, then chairman of China’s top political consultative body, at the 50th anniversary celebrations, which in turn reflected the position Xi himself had just laid down in a speech on Tibet.
Stability has always been seen as indispensable to development, but Xi’s emphasis on it now underlines its paramount importance to landmark projects amid geopolitical tension and uncertainty. “To govern and to develop Tibet, the first thing to do is to ensure political and social stability, as well as ethnic unity and that religious people are in harmony with society,” Xi said.
In that regard, he highlighted the importance of major infrastructure projects in Tibet to regional and national economic development. Chief among them are a mega hydroelectric project on the Tibetan Plateau and the Chengdu-Tibet railway. The estimated 1.2 trillion yuan (US$167.7 billion) dam project on the Yarlung Tsangpo River is said to be the largest of its kind in the world, with an estimated annual capacity of 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity – three times that of the Three Gorges Dam. Beijing first announced it in 2020 under its five-year plan as part of a broader strategy to exploit the hydropower potential of the Tibetan Plateau.
