China : All Tibetans should embrace Communist party rule and share the “cultural symbols and images of the Chinese nation”, a senior Chinese official has said at an event celebrating 70 years since the People’s Liberation Army invaded Tibet.
Wang Yang, a member of the politburo standing committee, China’s most powerful political body, made the remarks during a lavish ceremony in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, the sacred home of Tibet’s traditional Buddhist leaders.
It comes amid a crackdown on border regions home to ethnic minorities, such as Tibet, and the practice of non-Han cultures and religions.
Thursday’s ceremony involved a reported 10,000 selected attendees, and marked 70 years since the invasion and subsequent establishment of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The CCP maintains the invasion was a peaceful liberation of Tibetans from an oppressive theocracy.
In his speech Wang Yang said all officials and members of ethnic groups were to be mobilised “to forge an ironclad defence against separatist activities”.
“No one outside China has the right to point fingers at us when it comes to Tibetan affairs,” Wang said. “Any attempt or manoeuvre designed to separate Tibet from China is doomed to fail.”
