[Correspondent Diary] Xi Jinping's Approach to Appeasing Ethnic Minorities

Xi Jinping Visited Tibet's Linzhi on the Same Day 10 Years Ago... Part of Chinese Leadership's Visits to 'Unstable' Regions in China
Ahead of US Deputy Secretary of State's Visit on the 25th, Display of Domestic Control and Preemptive Warning Mentioning Xinjiang

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] Chinese state-run media such as People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, and CCTV reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Tibet (Xizang) on July 21, the same date as 10 years ago, conducting inspections at various locations. Chinese media stated that Xi's visit was to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Tibet 'Peaceful Liberation Agreement (May 23)'.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Looking back at articles from 10 years ago, President Xi visited Tibet on July 17 and stayed for about six days. On the 19th, he attended the 60th anniversary event of the Peaceful Liberation Agreement held in the square in front of the Potala Palace, a symbol of Tibet, and on the 20th, he visited Dazhao Temple (Jokhang Temple). This place was the starting point of the Tibetan resistance movement in March 2008, where monks from Dazhao Temple actively participated in anti-government protests, leading the Chinese leadership to brand it as a temple of rebellion. The following day, on the 21st, he visited Linzhi in Tibet. Linzhi is a place Xi had visited in 1998 when he was Deputy Secretary of the Fujian Provincial Committee. It has been 31 years since a Chinese president visited Tibet, following President Jiang Zemin in 1990.

In the past, the Chinese leadership has visited so-called 'unstable' regions within China under the pretext of national events such as the Communist Party founding anniversary and National Day, to appease ethnic minorities. A representative example is former President Hu Jintao's visit to Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in 2009. In July 2009, separatist protests broke out in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, resulting in hundreds of deaths. While attending the G8 summit in Italy, President Hu returned to China during the meeting and personally visited Xinjiang on August 22. During large-scale protests by Mongols in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2011, former Premier Wen Jiabao also personally intervened to quell the unrest.

President Xi's recent 3-day, 2-night visit to Tibet is widely analyzed as a political move conscious of the Western camp, including the United States. The West, including the U.S., has been continuously pressuring the Chinese leadership by raising issues of human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Therefore, Xi's visit is interpreted as emphasizing his absolute unwillingness to back down on key issues such as Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. It is seen as a reaffirmation that ethnic minority autonomous regions like Tibet are part of China and internal affairs. Additionally, the visit is analyzed as part of domestic politics to reiterate to the 1.4 billion Chinese people that the Chinese leadership governs ethnic minorities such as those in Tibet.

Meanwhile, Chinese media warned the U.S. side, including U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who is scheduled to visit Tianjin on the 25th, saying, "If issues like Xinjiang are raised during talks, it will only waste time like the Alaska high-level meeting (2+2)," and cautioned against mentioning Xinjiang or other Chinese internal affairs in advance.