Amid tensions with India, China steps up building spree in Tibet

Beijing, September 4

China is planning more than 1 trillion yuan ($146 billion) to accelerate infrastructure investment in Tibet, including new and previously announced projects, sources said.

The renewed push to step up development of the remote and impoverished southwestern region signals Beijing’s intent to bolster frontier security amid heightened border tensions with India in recent months, they said.

Last week, during a senior Communist Party meeting on Tibet’s future governance, President Xi Jinping had lauded achievements of frontline officials while also asserting that more efforts were needed to enrich, rejuvenate and strengthen unity in the region.

He had said that a number of major infrastructure projects and public facilities would be completed soon, including the Sichuan-Tibet Railway.

The construction plans include completion of the challenging middle section of a high-elevation Sichuan-Tibet railway link, a railway line between Nepal and Tibet that has remained in the planning stages, and a newly planned dry port in the Tibet Autonomous Region, the sources said.

They declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak with media.

It was not immediately clear how much of the targeted spending is new, or over how many years it would be invested.

China’s State Council Information Office and the Tibet regional government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Construction on the most difficult section of the Sichuan-Tibet railway — linking Chengdu with Lhasa — will begin in coming weeks, said the sources.

The 270 billion yuan section of the railway has been known for construction challenges posed by rough terrain and complex geology, notably the segment linking Sichuan’s Ya’an city with Nyingchi in southeastern Tibet near the border with India. Reuters