China marks Tibet anniv with call to accept Communist Party rule

BEIJING, August 19

China on Thursday marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region on the roof of the world with a call to accept the rule of the Communist Party.

‘Ensure tibetans learn chinese’

A top Chinese official said on Thursday that “all-round efforts” were needed to ensure Tibetans were fluent in standard spoken and written Chinese and shared the “cultural symbols and images of the Chinese nation”.

Beijing has ruled the remote western region since 1951, after its People’s Liberation Army marched in and took control in what it calls a “peaceful liberation”.

“Tibet can only develop and prosper under the party’s leadership and socialism,” Wang Yang, who heads a national organisation responsible for uniting all races and all parties under the leadership of the Communist Party, said at the event in the region’s capital, Lhasa. The celebration, attended by almost 10,000 people, was held at the foot of the iconic Potala Palace, a sacred Buddhist site associated with the Dalai Lamas.

A nationwide live telecast of the celebration prominently featured a four-storey high portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping towering over the audience. — Reuters