China's head of state and party leader Xi Jinping arrived in Tibet on Wednesday.

But his visit was so secret that the state media only reported about it on Friday.

He had last been there ten years ago.

That was shortly before his rise to the top of the party and state.

The ten-year gap is no coincidence.

The occasion of his visit is the 70th year of the occupation of Tibet by the troops of the Communist Party.

At that time, the Tibetan government signed an agreement that placed Tibet under the rule of the new masters in Beijing.

A later uprising was bloodily suppressed and the Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959.

In the Chinese political calendar, 1951 is celebrated every year as a "peaceful liberation".

Friederike Böge

Political correspondent for China, North Korea and Mongolia.

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The first stop on Xi Jinping's trip was the city of Nyingchi in the strategically relevant border area with India, which was carefully observed in New Delhi.

A train connection from Nyingchi to the regional capital Lhasa was opened in June.

Because of the extremely difficult terrain in the high mountains, the construction costs amounted to more than five billion dollars.

The railway line is a political symbol of Xi Jinping's national unity project.

According to him, minorities such as Tibetans should be integrated into the Chinese majority society through cultural assimilation and economic development.

"Resurgence of the Chinese Nation"

According to the Xinhua news agency, the head of state and party took the train from Nyingchi to Lhasa, where he was informed about "work on ethnic and religious matters and the preservation of the old town". In front of the monument for the "peaceful liberation" in Lhasa he proclaimed: "As long as we follow the Communist Party and follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, we will achieve the great resurgence of the Chinese nation."

A video of an excerpt from his speech was posted on the Internet.

Xi Jinping turned to "all ethnic groups in Tibet who are striving for a happy future," and said, "we are as confident as you."

Other videos show people cheering, waving and clapping along the streets of Lhasa.

According to the Xinhua agency, Xi Jinping visited the square in front of the Potala Palace, which once served as the residence of the Dalai Lamas, and Drepung Monastery, where several thousand monks had lived during the period of Tibetan independence.

Tibetan dances were performed on the occasion of his visit.

According to the Communist Party's understanding, this expresses appreciation for minority cultures.

Lettering in Mandarin

The teaching of the Tibetan language and the training of Tibetan monks have been restricted more and more for years. According to information from opposition groups in exile, more than 150 monks set themselves on fire in protest. There is little reliable information about the human rights situation in Tibet. Foreign journalists can only visit the region with a special permit, which is seldom granted.

Human Rights Watch recently reported that the Tibetan language was now consistently labeled in Mandarin on public signs. It was the other way around until last year. The reason for the innovation was Xi Jinping's instructions at a Tibet conference last August, at which he announced a policy of "ethnic mixing" and "patriotic upbringing". The importance he attaches to minority policy is also demonstrated by the fact that he is the first incumbent head of state since 1990 to officially visit Tibet.

The Chinese government takes credit that the economic volume in the region has quadrupled in the past ten years. Tourism and infrastructure were greatly expanded. At the same time, Beijing claims to determine the successor to the 86-year-old Dalai Lama, who according to tradition appears by reincarnation. Beijing, on the other hand, regards the incumbent Dalai Lama, who has been in exile in India since 1959, as a separatist because he advocates the autonomy of Tibet.