Xi Jinping in Tibet 70 years after the Maoist invasion

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23 July 2021

The 5 yellow stars of the Chinese flag, one larger in the center, (the CCP), and four smaller ones, representing the most important social classes (peasants, workers, petty bourgeoisie and capitalists close to the party) have historical roots that a his time already anticipated the problem of ethnic minorities.

At the founding of the Republic of China by Sun Yat Sen in 1912, five colors appeared on the new national flag, symbolizing each of the main ethnic groups of China: red for the Han, yellow for the Manchus, blue for the Mongols, white for the Hui (Muslims today concentrated in Xinjiang) and black for the Tibetans.

Therefore, the relationship with ethnic minorities in China is not so recent: groups of populations with different cultures and religions that the Chinese state tries to keep together, in alternating phases, in the age of empire as in that of socialism.

"All regions and people of all ethnicities in Tibet will march towards a happy life," the Chinese president said with propaganda emphasis on his first official visit to Tibet yesterday since he came to power in 2013. A visit that is part political moves planned to legitimize the "forced" adaptation of Tibetan Buddhism to socialist society and to forge the ethnic unity of the People's Republic of China, that long-term process clearly planned in the awareness that nothing can stand between China and the role that the former celestial empire intends to cover in 2050, not even the United States.

After yesterday visiting Nyingchi, also known as the Switzerland of Tibet for its river valleys and alpine gorges, after making an intermediate stop to evaluate the development of the Sichuan Tibet railway, Xi Jinping took a train to Lhasa, the capital of the autonomous province with a special statute, which is also the highest city in the world, at 3,656 meters above the sea level.  

Beijing is internationally accused of pursuing the strengthening of its military presence in Tibet, of implementing religious repression and of imposing its language (Mandarin) and its culture, in a region rich in resources such as wood and natural gas, and in a strategic position for the New Silk Road, although the Chinese central government is slowly shifting the focus of its influence policy in the Himalayan province bordering India. 

The attention is no longer focused on separatism and internal security but on the issues of stability and development, firmly supported by ideological promotion, with the study of the thought of Xi Jinping, a priority of Beijing in Tibet. "

"The sinization of religions is already a cornerstone of the central government's religious policy to forge a common Chinese identity," explained an analyst from the South China Morning Post, adding that "it is carried out not only in Tibet but also in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia ".

In each region inhabited by the increasingly fermenting minorities of the People's Republic, the Chinese government implements a policy of control to access the resources of these regions: rare earths in Inner Mongolia, the area in which, among other things, as reported by the Washington Post, construction of several missile silos has begun for which the DF-41 nuclear devices could be destined.

A policy necessary to return to being dominant in Asia and ultimately in the center of the world, even at the cost of being subjected to harsh criticism from the West

"Sacrifice the blackthorn to save the peach tree" is written in the "36 tricks", meaning that even according to ancient Chinese tradition there are circumstances in which it is necessary to sacrifice short-term goals in order to achieve long-term ones.