(Authorized to issue) Wang Yang: Speech at the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet
Xinhua News Agency, Lhasa, August 19th
Speech at the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet
(Lhasa, August 19, 2021)
Wang Yang
Comrades and friends:
As the whole country celebrates the centennial of the Communist Party of China, we ushered in the 70th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet.
Last month, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the State, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission visited Tibet in person and fully affirmed Tibet’s development achievements in the past 70 years since its peaceful liberation, and brought cordial care and blessings to cadres and masses of all ethnic groups.
Today, with the great trust of the Party Central Committee and General Secretary Xi Jinping, as well as the deep friendship of the people of the whole country, the Central Delegation together with the people of all ethnic groups in Tibet celebrated the 70th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet.
First of all, on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the State Council, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and the Central Military Commission, I would like to extend my warm congratulations to the Tibet Autonomous Region!
Send cordial greetings to the cadres and masses of all ethnic groups in Tibet!
I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to people from all walks of life who have cared about and supported the development and progress of Tibet for a long time!
The peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951 was a major victory in the cause of the Chinese people's liberation and the cause of the reunification of the motherland. It was an epoch-making historical turning point in Tibet.
Since then, Tibet has embarked on a broad road from darkness to light, from backwardness to progress, from poverty to wealth, from autocracy to democracy, and from closed to open. A thriving socialist new Tibet stands tall on the top of the world!
Over the past 70 years, the social system of Tibet has achieved a historic leap.
Old Tibet practiced a reactionary and barbaric feudal serfdom system. People were divided into three classes and nine classes. The lower class serfs had no human rights or dignity.
We completely expelled the imperialist forces, set off magnificent democratic reforms, ended the history of the unity of politics and church, theocratic control of the government, and established the people's democratic government.
The millions of serfs who turned to be the masters cheered: "The sun of the nobility has gone down, and our sun has risen." With the implementation of the socialist system and the system of regional ethnic autonomy, the people of all ethnic groups in Tibet are equally involved in the management of state affairs and autonomous management. The rights of regional affairs are fully guaranteed.
Currently, Tibet has more than 35,000 deputies to the People's Congress at all levels and more than 8,000 CPPCC members, 90% of whom are ethnic minorities.
In the past 70 years, Tibet's economic development has made historic achievements.
The agriculture and animal husbandry in old Tibet depended on the sky for food, and the industry was blank. It took more than half a year to go back and forth from Xining to Lhasa.
The GDP of Tibet in 1951 was only 130 million yuan, and in 2020 it has exceeded 190 billion yuan.
In Tibet today, the annual grain output has stabilized at more than 1 million tons. The plateau characteristic agriculture and animal husbandry, green industry, clean energy, and modern service industries are booming. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, nearly 160 million tourists have been received.
The infrastructure extends in all directions. The "Fuxing" is speeding among the snow-capped mountains. The villages are connected to highways, 140 routes connect domestic and foreign, and the 4G network covers every village. The Ali-Tibet-China grid interconnection project traverses the high mountains with an average altitude of 4,500 meters. Let Tibet as a whole bid farewell to the history of lack of electricity.
The ancient and magical snow-covered plateau is a new and gratifying scene of Vientiane.
In the past 70 years, the lives of the Tibetan people have undergone historic changes.
More than 90% of the people in old Tibet lived a life of barely covered clothes and food, and the illiteracy rate was as high as 95%.
In Tibet today, people of all ethnic groups have no worries about food and clothing. The per capita housing area is nearly 40 square meters. 15 years of public education have been fully realized. The long-standing dropout problem has been historically "cleared", such as hydatid disease, Kaschin-Beck disease, and Kaschin-Beck disease. Congenital heart disease and other endemic diseases have been historically eliminated and prevented. The average life expectancy has increased from 35.5 years in 1951 to 71.1 years, and the quality of life of the people has been improving day by day.
From the Jinsha River to the Shiquan River, from the Yajiang Valley to the plateau of northern Tibet, the song of happiness spreads to every land in Tibet.
Over the past 70 years, Tibetan ethnic unity has shown historic progress.
We adhere to the correct path of solving ethnic problems with Chinese characteristics, eliminate ethnic discrimination and ethnic estrangement in the old society, defeat the separatist and sabotage activities of the Dalai clique and foreign hostile forces, and promote the unity and struggle of all ethnic groups for common prosperity and development.
The state has invested huge manpower, material resources and financial resources to promote and develop the excellent traditional culture of Tibet. Tibetan languages have been widely used, and precious classics such as "The Biography of King Gesar" have been rescued and sorted out. Nearly 800 projects such as Thangka, Tibetan opera, and Tibetan medicine have been included in the non- Material cultural heritage.
The religious beliefs of the people of all ethnic groups are fully respected. More than 1,700 temples in the region have full coverage of water, electricity, networks, firefighting and other facilities, 46,000 monks and nuns have enjoyed government social security, and the Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and other temples and historic sites have been repaired and protected.
Today's Tibet has a harmonious religion, social harmony, and ethnic harmony. People of all ethnic groups "love each other like tea and salt", and the big family of the Chinese nation is happy.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Tibet has entered a new era with the best development, the greatest changes, and the most benefits for the masses.
The average annual economic growth rate ranks among the top three in the country, the growth rate of per capita disposable income of rural residents has ranked first in the country for many years, and the urbanization rate has risen by 13 percentage points.
Tibet used to be the only provincial-level concentrated contiguous destitute area in the country, with the deepest level of poverty, the highest cost of poverty alleviation, and the most difficult poverty alleviation.
Through unremitting efforts, 628,000 poor people have all been lifted out of poverty, and 266,000 people have moved from high mountains and far away bitter places to river valley cities and towns to live and work in peace and contentment. Tibet, together with the whole country, has built a well-off society on schedule.
The glorious achievements of the 70 years of peaceful liberation of Tibet have created a miracle that has changed the world. It is the result of the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee, the result of the tenacious struggle of the cadres and the masses of all ethnic groups in Tibet, and the result of the strong support of the people across the country.
For a long time, people of all ethnic groups in Tibet have rooted in the snowy borders like Gesanghua.
Thousands of cadres and talents responded to the party's call to support Tibet's construction, and with their lofty ambitions, they left behind a glorious deed that moved heaven and earth.
Your sweat and achievements have merged into the historical torrent of the development and progress of the great motherland, and your struggle and contributions will always be engraved on the historical monument of the Republic!
At this moment, we deeply cherish the memory of the martyrs and heroes who dedicated their youth and lives to the Tibetan revolution, construction and reform, and to defend and build the borders of the motherland. Their great achievements and lofty demeanor will last forever in history!
Comrades, friends!
The world today is undergoing major changes unseen in a century. Our country is in a critical period of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country has begun, and the economic and social development of Tibet is also at a new historical starting point.
We must adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, strengthen the "four consciousnesses", strengthen the "four self-confidence", and achieve the "two safeguards", and learn in-depth from General Secretary Xi Jinping's seventh Tibet work symposium at the central government. The spirit of the important speech at the meeting and the spirit of important instructions during the investigation in Tibet, fully implement the party's strategy for governing Tibet in the new era, earnestly implement the party's central decision and deployment, and strive to write a new chapter in the long-term stability and high-quality development of the snow-covered plateau.
——We must always adhere to the leadership of the party and unswervingly follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Without the Communist Party, there would be no New China, and there would be no New Tibet. Only by adhering to the leadership of the Party and following the path of socialism can Tibet develop and prosper. This is a truth that has been proved by the 70-year history of development.
It is necessary to thoroughly study and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s "July 1st" speech. From the party’s hundred-year struggle, we must deeply understand that the leadership of the party is the choice of history and the people, and deeply understand where today’s happy life comes from and who is serving the people of all ethnic groups. Strive unremittingly to live a good life, learn from history, increase credibility with reason, and constantly resolutely listen to and follow the party's ideological and action consciousness.
-It is necessary to consolidate and develop Tibet's good situation of harmony and stability, and ensure national security and the stability of its borders.
The overall situation of Tibetan society continues to be stable and improving, and the hard-won achievements must be cherished.
It is necessary to accurately grasp the phased characteristics of work in Tibet, strengthen and innovate social governance, and rely closely on the cadres and masses of all ethnic groups to build a solid iron and bronze wall in the struggle against separatism.
It is necessary to adhere to the direction of the sinicization of religion in our country, actively guide Tibetan Buddhism to adapt to the socialist society, and unite religious figures and believers to contribute to the maintenance of national security and social harmony.
The 70-year history of Tibet's development proves that unity and stability are a blessing, and division and chaos are a curse.
No external forces have the right to point fingers at Tibet affairs, and any attempts and tricks to split Tibet will end in failure.
-It is necessary to promote the cause of national unity and progress based on forging the consciousness of the Chinese nation's community as the main line.
The Chinese nation is a big family, and everything is prosperous at home.
Only by forging the consciousness of the Chinese nation's community, each nation's hearts and minds, can we gather the majestic power to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
We must persist in combining the education of national unity and progress propaganda with socialist core values education, patriotism education, anti-separatism education, comparison education of old and new Tibet, and education of Marxist views on the country, history, nation, culture, and religion. Strengthen the recognition of the people of all ethnic groups with the great motherland, the Chinese nation, Chinese culture, the Communist Party of China, and socialism with Chinese characteristics, and lay a solid ideological foundation for national unity.
Cultural identity is the root of ethnic unity, and Chinese culture has always been the emotional bond and spiritual belonging of all ethnic groups in Tibet.
It is necessary to comprehensively strengthen the national common language education, establish Chinese cultural symbols and the image of the Chinese nation shared by all ethnic groups, and build a common spiritual home for the Chinese nation.
It is necessary to inherit and protect Tibet’s excellent traditional culture, and promote creative transformation and innovative development.
——We must adhere to the people-centered development concept and promote high-quality economic and social development.
Development is the basis for promoting common prosperity and achieving long-term stability. All development in Tibet must be endowed with the meaning of national unity and progress, and must be endowed with the meaning of improving people's livelihood and uniting people's hearts, and must be conducive to enhancing the sense of gain, happiness, and happiness of the people of all ethnic groups. sense of security.
It is necessary to fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development concept, serve and integrate into the new development pattern, and blaze a path of high-quality development in line with Tibet's reality.
It is necessary to consolidate the results of poverty alleviation, comprehensively promote the revitalization of the countryside, and implement the actions to rejuvenate the border and enrich the people, and do a good job of the people's livelihood one by one, so that the people of all ethnic groups will have a better sense of gain, a more sustainable sense of happiness, and a more secure sense of security.
The Party Central Committee’s investment and support for Tibet’s development will only increase, but will not decrease.
As long as the central care and national support are organically combined with self-reliance and hard work, Tibet and the whole country will be able to achieve comprehensive modernization together!
——We must firmly establish the concept that green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains, and ice and snow are also golden mountains and silver mountains, and build an ecological civilization highland.
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the roof of the world and the Asian water tower. Protecting the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau ecology is the greatest contribution to the survival and development of the Chinese nation.
With an attitude of being responsible to history, to the people, and to the world, we must unswervingly follow the path of ecological priority and green development, promote the construction of major ecological projects, and strengthen the management of landscapes, forests, fields, lakes, sand and ice systems.
The central government supports Tibet to create a national ecological civilization construction demonstration zone, supports the development of comprehensive ecological compensation pilots, and supports comprehensive scientific research on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
We have the confidence and ability to make the sky in the snow-covered plateau always blue, the water always clear, and the air always clean.
Comrades, friends!
The stalwart Himalayas have witnessed the vicissitudes of Tibet since the peaceful liberation, and the galloping Yarlung Zangbo River is playing the grand movement of Tibet's development and progress in the new era.
Let us unite closely around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, carry forward the great party-building spirit, inherit the "old Tibet spirit" and the "two-way spirit", in order to build a united, prosperous, civilized, harmonious and beautiful socialist modern new Tibet, and to realize China Unremitting struggle for the Chinese dream of the great national rejuvenation!
I wish the great motherland prosperous and strong!
I wish the people of all ethnic groups in Tibet happiness and health!
Tashi Delek!