NEWS//China installs a new CCP leader in Tibet

China has appointed a new party secretary for Tibet.

Tibetan Party Secretary

On October 18, Wang Junzheng, 58, became the new Chinese Communist Party Secretary in Tibet. The Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the Region is the highest authority in Tibet. The position's authority supersedes the authority of the Tibetan government.

China and the Uyghurs

Beijing has been rebuked globally for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and subjecting them to abuse including forced labor. However, Chinese authorities continue to deny all charges. For more on China's treatment of Uyghur Muslims tap here.

Wang's promotion is interpreted as a slap in the face of the United States and other Western countries that sanctioned him on March 22, 2021 for serious human rights violations in Xinjiang Province. Wang was the bureaucrat in charge of several re-education facilities and forced labor camps that imprisoned Uyghur Muslims.

Wang is China's highest-ranking official to be sanctioned over accusations of human rights violations during his tenure as the party's deputy secretary of the Xinjiang unit. He served as Xinjiang's security chief from 2019. He was promoted to political commissar of the paramilitary Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. While serving as commissar, he also held the post as deputy party chief.

A signal to Tibet

CCP's appointment of Wang is considered by Western observers to be a sign that China wants broaden its crackdown on Xinjiang Uyghurs and other Muslims, as well as on Tibetan Buddhists.

According to Bitter Winter, "Wang was the boss in Xinjiang of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), which the U.S. have described as a 'paramilitary structure' of the CCP. In fact, it is much more. In Xinjiang, the XPCC controls much of the economy, including the cotton industry, and is directly responsible for Uyghur forced labor. In addition, the XPCC directly administers several Xinjiang cities. It is not subject to the authority of Xinjiang authorities but answers directly to the Politburo in Beijing."

Tibet was a sovereign state before China’s invasion in 1950 when the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) entered northern Tibet.

Sources: New Dehlli TV, Bitter Winter, Mantra, Save Tibet