
Latest Articles about Tibet

Yarlung Tsangpo Hydropower Fuels PRC’s Energy-Computing Strategy
Executive Summary: Tibet’s Yarlung Tsangpo hydropower project, which broke ground in July, is set to become the world’s largest hydrpower installation. Officials see it as a key pillar of the PRC’s energy sovereignty and a step toward implementing the “total national security concept” and the... MORE

Xi Jinping’s Visit to Lhasa Elevates Tibet in National Policymaking Agenda
Executive Summary: Xi Jinping’s third trip to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) underscores its importance to his agenda at the national level. His Tibet policy emphasizes regional stability, economic development, ecological conservation, and border defense, but the top priority remains stability. The ceremony, which celebrated... MORE

Tibet-Aid Program at 30: Driving Tibet’s Development in Xi’s ‘New Era’
Executive Summary: The Tibet-Aid Program (TAP), a principal driver of development in Tibet, has ramped up significantly under Xi Jinping’s rule. The TAP has, throughout its 30-year history, sought to use material development to placate local tensions that have periodically arisen from the Party’s governance... MORE

Economic and Technological Zones: Economic Strategy in the Tibet Autonomous Region
Executive Summary: New Economic and Technology Development Zones (ETDZs) in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) are focused on pockets of the Han population, which will exacerbate tensions within the region. The Tibetan economy is already largely under Han control (except for in the agriculture and... MORE

China Alters Status Quo Along Bhutan Border
Executive Summary: The PRC’s claims over Bhutanese territory have expanded over the years, including recent large-scale construction in disputed valleys, which contradicts the 1998 agreement to maintain the status quo, challenging Bhutanese sovereignty and raising strategic concerns for India. The PRC is pushing to resolve... MORE

The Clash at Tawang: Tensions Rise on the China-India Border
Introduction On December 9, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Indian army clashed at Yangtse along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Tawang Sector in Arunachal Pradesh resulting in injuries on both sides. Following the incident, the local Indian commander held a... MORE

Keep Calm and Carry On: Xi Jinping Takes a Page From the Book of Jiang Zemin
On November 30, with mass protests only recently suppressed in Beijing and Shanghai and still simmering in Guangzhou and Chongqing, state media notified the “whole party, army and country” that former General Secretary Jiang Zemin, who led the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from mid-1989 to... MORE

Will Mass Protests Force Xi to Change Course on Zero-COVID?
The apparent failure by Beijing to determine new ways to handle the COVID-19 pandemic given what many consider the largest mass protests since the student movement of 1989 has exposed the limited abilities of the new Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership to handle unexpected events... MORE

The Long Shadow of the 1962 War and the China-India Border Dispute
Introduction In the war that India and China fought between October 20 and November 20, 1962, India not only suffered a humiliating defeat but also lost a chunk of territory in Aksai Chin in Ladakh in eastern Jammu and Kashmir. Sixty years later, the Indian... MORE

With an Eye on Tibet, China Reacts Warily to Warming U.S.-Nepal Ties
Introduction U.S. Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzra Zeya’s three-day visit to Nepal in May evoked a strong reaction from China. During the visit, Zeya, who is also President Joseph Biden’s Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, met with an... MORE