Full text: Communist Party of China Policies on the Governance of Xizang in the New Era: Approach and Achievements

III. Solid Progress in Ethnic and Religious Undertakings

Developing a stronger sense of the Chinese nation as one community is the Party’s top priority in managing ethnic affairs in the new era and a strategic task in governing Xizang. Committed to this mission, the region has strengthened its work related to ethnic affairs and consolidated the socialist ethnic relationship of equality, solidarity, mutual assistance, and harmony. It manages religious affairs in accordance with the law, fully guarantees freedom of religious belief, maintains harmony and stability in the religious field, and helps religion to adapt to the socialist society.

– Heightening the sense of Chinese identity

A shared sense of belonging for the Chinese nation has been consolidated. Xizang has compiled and published textbooks and readers on ethnic solidarity and progress, such as The Readers on Building a Stronger Sense of National Identity. Communication platforms featuring internet plus ethnic solidarity have been launched. The One Nation One Dream campaign was conducted in an effort to guide all ethnic groups to understand that they are in a community with shared joys and sorrows, and weal and woe. During major celebrations such as the Serf’s Emancipation Day, the Peaceful Liberation Day of Xizang, and the Month for Promoting Ethnic Solidarity and Progress, Party and government departments, schools, enterprises, public institutions, and urban and rural communities organize popular activities such as knowledge contests and cultural performances on ethnic solidarity and progress. A theme park has been built to present a visual image of the Chinese nation as one community, creating a strong bond among all ethnic groups and inspiring them to move forward in unity and solidarity.

Exchanges, communication and integration among ethnic groups have been strengthened. Local communities in the region have formed multi-ethnic neighborhoods, where people of various ethnicities reside, learn from each other, and enjoy life together. A number of exemplary multi-ethnic harmonious neighborhoods (residential communities/families) mixing Han, Tibetan, Hui, and Mongolian people, such as the Wabaling community in Lhasa, have emerged. Puna Village in Qewa Township of Rinbung County, Xigaze City, is a newly established settlement of 59 households from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The villagers spontaneously included the term “solidarity” into the community regulations and agreed to host a solidarity forum annually for consultation on common development.

China has promoted mutual learning and common progress among students of all ethnicities. In 17 provinces and municipalities that provide assistance to Xizang, employment service and liaison offices have been set up for graduates of Xizang universities to find employment or business opportunities beyond their own region. The graduate employment rate has been maintained above 95 percent for years. Large household businesses in crop and animal farming, entrepreneurs, and agriculture-related businesses are encouraged to invest in Xizang. The autonomous region today is a place for unity, common prosperity and development among all ethnic groups.

– Further promoting ethnic solidarity and progress

Work to facilitate ethnic solidarity and progress has been carried out effectively. Efforts have been made to establish model communities of ethnic unity and progress to promote exchanges and integration of various ethnic groups. Tours have been organized to such cities and counties. In 2020, the region promulgated the Regulations on Building a Model Region for Ethnic Solidarity and Progress in the Xizang Autonomous Region. In 2021, the Plan for Building a Model Region for Ethnic Solidarity and Progress in the Xizang Autonomous Region (2021-2025) was introduced. At the national level, 140 groups and 189 individuals in Xizang were honored by the State Council as models of ethnic solidarity and progress. Seven cities/prefectures including Lhasa were recognized as national demonstration cities. The story of Raidi, recipient of the national honorary title Outstanding Contributor to Ethnic Solidarity, was widely disseminated. People across the region were encouraged to emulate sisters Drolkar and Yangzom as models of the times for ethnic solidarity.

The fight against infiltration, subversion and secession continues. In accordance with the general requirements of safeguarding national security and the region’s specific circumstances, and upholding the rule of law in the governance of the region, Xizang adopts a proactive approach to combat secessionism. The reactionary nature of the Dalai Group has been exposed and denounced, and the regional government relies closely on the people of all ethnicities to resist all forms of secession and sabotage. It is now deeply rooted in the people’s minds across the region that unity and stability are a blessing, while division and unrest lead to disaster. They are ever more determined to safeguard the country’s unity, national sovereignty, and ethnic solidarity.

– Fully guaranteeing the freedom of religious belief

Religious activities are carried out in an orderly manner. The region today hosts over 1,700 sites for Tibetan Buddhism activities, approximately 46,000 Buddhist monks and nuns, four mosques, about 12,000 native Muslims, and one Catholic church with over 700 believers. Over 1,700 religious and folk activities including the Shoton Festival, Butter Lamp Festival, Saga Dawa Festival, and the walks around lakes and mountains help to preserve the solemn traditional rituals and demonstrate new vitality with modern cultural elements. Reincarnation of living Buddhas is a practice recognized and respected by the government at all levels. In 2007, the State-Issued Measures on the Management of the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas of Tibetan Buddhism stipulated the principles that should be followed, the conditions that should be met, and the application and approval procedures that should be implemented. It also specified that reincarnated Tibetan living Buddhas, including Dalai Lamas and Panchen Rinpoches, must be looked for within the country, decided through the practice of lot-drawing from the golden urn, and receive approval from the central government. The reincarnation of living Buddhas has been carried out in an orderly manner ever since. In 2016, an online system has been launched to help obtain information about living Buddhas. By the end of 2022, 93 newly reincarnated living Buddhas have been approved and recognized.

Public services at monasteries and temples have been effectively guaranteed. Much work has been done since 2015 to promote the construction of medical clinics in monasteries and temples, train doctor-monks, improve the social security system for monks and nuns, raise their social security benefits year by year, and provide them with social public services. The government provides over RMB26 million per annum to cover medical insurance, pension schemes, subsistence allowances, accident injury insurance, and health check expenses for all registered monks and nuns. Great efforts have gone into improving infrastructure in monasteries and temples to modernize study and living conditions for monks and nuns; most monasteries and temples now have access to roads, telecommunications, electricity, water, radio and television.

– Conducting Tibetan Buddhist activities in an orderly manner

Law-based management of religious affairs has made steady progress. Fully implementing the Party’s basic policy on religious affairs, Xizang has guided Tibetan Buddhism in adapting to socialist society, and moved faster to improve the institutions and standards for managing religious affairs in accordance with the law. Measures of the Xizang Autonomous Region on Implementing the Regulations on Religious Affairs, Measures of the Xizang Autonomous Region on the Management of Major Religious Activities and Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Measures on the Management of Living Buddha Reincarnation of Tibetan Buddhism have been issued and implemented to safeguard the legal rights and interests and order of religious society, properly resolve religion-related differences and disputes, improve monastery management, and promote religious harmony.

Tibetan Buddhist studies and the training of adepts have been strengthened. In the context of Xizang’s actual situation, efforts have been made to raise awareness among religious groups that activities must be carried out in accordance with laws and regulations, and to promote efforts to standardize, institutionalize, and modernize the internal management of Tibetan Buddhist society. While promoting the integration of traditional and modern education, degrees and titles, new efforts have been made to standardize the three-level title system and cultivate patriotic and knowledgeable talent in monks and nuns. As of the end of 2022, 164 monks had been accredited as Geshe Lharampas and 273 monks had earned the highest Thorampa ranking. From 2016 to 2022, the Xizang branch of the Buddhist Association of China held annual meetings on the interpretation of Tibetan Buddhist sutras; the China Tibetology Research Center hosted annual seminars on the interpretation of Tibetan Buddhism doctrines and published 11 books, such as Interpretive Notes for Tibetan Buddhism Doctrines (Trial Edition)and Collections of Studies on Interpretive Notes for Tibetan Buddhism Doctrines, promoting in-depth study on the precepts and doctrines of Tibetan Buddhism.

IV. Sustained and Stable Social Development

The CPC policies on the governance of Xizang in the new era have emphasized the importance of accurately understanding the present work in Xizang, strengthening social governance, and safeguarding national security, social stability, and the people’s wellbeing. With a focus on safeguarding national unification and strengthening ethnic unity, the local government of Xizang has constantly improved its working mechanisms and governance capacity. All of this is helping to lay a solid foundation for long-term development. As a result, Xizang has enjoyed sustained and steady social development, and the people’s sense of gain, fulfilment and security continues to grow.

– All-round progress of social undertakings

Educational undertakings have achieved high-quality development. A modern education system encompassing preschools, primary and secondary schools, vocational and technical schools, institutions of higher learning, and continuing and special education institutions is in place. Progressively since 2012, Xizang has eliminated the problem of students dropping out of school. It has established a student financial assistance system covering all stages of education for every student from disadvantaged families. From 2012 to 2022, the central government invested more than RMB251.51 billion in Xizang’s education. At present, the region has 3,409 schools of various types and at various levels, hosting over 944,000 students. The gross enrollment rate for preschool education has reached 89.52 percent. The completion rate for compulsory education has reached 97.73 percent. The gross enrollment rate in senior high schools is 91.07 percent. The results of the seventh national census showed that the number of college or university graduates per 100,000 inhabitants in Xizang had risen from 5,507 in 2010 to 11,019 in 2020. New entries into the region’s workforce now have an average of 13.1 years of education.

Greater efforts have been made to ensure decent housing. Xizang has stepped up the construction of government-subsidized affordable homes in urban areas and the relocation of people in rural areas. It spares no effort in the renovation of dilapidated residential areas, shanty towns, and dilapidated rural houses. It is also increasing the supply of public rental houses. The region has launched a project to ensure heating in urban areas, especially in the five county seats located across cold and high-altitude areas and border areas. Since 2016, the central government has provided RMB1.71 billion in subsidies to help 43,600 households in farming and pastoral areas who fall into the four categories, including registered poor households, to renovate their sub-standard homes. It has also supported the renovation of sub-standard homes and improved the earthquake resistance of rural housing for key groups including the newly registered low-income group in rural areas. In 2022, the per-capita living space of urban residents in Xizang reached 44.82 square meters, and that of farmers and herders 40.18 square meters. The people enjoy a steady improvement in housing conditions.

Public health services have been strengthened. The region provides a comprehensive public healthcare system covering regular basic medical services, maternity and childcare, disease prevention and control, and Tibetan medicine and therapies. The assistance by medical professionals in groups to Xizang has made remarkable progress. Relevant provinces and municipalities have offered pairing-up assistance to Xizang, helping the region build six more Grade-A tertiary hospitals, train 1,165 medical teams with a total of 3,192 local medical workers, and plug 2,219 gaps in medical technology. Local patients can now obtain treatment for more than 400 serious diseases within the region and for more than 2,400 moderate diseases within the prefectural-level administrative units where they live; victims of minor diseases can receive timely treatment at county-level hospitals. The death rate of women in childbirth dropped to 45.8 per 100,000 in 2022 from 5,000 per 100,000 in the early 1950s, and the infant mortality rate declined from 430‰ to 7‰. Over the same period, average life expectancy has increased to 72.19 years. Endemic diseases such as hydatidosis and Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) and common diseases such as congenital heart disease and cataracts have been eradicated or brought under effective prevention and control. Xizang has effectively curbed the widespread occurrence of KBD through integrated prevention and control measures, such as improving water quality, changing diets, and relocating residents out of endemic areas. KBD has been eliminated in all of the region’s 54 counties previously plagued by the disease. Since 2018, no new KBD cases have been detected among children. In 2012, the region launched a program to cure children with congenital heart disease. To date, the program has carried out over 3.66 million screenings. A total of 6,246 children have received interventional or surgical treatment at hospitals in Xizang and other places in the country. The overwhelming majority of those children have been cured.

A basic multi-tiered social security system has been established. Xizang has progressively integrated urban and rural social security networks, and established and improved a fair, unified, and sustained category-specific and multi-tiered social security system that covers all residents and coordinates urban and rural areas. The surveyed urban unemployment rate has remained below the national average and the number of families with no one in work has been steadily reduced to zero. A mechanism to set and regularly adjust the payment standard of basic pension schemes for urban and rural residents has been established, ensuring that it increases in parallel with economic growth. A total of 3.43 million people are covered by basic medical insurance, more than 95 percent of the total population in the region. The maximum reimbursement rate of inpatient medical expenses covered by basic medical insurance has surpassed 90 percent. More Tibetan medicines are being included in the National Essential Medicines List (Ethnic Medicines). A special treatment policy has been extended to cover 38 serious diseases. Patients can now settle their medical bills covered by medical insurance at one time on a cross-provincial basis.

– Steady achievements in building a safe Xizang

Concrete measures have been taken to achieve a higher standard of social stability. On a journey towards higher-level integrated governance, Xizang continues to strengthen social governance and makes every effort to build safe counties, safe townships, safe communities, safe institutions, safe monasteries, and safe schools. To forestall and defuse risks, Xizang has taken proactive action to meet people’s rational demands and resolve their immediate concerns. In dealing with social complaints and disputes, law, fairness and compassion are all taken into consideration to ensure problems are settled in a manner acceptable to all stakeholders. By establishing the “Langza mediation offices”, “Snow Lotus mediation offices”, and “rural sages mediation teams”, Xizang relies on and mobilizes the people to lay the social foundations allowing them to live and work in peace and contentment. Lhasa has been listed among “China’s happiest cities” seven times. The safety index of people of all ethnic groups in the region has stayed above 99 percent for years.

– Considerable improvement in social governance

There has been a significant improvement in social governance. Xizang has made consistent innovations to the social governance system. It has released documents such as the Plan for the Pilot Project of Promoting the Modernization of Municipal Social Governance in Xizang, the Opinions on Improving Diversified Dispute Settlement Mechanisms, and the Implementation Plan of the Xizang Autonomous Region for Carrying out Special Campaigns to Improve Rural Governance. The region has made steady progress in establishing a multi-dimensional and intelligent public security system by accelerating the construction of integrated management centers, smart cities and intelligent border defense.

Xizang has implemented a social service and management model at both urban and rural communities known as “household groups” to help maintain social order and increase family income and has carried out a campaign to consolidate the development foundation and benefit the people. It has continued to guide the public towards participating in social governance. As a result, a new social governance pattern led by Party committees, implemented by government departments, based on consultation, coordination and broad participation, and underpinned by the rule of law and science and technology has been established. Efforts have been made to create a social governance community in which all participate and share.

– Steady progress in safeguarding and developing border areas

Efforts have been made to develop border areas and improve people’s lives there. Xizang strives to build itself into a demonstration region for safeguarding, developing and bringing prosperity to border areas, with equal emphasis on stability and development. Plans and specific programs for developing villages and towns have been formulated. The measures for realizing moderate prosperity in all villages have been launched in line with the national strategy of rural revitalization. The region has improved infrastructure projects and public service facilities in border areas to ensure that people in farming and pastoral areas can find work near their homes. All these projects have contributed to reinforce the sense of the Chinese nation as one single community. Most villages and towns are enjoying improved infrastructure, flourishing businesses, better eco-environment, congenial living and working conditions, and economic prosperity and cultural development. Encouraged by notable improvement in their lives, the local residents are striving to become the conscientious guardians of the border areas and builders of happy homes.