By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, Oct 18: Chinese authorities have ordered Tibetan residents in Lhasa to watch the televised coverage of the ongoing 20th Party Congress meeting of the Chinese Communist Party by forbidding them to leave their houses until the end of the sessions, according to sources cited by Radio Free Asia. Monasteries and schools in Tibetan areas were also instructed to watch the long proceedings of the CCP meet which will be underway for the week.
A source in Tibet cited by RFA said that Tibetans in Lhasa have been confined to their residence so that they can pay close attention to speeches of the top Chinese leaders, especially President Xi Jinping’s. “A few days ahead of the meeting, one person from each family was allowed to go out to pick up groceries and other essentials, but now no one is allowed to leave their home,” the source who wanted to remain anonymous said.
Furthermore, monks in Ngaba, Kardze and Golog prefectures in the so-called Sichuan and Qinghai areas are currently under orders as well to watch the Congress meet, another source wrote to RFA. “All the schools in the Ngaba, Khyungchu [Hongyuan], and Dzamthang [Rangtang] region have also been instructed to watch the Party Congress meetings from the beginning,” he further divulged.
President Xi Jinping in his two hour long address at the 20th Party Congress in Beijing on Sunday emphasized his commitment develop the military, and to continue with the zero-covid policy, resisting the idea of opening up the country despite widespread frustration and economic damage. Nearly 2,300 delegates on Sunday gathered at the Great Hall of the People near the Tiananmen Square in Beijing amid tight security. Xi, 69, will most likely be endorsed by the Party Congress for another five-year term in office, which means that he would become the most powerful authoritarian ruler in China since Mao Zedong.
