Key facts
- Senior Chinese leader Wang Huning visited Tibet this week.
- Wang stressed the importance of social stability and enforcing a new ethnic unity law.
- He called for Tibetan Buddhism to be aligned with Communist Party priorities and Chinese culture.
- Wang's visit emphasized forging a unified national identity and implementing the party's strategy for governing Tibet.
China's fourth-ranking leader, Wang Huning, concluded a four-day tour of Tibet this week, emphasizing the need for social stability, the enforcement of a new ethnic unity law, and the alignment of Tibetan Buddhism with Communist Party doctrine. Wang, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, visited Lhasa and the Ngari prefecture, which borders India and Nepal.
During his visit, Wang stated that governing Tibet means first stabilizing it, and efforts must be made to consolidate a political and social environment of unity and stability. His remarks come weeks after a new Chinese law on ethnic unity took effect, which has drawn criticism from the U.S. and the European Union for providing Beijing a basis to act against those deemed to have undermined ethnic unity or incited separatism.