This year Tibet marks the 70th anniversary of peaceful liberation. A grand ceremony was held on Thursday in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, the iconic landmark of the autonomous region in China.
- More than 20,000 people from various ethnic groups attended the event held in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Following a national flag-raising ceremony and folk performance, several commemorative plaques and banners were presented to local officials by a central government delegation to Tibet to mark the occasion.
- Chinese President Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, wrote inscriptions “building a beautiful and happy Tibet and together fulfilling the great dream of national rejuvenation” on congratulatory plaques presented at the event.
- A congratulatory message from the CPC Central Committee, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the State Council, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and the Central Military Commission was read.
- Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, attended the gathering and presented congratulatory plaques and banners.
- Wang, who is leading a central delegation to Tibet, said the delegation is entrusted by the CPC Central Committee and Xi to jointly celebrate the 70th anniversary of Tibet’s peaceful liberation with people of all ethnic groups in Tibet.
- Wang called the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951 “a major victory in the cause of liberation of the Chinese people and China’s reunification,” saying it marked a historic transition with epoch-making significance for Tibet.
- “Since then, Tibet has embarked on a path from darkness to brightness, from backwardness to progress, from poverty to prosperity, from autocracy to democracy, and from closeness to openness,” Wang said. “A thriving socialist new Tibet is standing tall and firm at the rooftop of the world,” he added.
At present, Tibet has over 35,000 deputies of people’s congresses and over 8,000 CPPCC members at various levels, 90 percent of whom are ethnic minorities, Wang said.
