China Marks 60 years of Control of Tibet

Festivities marking 60 years of the Tibet Autonomous Region

There was a big party on Lhasa to mark the 60th anniversary of the Communist Party of China's governance of Xizang or Tibet with a massive parade complete with goose-stepping soldiers, colourful floats and dancers dressed in costumes representing 56 ethnic minorities.

President Xi Jinping was on hand to witness the celebrations. One China expert pointed out Xi's appearance should put to rest any rumours of the leader's health as it would not be a good idea for a 72-year-old with health issues to go to Lhasa, which is at 3,636 metres above sea level.

Xi made his second trip to Tibet since 2021

The last time Xi visited Tibet was in 2021, his first trip there. But interestingly this time Xi did not speak.

Wang Huning, China's No. 4 official, said that since the 18th party congress in 2012, under Xi's guidance and comprehensive plan, "Tibet has entered its best period of development, experiencing the greatest changes and bringing the most tangible benefits to people of all ethnic groups".

During the parade, floats representing several different cities drove past Xi and the audience at the foot of the Potala Palace. 

While China regards this anniversary as one that benefitted Xizang, others see it as six decades of iron fist control over the religious region that used to be governed by the Dalai Lama. 

Military strength on display at the anniversary

In March 1959, the Tibetan spiritual leader fled by foot across the border to India and settled in Dharamshala, where he and his entourage and followers have been ever since.

Six years later the Communist Part established the Tibet Autonomous Region, after Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Guangxi, and Ningxia.

The Dalai Lama has been playing a political game of chess with the CPC over who and where the next leader will be. In early July he said he will have a successor that he himself will appoint and "no-one else has any authority to interfere in this matter".

According to Tibetan tradition, Dalai Lamas are "reincarnated" after they die. 

However, Beijing claims the religious leader's successor would be from inside China and must be approved by the government.

Walz's Passionate, Nuanced Stance on China

Hope, Gus, Tim and Gwen Walz at the DNC in Chicago tonight

Tonight US vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz took to the stage of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and explained to the audience who he was, and what he stood for. 

He is a former soldier, high school teacher, and football coach who was the brains behind labelling Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance as "weird".

During his 20-minute speech, Walz talked about growing up in Minnesota in a small town of 400 people, how there were only 24 students in his graduating class and how he and his wife spent years trying to conceive a baby and now have a son and a daughter.

Walz addressed Democrat delegates

He mentioned how they, Hope and Gus and his wife Gwen, "you are my entire world, and I love you", to which Gus, Walz's 17-year-old who has ADHD and a non-verbal learning disorder, jumped to his feet crying and pointed to his father and said, "I love you dad."

While Walz has shown himself to be a family man, he is also well versed in geopolitics, in particular China. He has had on-the-ground experience being there, having taught English and American history in Foshan, Guandong province in 1989. 

At the time Walz was 25 years old, fresh out of college and signed up for Harvard University's WorldTeach program, where he was one of the "first government sanctioned groups of American educators" to arrive in China after reform and opening up.

And yes 1989 was the year of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations.

"It was my belief at that time that diplomacy was going to happen on many levels, certainly people to people," Walz recalled during a 2014 congressional hearing commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown. "The opportunity to be in a Chinese high school at that critical time seemed to me to be really important."

He has met HK activist Joshua Wong

He did go up to Beijing see Tiananmen Square after the massacre was over.

That one year teaching in China made an impression on Walz, so much that he and his wife not only married on June 4, 1994, but also honeymooned there. Subsequently he made some 30 trips there promoting student cultural exchanges.

While Republicans are trying to label Walz as a panda hugger, he is not. Walz has shown his support for Tibet and Hong Kong, having met the Dalai Lama and activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung. 

It is Walz's personal experiences in China that help shape his nuanced view of the country and its politics, which will serve him well should he and Kamala Harris get voted into the White House.