First Time Visiting Tibet As President, Xi Jinping Visits Dalai Lama's Palace

JAKARTA - Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Tibet autonomous region on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the Xinhua news agency. It is the first visit by China's supreme leader in three decades to Tibet.

In footage released on Friday by Chinese state television station CCTV, President Xi is seen greeting crowds dressed in ethnic costumes and waving Chinese flags as he arrives in Tibet.

After a warm welcome by cadres and masses of all ethnic groups, President Xi went to the Nyang River Bridge to review the ecological and environmental protection processes of the Yarlung Tsangpo River and the Nyang River, CCTV quoted by CNA, Friday, July 23.

Next, President Xi also visited the Nyingchi City Planning Museum and other areas to see urban development planning, rural revitalization, and urban park development.

On Thursday, President Xi headed to Nyingchi Railway Station to review the planning of the Sichuan - Tibet Railway project, before taking the train to Lhasa.

Arriving in Lhasa, President Xi visited a monastery and the Potala Palace Square, and then toured the Tibetan cultural heritage, Xinhua said.

The Potala Palace is the traditional home of the exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who has long been branded a dangerous separatist by Beijing.

Tibet, which lies on China's border with India, is seen as of critical strategic importance to Beijing. Last year, China and India experienced the most serious tensions in decades on their disputed border in the Himalayas, with both Chinese and Indian casualties.

Photos released by Xinhua showed President Xi accompanied by Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission and a senior general in the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Tibet has alternated for centuries between independence and control by China, which says it peacefully liberated territory on the rugged highlands in 1951, bringing infrastructure and education to a previously underdeveloped region.

However, many exiled Tibetans accuse the central government of repressing their religion and eroding their culture. In 2008, riots broke out in Tibet, along with anger from residents who felt their cultural heritage was being 'disturbed' by China's rapid development.

Previously, Xi Jinping had visited Tibet twice, but not as president. First in 1998 as party leader of Fujian Province. Second in 2011 vice president. Meanwhile, the last Chinese President to visit was Jiang Zemin in 1990.

Separately, the International Campaign for Tibet Advocacy Group said on Thursday people in Lhasa reported unusual activities and monitoring of their movements, ahead of President Xi's visit. Streets were blocked, with security officers checking community activities.

Beijing continues to build on Tibet to ward off discontent, where people there have great respect for the Dalai Lama, resenting the entry of tourists and settlers from China.

Since 2008, China has poured investment into the region, making Tibet one of China's fastest-growing economies, according to local statistics.