New ICT Report: Beijing Grooming Next Generation of Loyalist Leaders in Tibet
By Tenzin Chokyi
DHARAMSALA, 21 August: China is cultivating a new generation of leaders in Tibet who are expected to enforce Beijing’s assimilation policies, with political loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) taking precedence over meaningful Tibetan representation, according to a new report by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT).
The report, released on 18 August ahead of the CCP’s 21st Party Congress in 2027, says recent leadership appointments, the implementation of the new Ethnic Unity and Progress Law and the Party’s emphasis on “Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building” are together creating a more centralised and repressive governance framework in occupied Tibet.
ICT’s analysis found that Tibetans hold only 62 of 240 senior Party, government, security and judicial positions across Tibetan areas, accounting for 25.8%, while non-Tibetans occupy 178 positions, or 74.2%. No Tibetan currently serves as Party Secretary in any of the five provincial-level administrations covering Tibetan areas.
The report argues that the leadership changes expected in occupied Tibet and across China in the run-up to the 21st Party Congress are unlikely to alter Beijing’s approach. Instead, the next generation of leaders is likely to operate under two guiding frameworks — Xi Jinping’s Party-building doctrine and the Ethnic Unity and Progress Law, which came into force on 1 July.
According to ICT, the law provides the legal framework for policies that increasingly prioritise national security, political conformity and assimilation in areas including education, language, religion and culture. The organisation says its implementation is likely to further accelerate the shift towards Chinese-medium education and reduce the space for Tibetan language and cultural expression.
The report also identifies several potential leadership changes ahead of the Party Congress. It says Liu Jiang, currently Executive Deputy Secretary of the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) Party Committee, is likely to succeed Wang Junzheng as TAR Party Secretary when Wang’s term ends. Among Tibetan officials, ICT identifies TAR government chairman Karma Tseten, Executive Vice Chairman Tenpa and Tsering Thar, who was appointed head of the TAR United Front Work Department in June, as possible candidates for senior positions.
At the national level, ICT says Tibetans are unlikely to gain greater influence within the CCP’s senior leadership, even though Yan Jinhai, the only Tibetan among the full members of the 20th CCP Central Committee, and alternate members Karma Tseten, Phurbu Dhondup and Tsering Thar are all eligible by age to continue into the 21st Party Congress.
ICT also highlights the continued absence of Tibetans from senior positions in Beijing, including the United Front Work Department, which oversees Tibet policy. The report notes that no Tibetan has held a senior leadership position in the department since Sithar retired as vice minister in 2016.
The organisation contrasts the situation with the Central Tibetan Administration’s democratic system in exile and calls on governments, particularly the US and the European Union, to strengthen engagement with the CTA as the democratically elected representative of Tibetans.
The report concludes that Beijing is not merely preparing to replace individual officials but is shaping a new generation of leadership in Tibet around political reliability, ideological conformity and implementation of central policies.
