Xi Hammers Home Message of Control Over Tibet in Rare Visit

Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for his government to tighten its ethnic-assimilation campaign during a rare visit to Tibet, throwing a spotlight on a region that’s also been a source of tension with India even as the rivals improve ties.

Xi made his second-ever visit to Tibet as president to mark the 60th anniversary of its founding as an autonomous region of China. While he didn’t speak at a ceremony Thursday in the provincial capital Lhasa, attended by some 20,000 people and televised to the nation, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that Xi told local officials maintaining political stability, social order, ethnic solidarity and religious harmony are key for Tibet’s development.