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Chinese President Xi Jinping has made a rare visit to Tibet, underscoring Beijing’s push to tighten control over the region as it marked the 60th anniversary of its designation as an autonomous region of China.

Speaking before a crowd of around 20,000 in Lhasa, Xi avoided any mention of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, but said there was a need to “guide Tibetan Buddhism to adapt to socialist society”.

 

The remarks highlighted Beijing’s effort to reshape the region’s cultural and religious identity in line with Communist Party authority.

This was Xi’s second visit to the tightly controlled Himalayan territory as president and was viewed as both a political statement and a personal test of endurance for the 72-year-old leader in the high-altitude capital.

 

State media gave the tour extensive coverage, presenting it as a celebratory event, with images of Xi greeted by Tibetan dancers and cheering crowds.

Beijing’s firm grip over Tibet

Beijing has used the anniversary to signal that it is doing everything possible to consolidate its hold over Tibet. Earlier this month, Chinese authorities announced plans for a massive railway line linking Tibet with the northwestern province of Xinjiang.

In his Lhasa speech, Xi stressed that “to govern, stabilise and develop Tibet, the first thing is to maintain political stability, social stability, ethnic unity and religious harmony”. He also praised local officials for their “thorough efforts against separatism,” a reference to decades of resistance by Tibetans against Chinese rule.

Rights groups and Tibetan exiles described the visit as an attempt to gloss over what they called systematic suppression. “For Tibetans, the anniversary of the People’s Republic of China’s creation of the Tibet Autonomous Region is no cause of celebration, but a painful reminder of China’s colonial occupation,” Dorjee Tseten, Asia Programme Manager at the Tibet Action Institute and a member of Tibet’s exiled Parliament, told The New York Times.

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Visit follows Dalai Lama succession remarks

The visit came just two months after the Dalai Lama reiterated that his office, and not China, would decide on his successor. Beijing insists that only it has the authority to oversee the succession of the 90-year-old leader, who has long advocated a “middle way” approach seeking genuine autonomy for Tibet within China.

Robert Barnett, a scholar of Tibet at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, told The New York Times that the succession issue is a symbolic battleground. “The succession of the Dalai Lama is a symbolic battleground and symbolic opportunity for the party to make a fundamental claim about who rules Tibet,” he said. However, he added that it did not pose an “existential threat” to Chinese power and that Xi’s trip reflected broader ambitions to strengthen control.

Religious and cultural control

China maintains that Tibetans are free to practise their religion. But human rights organisations say that centuries-old traditions are being undermined through tighter state controls. In June, a BBC team visiting a monastery in Sichuan province reported that monks accused the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of “oppression and persecution” and said Tibetans were being denied basic human rights. Beijing rejected those claims, insisting that living standards for Tibetans have improved under its rule.

The CCP has pursued policies requiring Tibetan children to attend state-run schools where Mandarin is the language of instruction. In his meetings with local officials during the visit, Xi called for closer supervision of “religious affairs” and reaffirmed the need to integrate Tibetan Buddhism into China’s socialist framework.

Development projects and border security

Xi’s trip also coincided with major development projects in the region. Last month, construction began on what is expected to be the world’s largest dam, the Motuo Hydropower Station, on the Yarlung Tsangpo River. The project, costing 1.2 trillion yuan ($167 billion), is expected to generate three times the energy of the Three Gorges Dam.

While Beijing says the project will prioritise ecological protection and boost prosperity, experts and officials in neighbouring countries fear it could allow China to control water flows into India’s Arunachal Pradesh and Assam states, as well as into Bangladesh, where the river feeds the Siang, Brahmaputra and Jamuna rivers.

China has also announced plans to build a Tibet-Xinjiang railway line running through Aksai Chin and close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India. The proposed projects underscore the strategic significance of Tibet for Beijing, not only as a domestic issue but also in terms of its regional influence.

Exiled Tibetans voice criticism

Exiled Tibetan officials said Xi’s presence in Lhasa signalled Beijing’s continuing unease about its hold over Tibet. “The Chinese have found themselves on the back foot,” Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa, an official from the Dalai Lama’s office in northern India, told The New York Times. He described the visit as “another attempt by China to legitimise its occupation of Tibet,” particularly after the Dalai Lama’s firm statements on succession.

Chinese state media framed the visit differently, reporting that Xi laid out four priorities for Tibet: maintaining stability, promoting development, protecting the environment and strengthening border security. He also encouraged wider use of China’s national language and script, along with expanding cultural and economic exchanges with other parts of the country.

Xi’s broader message

For Beijing, Xi Jinping's this uncommon trip was purposed to signal strength and unity, both domestically and internationally. The combination of these symbolic gestures, such as mass rallies as well cultural displays, with the announcement of large-scale infrastructure projects reflects the dual strategy of consolidating authority while projecting development as a justification for Chinese rule.

Despite the official narrative in the world, human rights groups do argue that Tibetans continue to face restrictions on cultural, religious and political freedoms. With ongoing migration of Han Chinese into Tibet and restrictions on journalists and foreign visitors, critics say the region remains under one of the most intrusive systems of surveillance and control in the world.

Xi’s visit, rare and tightly choreographed, underscored Beijing’s determination to secure Tibet through a blend of political authority, cultural assimilation and economic transformation—reinforcing its message that Tibetan identity must be reshaped to fit within China’s socialist system.