WASHINGTON, May 6--Chinese authorities have tapped two new leaders of theTibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) government and could install them at anytime, Radio Free Asia (RFA) has learned.
The change appears to be aimed at handing control of Tibet to officials whomChinese President Hu Jintao already knows and trusts, according to sourceswho asked not to be named. The rapid spread of the deadly SARS virus throughfar-flung Chinese provinces and autonomous regions could hasten the change,they told RFA�s Tibetan service.
The authorities would replace Guo Jinlong with Yang Chuantang in the numberone spot, as secretary of the TAR Communist Party. Yang is currently deputysecretary. It would also replace Raidi (eds: one name) with Jampa Phuntsokin the number two position, as chairman of the Standing Committee of the TARPeople's Congress.
Jampa Phuntsok is currently vice chairman of the Standing Committee of theTAR People's Congress. Raidi will move to Beijing to take up a new post asvice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
Both of the new leaders are expected to continue the Chinese government'scurrent policies toward Tibet, which encourage economic modernization butkeep a tight rein on political and religious activities.
Some analysts expect Beijing to appoint a new official to the number threeposition, as governor of Tibet, as well.
No further details were immediately available.
Chinese President Hu Jintao served from 1988-1993 as party secretary inTibet, where he was charged with running the TAR after anti-Chinese riotsthere. Hu imposed martial law in 1989 and took a hard line againstsubsequent uprisings.
Yang Chuantang, designated as the new secretary of the TAR Communist Party,was transferred to the TAR to become its vice governor in 1993. He laterbecame executive governor of the region and a deputy secretary. JampaPhuntsok, a Tibetan, served as Communist Party secretary for ChamdoPrefecture (in Chinese, Changdu Zhuanqu) and was later transferred to theTibetan capital, Lhasa, as Lhasa City party secretary.
Guo Jinlong, born in Nanjing in 1947, served as deputy secretary of theSichuan Provincial Party Committee before coming to Tibet in 1993. He alsoserved as deputy secretary of the TAR Party until he was elected secretaryof the TAR Party in 2000, replacing Chen Kuiyuan. Guo's next job wasn'timmediately known.
Raidi is a Tibetan born in Driru, Nagchu (in Chinese, Naqu Zhuanqu) in 1938.He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1961 and became deputy secretary ofthe TAR Party Committee in 1985. He was selected as chairman of the StandingCommittee of TAR� People�s Congress in 1993. He has led the TAR delegationto the National People�s Congress, China's parliament, for years.