China's Xi Jinping gets 'NorthKoreanesque' welcome on visit to Tibet; choreography evident

After Xi Jinping made a surprise visit to the Tibet autonomous region that is forcibly occupied by the Chinese, netizens were quick to draw parallels between the welcome he received upon his arrival in Lhasa to the grand choreographed receptions Kim Jong-un  and his predecessors have got over the years in North Korea. Netizens coined the phrase 'NorthKoreanesque' for the what they saw Xi receiving. 

A mock account on Twitter 'Dedicated to Chairman Xi and learning Chinese' with the username 'Xi Jinping Looking At Things' shared grand reception of China's President at Tibet terming it as 'NorthKoreanesque'

"Northkoreanesque" reception at Nyingchi airport, Tibet, July 21, 2021,"

China has made it mandatory to adhere to the 'One China' policy, recognising Tibet and Taiwan as an integral part of the country. Beijing made the 'One-China' policy a prerequisite for countries to establish diplomatic ties with it. It also blamed the western anti-China forces for continuing to interfere in 'Tibetan affairs' in an attempt to sabotage its social stability.

'China destroying Tibet's identity'

The public appearing to be gleeful in the aforementioned Twitter post vehemently contradicts the nature of tyranny Tibetans are compelled to undergo. Comparable to the North Korean regime, subdued Tibet locals were perhaps forced to put up a show for the leader they never chose, netizens inferred. 

Speaking to Republic, the President-elect of the Tibetan government in exile Tsering said, "The Chinese community is completely overwhelming our minority community and destroying its identity, amounting to a certain level of cultural genocide." "Tibetan Buddhists' freedom of religion is being violated., he added, referring to the placement of surveillance cameras in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. 

Chinese invasion of Tibet

Following the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950, Xi Jinping is the first Chinese leader to have visited the rare sites in Tibet. Tibetans and Chinese soldiers clashed violently during the 1959 Tibetan uprising and after a failed revolt against Chinese sovereignty, the 14th Dalai Lama escaped to India. Tensin Gyatso is the highest Tibetan Buddhist leader and is called the Dalai Lama who fled China and set up the government-in-exile in India.

Tibet was "occupied by China in a calculated and systematic strategy aimed at the destruction of their national and cultural identities,” Tibetan leadership-in-exile's President-elect Penpa Tsering had told Republic TV in an exclusive conversation.

The oppression continued for over 8 years until the Tibetans, aiming to overthrow the Chinese, initiated a full-swing civil uprising. The results, however, were nowhere close to the expectations and, in fact, led to a complete downfall of the Tibetan Government and the self-imposed exile of Dalai Lama along with 100,000 Tibetans, established the Tibetan Government-in-exile, headquartered in Dharmsala, Himachal Pradesh. Exiled Tibetans chose Penpa Tsering in elections held in January and April. It was the third direct election of the Tibetan exile leadership since the Dalai Lama withdrew from any political role in the running of the exile government in 2011. Nearly 64,000 Tibetans living in exile in India, Nepal, North America, Europe, Australia and elsewhere voted.

Penpa Tsering was born in India after his parents fled Tibet after the failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. "Since I haven't seen my own country, we are basically Indians in that sense," he had said