Dharamshala: Lobsang Gyaltsen, a Tibetan official from Dragyab County in Eastern Tibet well known for his support for the crackdown on the March 2008 Tibetan mass demonstrations, was this week appointed Vice-Governor of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR).State-run media Daily News reported that Gyaltsen, a Tibetan noted for his involvement with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and his support of the brutal crackdown against the March 2008 demonstrations in Tibet, was made Vice-Governor for Tibet at the Sixteenth Meeting of the Ninth NPC Standing Committee of the TAR on Thursday.
Gyaltsen, now 52, first joined the CCP in February 1976 to work with the Central Party School, the training place for future CCP officials, and in December 1986, became secretary of the Communist Youth League. From January 2003 to October 2006, Gyaltsen served as vice-chairman of Tibet Autonomous Region and in 2007 joined the TAR Standing Committee and served as vice-chairman of the United Front Work Departmenty party secretary.
Gyaltsen’s appointment follows that of under current TAR governor Pema Thinley, the ex-military leader and party secretary best known for his dismissive attitude toward traditional Tibetan culture.
The region’s previous governor Jampa Phuntsok suddenly resigned in January. It is suspected that the resignation was forced to make way for a governorship more obsequious to Beijing.
