China said Jan 6 that its local government in Tibet autonomous region’s efforts to build a modern transportation network had brought the total length of highways in it open to traffic to 125,200 kilometres by the end of 2025. China’s road building in Tibet is more than anything else strategic – for strengthening control over a restive region, border militarisation, opening up mines located in remote hitherto inaccessible areas, and for furthering its Sinicization drive.
While China’s official chinadaily.com.cn cited this as improvement in safety and public transport, road building in Tibet is much more than that. It is highly strategic, opening up the region’s vast and often critically important mineral resources for exploitation and transport to China, for maintaining iron-fist control over a restive region, and asserting dominance over Tibet by engaging in territorial disputes with its neighbouring countries.
