China names new chief for Tibet

BEIJING: China’s ruling Communist Party appointed a new senior official on Sunday to run Tibet, considered one of the country’s most politically sensitive positions due to periodic anti-Chinese unrest in the devoutly Buddhist Himalayan region.

The official Xinhua news agency named Wu Yingjie as Tibet’s next party secretary.

New leaders were also appointed in two other key provinces, part of a broad reshuffle ahead of an important party meeting next year.

Wu has worked almost his entire career in Tibet, according to his official resume, having previously served as a deputy governor and propaganda chief, among other roles.

Wu, like his predecessor Chen Quanguo, belongs to China’s majority Han Chinese ethnic group.

Xinhua said Chen would be taking another position, without giving further details.

Communist troops marched in and took control of Tibet in 1950 in what Beijing calls a "peaceful liberation".