Picture of a dirt road tweeted by Bhutanese journalist Tenzing Lamsang who said it was the final stretch of road to Doklam from the Indian side in Sikkim. Photographer unknown
PTI
BEIJING, China, 29 June 2018
Chinese military stationed in Tibet has carried out a drill to test their logistics, armament support capabilities, and military-civilian integration in the remote Himalayan region, official media reported here today.
The drill carried out by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) units on Tuesday was the first such reported exercise in Tibet since the Doklam standoff.
State-run ‘Global Times’ which reported the drill also cited the PLA’s 13-hour long exercise conducted at an elevation of 4,600 metres in August last year.
Analysts hailed the Tuesday’s drill, which was held in cooperation with local companies and government, as an important move toward military-civilian integration, a strategy to realise the country’s goal of building a strong military in the new era, the report said.
An important component of the drill was the military-civilian integration strategy, a key component in Tibet where the Dalai Lama’s legacy still lingers on.
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has an adverse climate and complex topography. Over a long period of time, it is very difficult to provide soldiers with logistics and armament support, the report said.
To solve the difficulties in personnel survival, delivery, materiel supply, rescue, emergency maintenance, and road safety, the military has adopted a military-civilian integration strategy and constantly advanced logistics support capabilities, Zhang Wenlong, head of the command logistics support department, was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Zhang said that the drill aimed to explore a new mode of military-civilian integration in the plateau command following the reshuffle of the military system.
During the drill, a local petroleum company supplied fuel immediately when the armoured unit ran out of fuel and the city government of Lhasa delivered a steady flow of food to soldiers after a day of mock battle, the report said.
“The biggest challenge of battle at the high altitude is to provide sustainable logistics and armament support. In the 1962 China-India border conflict, China failed to protect its fruits of victory due to poor logistics support. Although local Tibetan residents provided soldiers with temporary support, it was not sustainable,” Song Zhongping, a military expert, told the Global Times.
“The drill showed that military-civilian integration is a feasible strategy and could help form stronger combat power,” he added.
What the Tibetans have failed to achieve in over a millennium, the Chinese have accomplished it in a generation; uniting the three great provinces of Tibet. A classic case of serendipity.
Now political circumstances in Tibet are forcing the Chinese to resuscitate the Tibetans’ mind set to military adventure — in order to accentuate sustainable logistics — after being sedated for centuries with Buddhist teachings of peace and nonviolence. A case of conundrum or paradox?
In the high plateau of Tibet, no other humans are better suited than the Tibetans to endure the rigors of high altitude because of our genetics.
The Chinese are insecure in their occupation of Tibet. They are now resorting to force the Tibetans to directly participate in their war games in Tibet. Its an attempt involve the local Tibetans by force to support the Chinese war effort. They don’t trust the Tibetans so they are using the locals both to provide intelligence, moral support & labour in their attempt to secure their colonial occupation. Whether they can buy loyalty from a population smarting under severe repression is debatable. However, the bigger problem for the Chinese is the morale of the PLA. Its a very corrupt organization and many of the PLA generals have been deposed for their corrupt behaviour by Xi. Besides, its deeply divided in their ranks and ethnic lines. The biggest dampner for the PLA morale is the fact that some 57 million Ex-PLA service men are treated very shabbily by the CCP. There is simmering tension which has been building over the years for their shoddy treatment by denying them proper pension & countless demostrations & petitions have fell on deaf ears.
They have been experiencing violence by the Chinese local and State authorities. The CCP is gravely concerned these men are all military men who can create havoc if they turn militant. This has also severely impacted
the PLA’s morale especially in a hostile environment like Tibet. Gone are the days of unquestioned loyalty to the communist cause. Its now a corrupt and divided entity which is like a toothless bull dog.