Xi Jinping Honors Hu Yaobang's Vision on Tibet

“From June 1981 to January 1987, [Hu] served as Chairman and General Secretary of the Central Committee. From a ‘Red Little Devil’ in the Soviet Area to a leader of the Party, from a revolutionary fighter charging into battle to a pioneer of reform and opening up, no matter what position he held, he always maintained a selfless dedication and indomitable revolutionary enthusiasm, tirelessly contributing everything to the cause of the Party and the people. Comrade Hu Yaobang’s life was a glorious life, a fighting life, and a life of dedication.”

“Comrade Hu Yaobang was an outstanding leader who held important leadership positions in the Party for a long period. He made immortal contributions to national independence and liberation, socialist revolution and construction, reform and opening up, and socialist modernisation.”

“Our present situation is less than wonderful because the Tibetan people’s lives have not been much improved. There are some improvements in some parts, but in general, Tibetans still live in relative poverty. In some areas the living standards have even gone down. We comrades, in the Central Committee, Chairman Hua [Guofeng] as well as several vice-chairmen, were very upset when we heard about this situation. We feel that our party has let the Tibetan people down. We feel very bad! The sole purpose of our Communist Party is to work for the happiness of people, to do good things for them. We have worked nearly thirty years, but the life of the Tibetan people has not been notably improved. Are we not to blame? If we don’t make this clear, people won’t let us off the hook; party members won’t let us get away with it!”

“[Tibet should] exercise nationality autonomy in the region fully – that is to say, to let Tibetans really be the masters of their own lives, and he pledged, A commitment by the Central Government to relieve and reduce burdens of the people.”

“It’s all because of you people!”