![President Xi Jinping talks with the Dawa Gyaltsen family at Galai village of Nyingchi, Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, July 21, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]](https://image-prod.iol.co.za/16x9/1600/President-Xi-Jinping-talks-with-the-Dawa-Gyaltsen-family-at-Galai-village-of-Nyingchi-Southwest-China-s-Tibet-autonomous-region-July-21-2021-Photo-Xinhua?source=https://iol-prod.appspot.com/image/0b47bbffe91aafa06276d0665a5d71aeaab13829/2000&operation=CROP&offset=0x171&resize=2000x1125)
By Buyile Matiwane
On the afternoon of the 18th of July 2021, the Dawa family in Tibet autonomous region approached President Xi Jinping with offerings of barley wine in exquisite silver bowls, along with other traditional offerings.
This welcoming ceremony was infused with traditional Tibetan customs, including white silk hada, used by Tibetans as a greeting gift, and wooden boxes known as chemar, filled with a mixture of roasted barley flour and butter. The Dawa family was wearing their newest and best traditional Tibetan attire, as they warmly welcomed President Xi to their home in Galai village of Nyingchi, Tibet autonomous region.
This was to be the beginning of President Xi Jinping’s 3 day visit to Tibet in order to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Tibet's peaceful liberation. The visit was the first of its kind, covering the cities of Nyngchi and Lhasa. It was also the first time a Chinese leader took part in these commemorative festivities in the history of the Party and China.
During this visit President Xi laid out a new vision for ethnic unity, lasting peace and stability, and the high-quality development of the Tibet autonomous region, stressing the need to secure new achievements in ecological protection and sustainable growth in the plateau area.
During the visit President Xi spoke with monks at the Drepung Monastery, talked to Barkhor Street vendors and held exchanges with tourists and residents at Potala Palace square. This material expression of collaboration unity and vision is indicative of the practical leadership we need in order to make manifest our joint noble aspirations for common humanity, prosperity and unity.
Tibet used to be one of China's least-developed regions, with the highest level of difficulty in poverty alleviation. By the end of 2019, all of the region's 74 impoverished counties had been removed from the list of poverty-stricken areas, with over 620,000 people lifted out of poverty.
President Xi expressed the need to accelerate the construction of railways, roads and other major infrastructure projects, develop industries with local characteristics and quicken the development of a national base for clean energy. He urged authorities to take concrete steps to address jobs, education, social security, healthcare, eldercare and housing security.
The history of China is littered with examples of the endearing spirit of patriotism and unity. The emphasis in Chinese culture on unity has always been derived from a belief that a basic tenant to progress and strength is unity. The will for a people as large and as diverse as China to mould a common vision for prosperity must be shaped by a force greater than identity, religion, ethnicity and class.
The cast iron that must stoke the fire of that common vision must be Leadership; clear, unflinching, decisive and deliberate Leadership. When President Xi Jinping went to Tibet last week, it was a material manifestation for a common vision underpinned by the tenant of unity. President Xi highlighted that people of all ethnic groups had jointly contributed to the development of Tibet and made a historical contribution to Tibet; to this end, history provided ample examples of exchanges between Tibetan and other ethnic groups.
The road to formulating meaningful relations and a performance legitimacy woven through a deep trust in government and the endearing need to grow collectively is the kind of leadership exemplified in the visit to Tibet last week. The relationship between Mainland China and Tibet has been a cacophony of spectacle, one-sidedness and global discourse posturing with very few commitment to the facts and the truth. For now it appears that President Xi has muted the noise and has put his shoulder to the wheel to build real, lasting and sustainable unity in Tibet.
The recent issues that had enveloped our country in unrest point to the necessity for us to address inequality, poverty and unemployment in as deliberate a fashion as China. We need to build unity, cohesion and opportunities for our people to become active participants in the change process all while holding leadership accountable; always moving with our people towards the new dawn of growth, accountability and prosperity.
As the dust settles and shop owners bemoan the arduous task of starting over and building afresh their businesses from the unfortunate events that beset our country earlier in July, deep fissures seem to be appearing in the delicate fibre of our rainbow nation.
The unity that had once been at the centre of the South African “Rainbow Nation” Character, seems to be slowly waning at the face of what appears to have been a stark reminder at how deliberate the process of building Unity should be. Albeit, If we are to look at one of our countries historic allies we may find a poignant example of the intentional work it takes to build unity and cohesion.