China names new top official for Tibet in regional reshuffle

China ​has appointed Hu Changsheng as ​the new Communist Party ‌secretary ​of Tibet, making him the southwestern region's top official, replacing Wang Junzheng, state-run Xinhua said ‌on Tuesday.

Hu, 62, has been the party chief of the northwestern province of Gansu since late 2022. Qinghai's party chief, Wu Xiaojun, would take ‌over Hu's post in Gansu, while Qinghai Governor Luo Dongchuan has ‌been promoted to Qinghai party chief, Xinhua said. The reshuffle announced on Tuesday saw three new party secretaries appointed in Tibet, Gansu and Qinghai, ahead of a key ⁠party ​conclave set ⁠for October and the 21st Communist Party Congress expected in autumn 2027.

In a meeting ⁠in Tibet's capital Lhasa on Tuesday, Hu pledged to "remain unswervingly and absolutely ​loyal to the party," safeguard lasting peace and stability in Tibet, ⁠forge ethnic unity and to "intensify the struggle against separatism and strengthen the rule-of-law-based management ⁠of ​religious affairs," state media said. His predecessor, Wang Junzheng, 63, would no longer serve as Tibet's party chief after five years ⁠on the job due to his age, Xinhua's report showed. Wang had been ⁠sanctioned by ⁠the US in 2021 as an official in connection with alleged serious human rights abuses in China's ‌Xinjiang region.