In this report, I have endeavoured to analyse and to ascertain the backgrounds of the CCP Party secretaries, including those at both prefecture and county levels stationed along the Indian border. Understanding the profiles of CCP officials in top decision-making positions within prefectures and counties along the India border is crucial to discerning Chinese motivations in the region, along with the progression of physical infrastructure development. In addition, this report also examines the well-off “Xiaokang” villages located in each county along the Indian border.
In Chinese literature, Xiaokang villages are seen as part of national boundary reinforcement and poverty alleviation, whereas in Western literature, they are viewed as a potential threat to neighbouring countries border security due to the ambiguous military-civilian dual-use structure of these villages.
In July 2017, the government of Tibet Autonomous Region announced plans to construct hundreds of border villages and accompanying infrastructure as part of a significant effort to develop Tibet’s remote border regions. These Xiaokang villages are being built under the theme: “If the border is prosperous, the frontier will be prosperous, and if the border people are wealthy, the border defence will be solid. 边境兴则边疆兴，边⺠富则边防固” and “Guardians of the sacred land, builders of happy homes.” However, numerous reports claim that between 2018 and 2022, 624 villages were built in the region, with construction continuing on additional villages. Many of these villages are clustered along the eastern sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto border separating China (Tibet) and India, with this sector bordering Arunachal Pradesh.
Moreover, a 2021 article in the official newspaper, PLA Daily, emphasises the “need to strengthen the construction of border infrastructure and encourage people of all ethnic groups to root themselves in the border areas, guard the homeland, and build their hometowns” in this region. Due to strict censorship, it is difficult to determine the precise number of “Xiaokang Villages.” Nevertheless, this report strives to provide the most information as much as possible. The analysis encompasses four prefectures adjacent to India—Ngari, Shigatse, Shannan, and Nyingchi—concentrating on their respective Party secretaries. The report also includes the Party secretaries of the 13 counties and the “Xiaokang villages” within those counties along the Indian border.
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