China opens strategic Tibet highway near Indian border
Beijing: China has opened a key 117-km highway connecting a remote part of Tibet located near the frontier with Arunachal Pradesh, with analysts saying the road will help safeguard sovereignty and territory as the region
The new road descends sharply from its starting point at the county border, 4,300 m above sea level and covered by snow year-round, to the forest-surrounded county seat at an altitude of 1,300 m.
The Tibetan highway was the fifth time since the 1950s that the central and local governments have worked on a road. The government allotted USD 156 million for the last phase of the work.
Lobsang Jamcan, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region government, announced the road will be opened eight months a year and it would operate year-round if weather permits. Strategists said the road brings benefits in “not just one single aspect”.
“Similar to the Qinghai-Tibet railway, the road reaching China's border area can help consolidate our remote land and ensure stability,” said Sun Hongnian, a researcher of Chinese borderland history at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The Tibetan highway was the fifth time since the 1950s that the central and local governments have worked on a road. The government allotted USD 156 million for the last phase of the work.
Lobsang Jamcan, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region government, announced the road will be opened eight months a year and it would operate year-round if weather permits. Strategists said the road brings benefits in “not just one single aspect”.
“Similar to the Qinghai-Tibet railway, the road reaching China's border area can help consolidate our remote land and ensure stability,” said Sun Hongnian, a researcher of Chinese borderland history at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.