Tibet marked its 60th year as a Chinese autonomous region on Thursday with songs, dances and a parade in its capital Lhasa with thousands cheering on, holding little red flags, amid placards telling all to heed the Communist Party’s leadership.

The festivities held at a massive square by the Potala Palace, the former winter residence of the Dalai Lama, coincided with a rare visit by President Xi Jinping and a huge delegation from Beijing that included senior leaders from the party and government.

In the parade broadcast on China’s national television, participants held aloft red placards reminding all of what Tibet needed to accomplish under the guidance of Xi.

“Unwaveringly focus on the four major tasks of ensuring stability, promoting development, protecting the ecological environment, and strengthening border defence,” one placard read.

“Adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and fully implement the Party’s strategy for governing Tibet in the new era,” another said.

In September 1965, six years after the 14th Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in the wake of a failed uprising, the Communist Party established the Tibet Autonomous Region - China’s fifth and last autonomous region after Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Guangxi and Ningxia.

The designation is meant to confer ethnic minority groups such as the Tibetans greater say over policy matters, including freedom of religious belief. But human rights groups and exiles describe China’s rule in Tibet over the decades as “oppressive”, an accusation that Beijing rejects.

Since Xi became chief of the Communist Party in late 2012 and then president in early 2013, China has exerted greater institutional control in Tibet - from requiring Tibetan Buddhism to be guided by the Chinese socialist system to demanding its people to “follow the party”. Foreign journalists and diplomats still require special permission to set foot in Tibet.

China’s hold over Tibetan Buddhism even extends to how the next Dalai Lama should be picked. As the current Dalai Lama turned 90 this year, Beijing said the Chinese government would have the final say over his successor in the event of his death, rejecting the Dalai Lama’s claim that a non-profit institution set up by him would have the sole authority to do so.

China also opposes all contact between political leaders and the Dalai Lama, saying it would send the wrong signal to “separatist” forces. After Czech President Petr Pavel met with the Dalai Lama in India on a private trip this year, China said it would “cease all engagement, opens new tab” with him.

Amid foreign criticism of its rule in Tibet, China argues that the lives of ordinary people have dramatically improved.

From 2012 to 2024, Tibet’s road network nearly doubled to 120,000 km (74,565 miles), linking every town and village. Its economy also grew to 276.5 billion yuan ($39 billion) in 2024, a 155-fold increase from 1965, according to official data.

“Grateful to the general secretary, grateful to the Party Central Committee, and thankful to the people of the whole country,” one parade placard beamed.