China's rail network nears Indian border

Mar 8 Rediff.com

China is extending the world's highest Qinghai-Tibet railway line to Panchen Lama hometown of Xigaze as well as taking it closer to the Indian border.Observers said Chinese authorities are trying to kill two birds with one stone to meet both political and military goals with the move. It is expected to bring more tourists to the China-backed Panchen Lama's hometown in Tibet and enhance his world image.

China has desperately been preparing for 24-year to counter the Dalai Lama, whom Chinese officials describe as "wolf in lamb's clothing".The young Lama is a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a political advisory body.

He spends most of his time in Beijing and holds an important position in the state-backed China Buddhist Association. The seat of Panchan Lama in Xigaze and Dalai Lama's Potala Palace in Lhasa are regarded as revered sites in Tibetan Buddhism.The new extension line will take travelers from Lhasa to Xigaze, also known as Shigatse, in about two hours, railway authorities said.

The 253-km Lhasa-Xigaze railway line will be open before October. Officials said 93% of the track, including construction of all bridges, culverts, tunnels on the mountain route, has been completed. The Xigaze region borders India's Sikkim, Nepal and Bhutan.

The new extension line will make it easier for the People's Liberation Army to carry men and machinery to the Indian border at short notice.The move comes soon after China announced plans to lay a new road linking Tibet's capital of Lhasa to Nyingchi, a prefecture in southeast Tibet that borders India.It could reduce the driving time from Lhasa to Nyingchi by more than two hours," a senior railway official, Tashi Gyatso, was quoted in the state media as saying.