BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILES OF TIBET AUTONOMOUS REGION FOREIGN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000159 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/CM AND G/STC DEPT ALSO FOR DRL/IRL AND TIBET COORDINATOR BANGKOK FOR USAID/MSTIEVATER AND SWALTER E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/26/2032 TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL CH SUBJECT: BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILES OF TIBET AUTONOMOUS REGION FOREIGN AFFAIRS OFFICE STAFF REF: CHENGDU 157 CLASSIFIED BY: John Hill, Acting Consul General, United States Consulate, Chengdu. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) During a recent seven-day road trip through Nagchu Prefecture in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR),Consulate had over 40 hours of "quality" time to dialogue with the TAR Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) official assigned to accompany us to remote field sites. In the course of our trip, in multiple conversations, our contact described in Tibetan to Consulate's ethnic Tibetan Political Assistant the structure and personnel of the TAR FAO. ¶2. (C) The TAR FAO is made up of Consular, Protocol, Comprehensive, Overseas Trips, Border, and Foreign Projects Sections. The office has four "Helping Tibet Cadres" (yuan zang ganbu). These four cadres will depart in July and be replaced with four new cadres from inland China. The FAO "Front Office" -------------- ¶3. (C) Sonam, an ethnic Tibetan, is the FAO Party Secretary. She was previously the General Director of the FAO. She was replaced in 2006 by Ju Jianhua, the FAO General Director. Ju is Han Chinese and was born and raised in the TAR. He speaks Nepali, English and good Tibetan. Liu Yaohua, Vice Director of the FAO, used to be the General Director of the TAR Public Security Exit/Entry Office, concurrent with his position as General Director of the International Cooperation Office of the PSB. He is a native of Gansu Province and does not speak Tibetan. Song Bingling is another Vice Director of the FAO. Consular Section -------------- ¶4. (C) The Consular Section Director is Ma Qingshen, an ethnic Hui. He speaks some English. Ma's wife is the Room Manager of the Lhasa International Hotel. Ms. Choekyi Drolma is Vice Director of the Consular Section. She is a graduate of China's Diplomatic Institute. Choekyi Dromla received a Master's Degree in International Relations from (funded by the Ford Foundation or the Trace Foundation). She is single. Her father is from Aba Prefecture in Sichuan Province and her mother is from the Chamdo region of the TAR. Choekyi Drolma's mother works at the TAR Party School. ¶4. (C) Norbu, the official assigned to accompany us on our trip, is a Consular Staff member. He studied Nepali in Kathmandu and he also speaks some English. He is originally from Zhomba County in Shigatse, close to Ngari Prefecture in the TAR. He studied in Shangdong Province for middle school and attended the Southwest University for Nationalities in Chengdu, majoring in Economic Management. Norbu's parents were both government officials. He is married to a Han Chinese woman who lives in Chengdu. They have one child. Norbu told us that most young TAR FAO officials are employed by the FAO due to their families' job and political connections to officials in the TAR. Ms. Baizheng is a young, single Consular Section staff member. She also studied in inland China. Baizheng's father is the General Director of the TAR Construction Bureau and has a close relationship with FAO Director Ju Jianhua. Mr. Wang Pingan, former Vice Director of the Consular Section is now a Vice Governor in Dangxiong (Tibetan: Damshung) County. He speaks good Tibetan. Protocol Section -------------- ¶5. (C) The Protocol Section Director is Ms. Ba Sang. She completed her studies in the United Kingdom and speaks good English. Ms. Gesang Bekyi is a Protocol Section Vice Director. She is single and speaks good English -- the best in the FAO -- according to Norbu from the Consular Section. Gesang Bekyi completed a Master's Degree at Columbia University supported by the Ford Foundation. Her father used to be the General Director of the TAR Cultural Bureau. CHENGDU 00000159 002 OF 002 Comprehensive Section -------------- ¶6. (C) The Comprehensive Section provides logistical support and financial management to the FAO. Targa, an ethnic Tibetan from Bangge County in Nagchu Prefecture, is director of the section. Targa was previously the Director of the Consular Section. He studied in Germany. His wife is a teacher at the Lhasa Middle School, the best middle school in the TAR. She was recently promoted to "senior teacher" (gaoji jiangshi) and received a handsome promotion. Foreign Projects Section -------------- ¶7. (C) Ma Zhijian, a Han Chinese, is Director of the Foreign Projects Section. He speaks good Tibetan and some English. He has dark skin and many monks and Tibetans believe him to be Tibetan. According to Norbu from the Consular Section, he pretends to be Tibetan. Border Section -------------- ¶8. (C) Dawa Tsering is the Vice Director of the Consular Section. He is married and speaks good English. He is half Tibetan and half Manchu. Dawa Tsering used to work in the Consular Section. Prior to that time, he worked for the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan. His sister, Drolma, works for the U.S. NGO, Heifer Project International, and is based in Lhasa. Overseas Trips Section -------------- ¶9. (C) Ms. Dong Yu is the Vice Director of the Overseas Trips Section, which is in charge of issuing passports and arranging for officials' visits overseas. She formerly worked in the Consular Section. Dong Yu's father is Mongolian and her mother is Tibetan. Her husband is Han Chinese. He is the Party Secretary of the TAR Statistics Bureau. Dong Yu has a house in SIPDIS Chengdu and frequently comes to Chengdu on vacation. She speaks good Tibetan and English, and has been to Nepal many times. HILL