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"
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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