Isn’t it strange that some of the most significant news are often missed in the cacophony of the ‘Breaking News’ channels?
On the same day, two game-changing pieces of information appeared in the Chinese media. Yet, they just looked innocuous.
The first one was about the 6th Tibet Work Forum. Was it held in Beijing or in the sea-resort of Beidaihe, where the top leaders escaped the unpleasant Beijing weather? I shall come back to it later.
The second information was the PLA/Civil integration for the management of the Lhasa airport; it has serious strategic implications for India, which is struggling to build some infrastructure in Arunachal and Ladakh.
Xinhua officially announced the vital airport integration to “strengthen aviation safety and combat support capabilities.”
A joint statement from the People Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC) said that the integration will include joint maintenance of airport support facilities, joint flight safety support and joint airport management.
Interestingly, the Lhasa Gongkar Airport in Tibet will be the first of the two pilot airports to implement the PLA/civil ‘integration’ (with the Sunan Shuofang Airport in Wuxi in Jiangsu province). The job should be completed during the second half of 2015.[Source]