Year 2104 has seen a heavy traffic of VIPs/VVIPs in Ngari (Western Tibet). One of the reasons is that Beijing has decided to consolidate its borders, whether sea borders in the South China or East China Seas or land borders with India (mainly in Aksai Chin/Ladakh region). In July, China Military Online reported that Xu Qiliang, a member of the Politburo of the CCP’s Central Committee and also one of the 2 vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission (CMC) inspected Xinjiang and Tibet garrisons.
According to the official website: “Xu Qiliang recently inspected the troops of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the People’s Armed Police Force (PAPF) garrisoning Xinjiang and Tibet.” The article adds: “During the inspection, General Xu Qiliang visited the officers and men in frontier areas, and held talks with the leaders of the troop units garrisoning in Hotan [Xinjiang, near the Aksai Chin], Ali [Ngari or Gar] and Lhasa [in the Tibetan Autonomous Region or TAR] areas to discuss the development and reform of frontier troop units.
Xu Qiliang also visited sentries in Shenxianwan (just north of the Karakoram Pass and the Depsang Plains) frontier defense company who were performing duties at the altitude of 5,380 meters.[Source]