China replaces Tibet`s hard-line party boss

Beijing: China is replacing Tibet`s hard-line Communist Party boss under whom bloody rioting broke out in the Himalayan region three years ago.

The official news agency says Zhang Qingli, the region`s highest-ranking official, is being moved to another position which it did not identify. It says he will be replaced by Chen Quanguo, a longtime party official in the eastern province of Henan who last served as governor of Hebei province surrounding Beijing. No reason was given for the change.

Like all of Tibet`s party chiefs, Chen is not Tibetan but a member of China`s majority Han ethnic group.
New party leaders were also announced on Thursday for the southwestern province of Yunnan and the southern island province of Hainan.

Bureau Report