The Communist Party of China held the "Central United Front Work Conference" in Beijing from May 18th to 20th.

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the “National United Front Work Conference” has been held a total of 20 times.  The name of the last conference changed from "National" to "Central" recently.

Many politically savvy think that this shows the strengthening of the united front work of the Communist Party of China. Meanwhile, international speculation was drawn by the conference: perhaps the CPC policies for ethnic minorities will be "tightened"?

At the meeting, Xi Jinping emphasised the strengthening of the unity of "Three types of people" in the new era: overseas students, new media representatives, and non-public economy representatives. Within these groups, the younger generation of people in particular were listed as the future focus of the united front work with the aim of achieving and maintaining unity. So, do overseas Tibetans count in the “Three types of people”?

According to incomplete statistics, there are about 170,000 Tibetans living abroad in 33 different countries. Many Tibetans fled from Tibet with the Dalai Lama in 1959, there are now second- or third-generation of Tibetans living overseas, and some left Tibet after the 1980s.

Among the exiled Tibetans, only a handful of “high-ranking officials” Tibetans can obtain the “nationality status” or “Green cards” from their host countries, such as several Kalons (cabinet ministers) of the “Tibetan government in- exile”. Most of the overseas Tibetans, especially those living in India and Nepal, are living in poverty and are basically dependent on others.

In 1978, the Chinese government formulated policies that “All patriots belong to one family, and that patriotism can be shown at any time”, as well as “Freedom to come and go, letting bygones be bygones” to welcome expatriate Tibetans to come home. Furthermore, Tibet’s economic development and the improvement of people’s living standards have also attracted overseas Tibetans to return home to visit their families and friends, make Buddhist pilgrimage, travel as tourists or do business.

In fact, the number of overseas Tibetans who are truly engaged in “Tibet independence” and separatist activities is very small, but the noise they make is large. Most Tibetans are seeking a life far away from politics.

This United Front Work Conference reiterated the bottom line that so long as overseas Tibetans are not involved in separatist activities, but safeguarding the unity of the motherland and maintaining unity instead, they are the targets of the united front’s work.

Thus, the international speculation that China’s policies regarding Tibetans are “tightening” is unfounded. In dealing with the issue of patriots; China’s United Front policy remains stable and relaxed.