The first session of the First People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region opened in Lhasa on September 1. One of its most important acts will be to announce the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region, which, as pointed out in a message of greetings from the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, "marks a new stage in the development of the revolution and construction of the Tibetan people and is another great victory following the abolition of serfdom and the carrying out of democratic reform."

The opening session was addressed by Hsieh Fu-chih, Member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and Vice-Premier, who heads the 76-member delegation sent by the Party's Central Committee and the State Council to attend the inaugural ceremony of the autonomous region.

In his opening address, Ngapo Ngawang-Jigme, executive chairman, described as "an earth-shaking event" the fact that the one million serfs are now exercising their rights as masters in their own house. He hailed the formal establishment of the autonomous region as "a glorious victory of the Chinese Communist Party's policy on nationalities, and also a great victory of Mao Tse-tung's thinking."

Present at the congress are 301 deputies, including 226 Tibetans most of whom are former serfs and slaves emancipated in the 1959 democratic reform. There are also deputies of the Han, Monba, Loba and Hui nationalities in Tibet. They will hear a political and other reports and a report on the work of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region. They will elect the Chairman and other leading officials of the autonomous region and adopt the region's budget.

Vice-Premier Hsieh's speech was greeted with thunderous applause. Calling the conference a meeting of victors of the great revolution of the Tibetan people, he said, "Tibetan society has skipped several centuries and, from haying been a feudal serf society, is advancing through democratic revolution towards a socialist society."

Reviewing the revolutionary struggle and the splendid achievements of the Tibetan people in the past 15 years, the Vice-Premier said that the historic road traversed by them has proved an important truth: Only by uniting in the big family of the socialist motherland, working under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman Mao and relying on the poor people, rallying the broad masses and persisting in the revolution, were the Tibetan people able to overthrow the reactionary rule of imperialism, the Kuomintang reactionaries and the feudal serf-owning class, to achieve national liberation and the emancipation of the serfs, to realize the people's democratic dictatorship, to do away with poverty and backwardness by developing their economy and culture, and to advance towards socialism.

Congratulatory messages from all parts of the country were received by the congress.

The State Council message expressed satisfaction over what has been done in Tibet, and greeted the series of victories won by the people of Tibet in the past 15 years. Among these it listed the putting down of the counter-revolutionary armed rebellion of the traitorous Dalai Lama clique, the exposing and criticizing of the anti-people, serf-owner clique represented by Panchen Erdeni, the democratic reforms, the mutual aid and co-operation movement, the bumper harvests in six successive years, the steady growth of animal husbandry, and the marked progress in industry, transportation, culture, public health and other fields.

The session is still in progress as we go to press.

(This article appears on page 3, No. 36, 1965)