China's Xi touts unity and development in surprise Tibet visit

The visit to Lhasa suggests a desire to stamp the Chinese leader's authority over the region.

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In what is only his second presidential visit to the tightly-controlled region, Xi praised the local government for "engaging in a thorough struggle against separatism" - a reference to decades-old Tibetan resistance to Beijing.

The visit to Lhasa, which sits at an altitude that could pose health problems for the 72-year-old, suggests a desire to stamp his authority over the region.

His published comments did not mention the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who has been living in exile in India since he fled in 1959.

"To govern, stabilise and develop Tibet, the first thing is to maintain political stability, social stability, ethnic unity and religious harmony," Xi said, according to an official summary of his speech.