Raidi | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| རག་སྡི་ 热地 | |||||||
| Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress | |||||||
| In office 15 March 2003 – 15 March 2008 | |||||||
| Chairman | Wu Bangguo | ||||||
| Chairman of theTibet Autonomous Region People's Congress | |||||||
| In office January 1993 – May 2003 | |||||||
| Preceded by | Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Legqog | ||||||
| Chairman of theTibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference | |||||||
| In office May 1985 – January 1993 | |||||||
| Preceded by | Yangling Dorje | ||||||
| Succeeded by | Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai | ||||||
| Personal details | |||||||
| Born | August 1938 | ||||||
| Died | 6 June 2025(2025-06-06) (aged 86) Beijing, China | ||||||
| Party | Chinese Communist Party | ||||||
| Alma mater | Central Party School | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 热地 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 熱地 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Tibetan name | |||||||
| Tibetan | རག་སྡི་ | ||||||
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Raidi (Chinese:热地;Tibetan:རག་སྡི་; also writtenRagdi; August 1938 – 6 June 2025) was aTibetan politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as a vice chairman of theStanding Committee of the National People's Congress[1] from 2003 to 2008, and was the highest-ranking Tibetan in thePeople's Republic of China.
Raidi was a native ofBiru,Tibet. Born in August 1938, he was a graduate of theCentral Party School of the Chinese Communist Party, and joined theChinese Communist Party (CCP) in October 1961.[2][3] He was formerly a Buddhist monk.[4]
Between 1966 and 1968, Raidi was employed by the Public Prosecution and Law Enforcement Commission of the Nagqu Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region.[5] From 1968 to 1972, he held the position of officer and deputy chairman of the People's Security Group under the Nagqu Regional Revolutionary Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region. He held the position of Secretary of the Nagqu Prefecture CCP Committee from 1972 until 1975.[6]
He occupied numerous roles, including Deputy Secretary of theTibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Disciplinary Commissioner of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Deputy Director of the Tibet Autonomous Region Revolutionary Committee, Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region People's Congress, Chairman of theTibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and President of the Tibet Autonomous Region Party School.[7]
From 1993 to 1994, he held the positions of Deputy Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region Party Committee, Director of the Standing Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region People's Congress, and Party Secretary. From 1994 until 2003, he held the position of Standing Deputy Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region Party Committee and served as the Director of the Standing Committee of the Party Group Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region. He held the position ofVice Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from March 2003 until March 2008.[8]
On 16 September 2019, he received the national honorary designation of "Outstanding Contributor to Ethnic Unity".[9][10]
Raidi interacted with foreign journalists multiple times during his political career, discussing issues such as tourism in Tibet,[11] the status of theDalai Lama,[4][12][13] theKarmapa Lama,[14] and thedisappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama.[15] He was a fierce critic of "splitism", orTibetan nationalism,[16] and often criticized claims that Tibetans were oppressed by the Chinese government.[17]
Raidi died in Beijing on 6 June 2025, at the age of 86.[18]
Re Di, a native of Driru (Chinese: Biru) County in Nagchu (Naqu) Prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) where he was born in Aug 1938, is a graduate of the Central Party School, and joined the Chinese Communist Party in October 1961. He spoke of having experienced suffering under the old Tibetan society and that the PLA taught him about revolution and led him towards the revolutionary path. Ragdi worked in various top leadership positions in TAR during his 28 years of service there until his "election" as a Vice Chairman of the standing committee of the National People's Congress in Mar 2003.
| Assembly seats | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chairman of theTibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference 1985–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman ofTibet Autonomous Region People's Congress Standing Committee 1993–2003 | Succeeded by |