Padma Choling, 58 and former vice chairman of the Tibetan regional government since 2003, was elected unanimously by its members. Choling spent 17 years in the Chinese army before entering politics in 1986.

He replaces Qiangba Puncog, 63, who was the eighth person to hold the governorship since the Tibet Autonomous Region was founded in 1965, according to a report by the Beijing government-run Xinhua news agency.

During Choling's brief six-minute speech to the press he emphasized the importance of improving people's welfare and maintaining social stability among all the ethnic groups in Tibet. He said it was a "heavy responsibility" being governor but "I have the determination and confidence to live up to everyone's expectations."

Choling will have no greater expectations placed upon him than those of the Communist Party of China. This month the party placed him deeper within its inner circle when he was appointed as a deputy secretary of Tibet's regional committee of the CPC.

As top man in Tibet, Choling will have to ensure continuation of Beijing's carrot-and-stick approach to persuade ordinary Tibetans they can prosper under central communist rule.

He must also wield a heavy hand when necessary to dissuade Tibetans from protesting in favor of succession as happened in March 2008. Street marches led by Buddhist monks protesting against China's rule turned violent and spread across Tibet.

Beijing's official body count was 19, but Tibetan exiles said up to 100 were likely killed by Chinese police and military forces.

To possibly avoid any repetitions of the 2008 riots, the Xinhua article, called a "Special Report on Tibet," focused on introducing Choling as "firm and strong-willed" and "a man of valor."

The article quotes a local journalist saying Choling "looks stern, but if you get closer to him, you'll find he's an amiable person. He's straightforward and always gives explicit answers to questions."

The journalist said Choling "spent two sleepless nights" after the major earthquake that hit Damxung county, just outside the capital Lhasa, in October 2008.

"Padma Choling worked those two nights in a tent that served as the emergency rescue headquarters," he said. "He, too, didn't sleep and his eyes were red and swollen. He told me the residents were scared and in desperate need of information, and pressed us to produce good stories."

Choling's election win comes a day after the regional treasury announced the equivalent of around $337 million would be injected into Tibet "to improve the quality of people's lives this year," the Xinhua report noted. "The amount was 38.6 percent higher than last year.

The money will go to job creation, boost pensions, improve medical services and "build affordable homes for the poor and provide food and shelter for the homeless children and beggars."

The article cited many improvements made by the communists but also how much more open the government is to having Tibetans run the region. A major focus of protest by Tibetans has been the increased migration of Han Chinese from around China. They landed top business and political jobs and generally diluted the Tibetan culture and way of life, some Tibetans have complained.

The Xinhua article noted that "at city and county levels, officials of Tibetan or other ethnic groups account for 86.4 percent."

Tibetans make up more than 70 percent of all deputies to the regional parliament and political advisory bodies. "Most of them are from local peasants and herders' families but have obtained a global vision."

Last year Beijing also announced that within five years it would train 600 people for senior jobs in medicine, science and technology, economics, culture, tourism and environmental protection.

But the most powerful official in Tibet remains local Communist Party chief Zhang Qingli, also a former military officer. This suggests that China sees Tibet -- a resource-rich, mountainous region bordering India, Nepal, Pakistan and Myanmar -- as an issue of military control, a report by the British Broadcasting Corp. said.

China also continues to be annoyed by Western hospitality towards Tibet's most famous Buddhist monk, the Dali Lama, now living in exile in India.

Tibet has been, and looks set to remain, a sensitive issue for many Western governments as they balance their criticism of Chinese human-rights abuses and their desire for an economic dialogue.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said this month that the United States will continue to support the Dalai Lama, as well as sell arms to Taiwan. However, the United States will also make all efforts to engage China in a way that their bilateral relationship "doesn't go off the rails when we have differences of opinion."

Beijing has openly criticized the arms-to-Taiwan sale issue.

President Barack Obama was himself heavily criticized at home when he postponed a meeting with the Dalai Lama until after he had visited Chinese leaders in Beijing in November 2009.

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