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Google mislays Tibet

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Richard Gere reportedly furious as black helicopters circle

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China's military control over Tibet has, until recently, if the black helicopter brigade to be believed, been directed from Chengdu in China, which boasts a nice airbase for the viewing pleasure of the planespotters among you:

Chengdu airbase

The good news is: they have plenty of helicopters down at Chengdu; the bad news is that they don't appear to be the now-obligatory black:

Helicopters at Chengdu airbase

Chengdu may now, however, have handed over command of the "Tibet Military District" to a new facility located somewhere on the road between Lhasa and its airport, seen here, at Gongkar:

Lhasa airport at Gongkar

The reason we're showing you this pretty picture rather than one of the rumoured 1 kilometre-long military base with - if the reports are correct, stacks of three-storey buildings and underground bunkers - is that we can't find any trace of it.

Likewise, close scrutiny of Chamdo in the east of Tibet - alleged to house a People's Liberation Army force of note - failed to turn up any conclusive evidence (due to the place unfortunately lying astride a stitch between high and low-res images). Mind you, we did discover that they like their football over there:

Chamdo's football stadium

On the other hand, head south a bit for this collection of installations:

Possible military installations at Chamdo?

Hmmm, we'll leave it you to decide just how PLA they might be.

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