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Tibet in eyes of foreign journalists
Note: Great changes have taken place in Tibet since the Reforming and Opening-up policy was adopted in China in 1978. Marvelous Tibet is attracting more and more visitors and journalists, from home and abroad, particularly after the completion of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Here are some of the stories by foreign journalists who have just been to Tibet in which they have showed the image of Tibet. In "Tibet in Eyes of Foreign Journalists," Chinaview.cn will continue to print more stories by foreign journalists so as to help viewers to have a better picture of Tibet and the life of the Tibetans.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/03/content_4914949.htm
Video: Documentary: The Dalai Lama .
Interview: "China's policy in Tibet very successful"
www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-06 19:11:43
NEW DELHI, May 6 (Xinhua) -- "I have seen an economically-developed Tibet and the Tibetans are living and working in peace and contentment. China's policy in Tibet is very successful," said Seema Mustafa, a renowned Indian political commentator.
The opinion and reporting in some western media is grossly unfair to China on the Tibet issue, Mustafa, the former political editor and New Delhi Bureau Chief of The Asian Age newspaper published in India, told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview.
Mustafa, who visited Tibet late last year, said she could not sense any alleged restrictions on the Tibetans' religious freedom as the monasteries she visited were full of religious Tibetans who were devoutly doing Buddhist services.
Now editor of the newly-launched Indian magazine Covert, Mustafa voiced concerns over the gravely distorted coverage of the riots in Tibet in March by some Western media outlets, including CNN.
"Western media's reports on the Tibet issue are filled with bias or prejudices," she said.
Some Western reporters have never been to Tibet, but they often write stories to attack China's policy in Tibet, she noted.
"It is ridiculous. They have never been there and how did they know the reality there. They are short of basic professional ethics," she said.
Mustafa also recalled that an Indian-born Tibetan she met last year in Lhasa decided to stay in the capital city of Tibet and not to return to India, convinced that she could lead a better life there.
The Tibetan girl, who spoke very fluent Hindi, made her decision after spending about six months in Tibet. She was born and brought up in India after her parents fled Tibet.
Meanwhile, Mustafa listed a number of reasons as to why some Western reporters have followed a harmful trend of reporting the unrest in Tibet, among them the deeply-rooted racism in the hearts of some Western media and the fact that some Western leaders and media are jealous and scared of China's rapid development.
"They are scared of the challenges triggered by China's development to their supremacy around the globe... They inclined to cook up or fabricate stories and sensations in the international community once there is a sign of disturbance or trouble," said Mustafa, who got her master degree in political science at Lucknow University in India in the early 1980s.
She also raised questions about the strong interest on the part of the United States in the Tibet issue.
"I have many question marks on why the White House has showed strong interest in those happenings in Tibet," she said.
The United States has done many inglorious deeds in Russia, the Baltic region and the Middle East, and the so-called democracy and human rights are just a cheap excuse to conceal its real intentions, she said.
"Some Americans really want to see an absolutely independent Tibet instead of autonomous one. They want to see a broken-up China," said the commentator.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/06/content_8116611.htm
Video: 'The Past of Tibet' shows that old Tibet was not a Shangri-la .
The New Face of Tibet
www.chinaview.cn 2006-08-03 16:07:14
by: Sunita Dwivedi,India
Tibet has undergone mind-boggling changes and her mesmerizing beauty defines the Roof of the World.
For centuries few people could lay eyes on the mysterious kingdom of Tibet, called the "land of the snow and the roof of the world". But with the Chinese policy of "opening up", this landlocked Autonomous Province of China is no longer the hidden kingdom that so charmed and mesmerized the early western travelers that they risked their lives to reach Lhasa and have a glimpse of the famous Potala.
India is naturally gifted with a long border with this enchanting "Shangri-la" -- the paradise on earth that even surpasses the beauty of Switzerland.
One of the most fascinating places to visit in Asia, Tibet offers fabulous monasteries with their beautiful wall paintings, stunning views of the high snow-clad mountains, gushing milky streams and the famous rivers and lakes of the world. But for nearly four decades this "Shangri-la" in the aftermath of the 1962 war and the border dispute that ravaged the 2000 year old friendship shared by China.
A testimony to the deep cultural integration between the two countries is the "Journey to the West", the travelogue of the famous Hieun Tsiang in the seventh century AD.
Focus on friendship
Notwithstanding the setback of the 1960s in the bilateral relations and the acrimony expressed by some Indian leaders, for example George Fernandez stating that China was our enemy number one, the recent open and frank exchanges on trade and border issues between the two countries and realization that both need each other is the biggest change in the five decades of Indo-China relations. There is more understanding now than ever.
The two countries have been able to put the past behind them and revive the deep ties they shared historically. After nearly five decades both India and China have expressed deep feelings for each other and the recognition of the need for mutual cooperation in building a conductive environment for growth and prosperity through the principles of peaceful co-existence.
Both agree that the border question has mutually acceptable solutions and that peace in the border area is the imperative for progress.
In this regard Wu Dawei, vice minister of China pointed out recently during a meeting with the Indian press delegation that the border between India and China must become an asset and not a stumbling block and must benefit the people of the two countries. With strong focus on friendship India can hope that in future, apart from trade Nathu la, more points could be opened along the Indo-China border for trade and tourism.
For example, India's border areas in Ladakh and in the North-East states could provide the shortest route for both trade and tourism in China. Taking a positive attitude on border trade between the two countries Wu Dawei said that the long border between India and China should be the lifeline not the death line for the people of the two countries.
Growth in economy
It is for every visitor to see that the Chinese economy has been growing rapidly in the past years.
The impact of this can be best observed in Tibet, which just a few decades ago was undeveloped and completely shut off from the world.
Now the Tibetans are shrugging off their past and redefining their world. They have worked hard to raise their GDP to ten percent. In recent times the province is changing faster than anyone can dream of.
One can now travel anywhere in Tibet through the wide network of national highways and provincial roads connecting every major town and almost every village, communicate using the internet from the remotest destination, and eat the best of meals even in small wayside restaurant.
It was a pleasant surprise to see land tractors being used for ploughing the fields instead of the traditional ploughs. Traveling on the Tibet-Sichuan highway 318 one can see power cables all along the mighty mountains. Not even for a second does the mobile phone service go off on the long high way that passes through some of the most difficult terrains of Tibet and Sichuan provinces.
Tibet has experienced a remarkable progress during the autonomy. Since Tibet was less developed economically and socially and was a minority region, China took steps for its development and allocated a huge budget for it. The constructions of railways, airways and road networks in Tibet are an exemplary task that China has accomplished.
Major progress has been made in agriculture and animal husbandry. There has been rapid headway in education. The people's living standards have improved. Key prestigious construction projects include comprehensive development of 65,700 square kilometers of the middle reaches of the "three rivers" -- Yarlung Zangbu and its tributaries --Lhasa River and Neyang Qu River. The Gonggar Airport at Lhasa and the Bamda Airport in Qamdo have been expanded --Nepal, Nagqu-Qamdo and Zetang-Gonggar Airport Highways have been built connecting all parts of Tibet with the neighboring provinces.
The most challenging and prestigious of the projects undertaken so far has been the Qinghai-Tibet railways extending 1,118 kilometers from Golmud in the east to Lhasa in the west having an elevation of 4,000 meters for 960 kilometers rail line.
The mobile telecom business has developed at a rapid pace. For the first time on the roof of the world optical fiber telecommunication cable has been installed from Lhasa to Xigaze, which extends for 340 kilometers through the mountain peaks through an elevation of 4,000 meters.
Modernity mixes with tradition
There is a heady mix of modernity and tradition. And the Jokhang monastery, in the main bazaar area, one can see every morning thousands of devotees prostrating before the Buddha and turning the huge prayer wheels for good fortune. Monks and nuns can be seen circumambulating. Ordinary men and women move around with the rotating prayer wheel in their hands.
At Barkhor Street, Tibetans play the traditional Tibetan music. Modern buildings still follow the basic structure of the traditional style. Cultural and historical monuments are being protected throughout Tibet and being opened to the public. Nearly all Tibetans follow Tibetan Buddhism with the expectation of a miniscule minority who follow Islam and Catholicism.
Respecting and protecting the religious belief is a basic policy of the Chinese government. The citizens have the right to believe or not to believe in any religion or to follow any sect within a religion. Normal religious activities can be seen anywhere in Tibet.
Religious institutions are being restored. At present there are about 1700 monasteries in Tibet. In this regard China has allocated more than 380 million yuan for the repair and restoration of monasteries including the Potala Palace, Jokhang, Samye, Sera, Tashilhunpo, Gandain monasteries, to name a few.
The government-funded Institute of Buddhism is the place where Living Buddhas and Buddhist scholars teach sutras and religious history. Major monasteries hold classes for studying sutras and arrange debates on Buddhist doctrines.
Tibetology
Tibetology has become a special area of study in China and there are more than 50 institutions specializing in Tibetology. The China National Centre for Tibetan Studies was set up in Beijing in 1986.
These institutions have undertaken many research projects on a wide variety of topics including regional economic and social development strategies, editing and studying and researching Sanskrit sutras written in pattra palm leaves and conducting research on Tantric Buddhism.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/03/content_4915058.htm
Video: Tibet museum; History tells the truth .
Indian editor: Improvement in Tibetan livelihood is progress in human rights
2008-04-23 09:26:00
Tibet's all-round development in the past years has raised local people's living standards, which was in itself a progress in human rights, an Indian editor said here Tuesday.
Welfare and quality of life are indices to measure human rights was welfare and life quality, Narasimhan Ram, editor-in-chief of The Hindu Newspaper Group, told the ongoing Beijing Forum on Human Rights.
Ram, who has twice visited Tibet in the past seven years, said the villages they visited gave vivid proof of the region's economic development.
He said the per capita net income of Tibetan people had maintained a double-digital growth in each of the past five years, and stood at 2,788 yuan (398 U.S. dollars) last year.
Ram said he was deeply impressed by the farmers who became rich through hard work, central government subsidies and new opportunities provided by the construction boom.
In addition, the central government's preferential policy has enabled some 14,000 Tibetan students to get better education in high schools and colleges throughout the country. Ram said that was also a good example for India to follow.
With the aid of the newly-opened Qinghai-Tibet railway, Tibet's foreign trade volume last year hit 393 million U.S. dollars, and revenues from tourism reached 4.8 billion yuan, he said.
The expert admitted the railway had a negative impact on the region's environment and wildlife, but believed it was exaggerated.
Besides, the Chinese central government was working for the region's environmental protection with an input of 1.5 billion yuan, he said. The money would be used in rubbish and sewage treatment and building 33 special passages for Tibetan antelopes and other wild animals, he said.
http://eng.tibet.cn/news/today/200804/t20080423_377078.htm
History of Tibetan Buddhism by USA Professor:
<<Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth>>
What's the matter with Tibet?
2008-04-25 08:18:00
Canadian writer Lisa Carducci wrote an article entitled "What's the matter with Tibet?" for China Daily, a Beijing-based English newspaper, explaining why people outside China usually have a prejudice against Tibet. Here is the full text of the article, which was published on April 22:
It is one thing to be interested in Tibet, as most of my acquaintances are. It is another to have totally prejudiced views, which unfortunately is the case with most of them.
Only a handful are honest enough to hold their opinions until they visit Tibet and see things with their own eyes. Some others hear only what they want to hear and what doesn't disturb their "Tibetan imagination".
Here is an example. A Canadian friend of mine, a university professor, went to Tibet in May 1997. He later told me that his group had been sent away from a Tibetan restaurant by the police and directed to a Han establishment.
The reason, according to him, was racism, an attempt to "break" the "Tibetan nation". His immediate analysis - before he understood a word of what was going on - was obviously based on prejudice.
I was not there and didn't see what happened. But after discussing the fact with Han and Tibetan people who knew better, we all concluded that the real cause might have been one or more of the following: the owner of the Tibetan restaurant had no permit; he had not paid his taxes; the place was not hygienic enough for foreigners; the owner and the policeman had a personal dispute; or the owner was trafficking ancient tangka, a kind of Tibetan painting.
We also tend to assume that all Tibetans are the same and feel and act the same way. Far from it. Those I met in Tibet or in Xiahe county of Gansu province seem not interested in politics. They live happily and quietly, and have no complaints about the central government as long as their lives continue to prosper year after year.
At the village of Tashiling in Nepal, instead, the Tibetan women I chatted with for two hours at the market had different stories to tell.
The major difference between them and the Tibetans living in China is that the Tibetans in Nepal think that "the Hans invaded Tibet and forced them to flee the country".
The woman who spoke better Chinese and served as an interpreter for the group said: "When our country is free, we'll go back immediately and get good jobs! Do you think this is a life, what we do here? Commerce!"
I took pity on her because she seemed to have been completely swayed by anti-China propaganda. I told her that all the Tibetans I had met earlier knew very well what the central government of China had done for them and appreciated it.
"I'm sorry to tell you," I said, "that you fool yourself if you think that your Tibetan fellows inside the country think the same way you do and support your efforts for independence."
She stared at me, her eyes wide open. "Have you ever been to Tibet?"
"Of course! If not, how could I speak like this?" She remained silent a moment, then said: "Every year on March 10, the Tibetans of the world march for independence. If you go to Tibet on that day, you'll see the Chinese army killing so many people in the streets."
If there was any truth in her words, I thought, I must have been transported to another planet.
"We have seen photos, and videos," she continued. "Every year we see them."
"Who took these photos?"
"Foreigners. From other places."
I calmed down, before asking: "Are you sure these photos and films were taken recently? They may be from the 'cultural revolution' period when Tibetans just as other Chinese suffered and were treated badly. Or during the civil rebellion in 1959? Might you not have been deceived? Maybe they show you the same pictures year after year? Maybe the photos were altered?"
As a spokesperson of her group, she turned around, and said: "It's possible, but we have no means of checking."
"Might these activist friends of the Dalai Lama," I continued, "be the authors of the photocopied letters on the board at the village entrance, issued by 'His Holiness Dalai Lama's office'? And the inscription 'Chinese, leave', who do you think wrote it?"
I explained to them all the changes that had happened in Tibet and talked about all the money invested by the central government into reconstruction and development, the progress in education, the religious freedom, the improvement of health, society, life, and they were astonished. Apparently, no one had ever spoken to them like this.
"Do you believe me?" I asked.
"I believe you because you are a foreigner," said the woman, "not a member of the communist party. Are you?"
"You can trust me. I tell you only what I have seen. Tibet is a beautiful and peaceful place where people sing while they work, where people smile and enjoy life."
The younger ones among them were born in Nepal; others had fled Tibet to go to Nepal in the 1950s and never returned to Tibet. They have no passports; of course they cannot enter China.
I then visited a temple where a young 17-year-old monk said that his greatest aspiration was to see Tibet. He thought monks were arrested, jailed or even killed in China, his thought based on the fact that his friend went there and never returned.
"I'll tell you something, young man. Your friend may have been arrested because he entered a country illegally. But if you never heard from him after that, don't you think he might have accomplished his great desire: to see Tibet. He may be living in a monastery there!"
He bowed his head and said, "I wish I had such a chance!"
Finally, I realized that the Tibetans outside Tibet are the victims not only of ignorance but of a well-organized campaign of misinformation. And it struck me that it may be the same for the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama, who left the country when he was still very young and under the influence of a group, and never saw Tibet with his own eyes later in life to be able to judge things for himself, is also a poor victim - much like the woman at the village market.
http://eng.tibet.cn/index/news/200804/t20080425_377356.htm
Why some Western media wage 'asymmetric warfare' on China
+ - 17:42, April 16, 2008
People's Daily Online Wednesday released an interview between Song Luzheng (hereinafter will be Song) and his French boss Bastien, trying to figure out why some Western media entities have long-held a biased, even hostile attitude towards China; and why a few of them showed blatant discrimination towards China and went out of their way to slander China, as seen and heard following the Lhasa Riot and on the global tour of the Beijing Olympic torch relay.
Song: What remains confusing to us Chinese, including the overseas Chinese, is why the French government, as well as the people, are so actively -overzealously - and desperately involved in attacks and clampdowns on China. Some French media carried articles and editorials with evident anti-China sentiment which can be detected by just glancing at the titles: "Olympic flame suffered a disastrous defeat in Paris," and "A slap to China." To my knowledge, the Chinese-French relationship remains sound and without any substantial conflict or confrontation. China has never done anything to offend French interests; and in particular, the two sides recently concluded a deal with a bulky order worth over 20 billion euros. Why would France opt to risk losing such a big and promising market like China?
Bastien: (pondering for a while) For human rights.
Song: Human rights? But why has the French government continuously offered aid and even sent protective troops to those African countries whose human rights records are even worse?
Bastien: You are quite right, but ...
Song: Let's get down to Tibet. As a part of China's territory, Tibet takes the lead in the country for tax exemptions; and is also exempt from family planning restrictions. The per capita GDP in Tibet exceeds 10,000 yuan. Compared with parts of China's mainland, Tibet enjoys the most preferential treatment as far as human rights are concerned. Why won't the French authorities shift their attention to other matters equally as important as human rights; and why do they, instead, always pin their focus on Tibet?
Bastien: It is still different because of the Dalai Lama.
Song: When you mention the Dalai Lama, I wonder how much you know about Tibet.
Bastien: I don't know very much about it.
Song: Then how much knowledge do you have about the Lama Buddhism?
Bastien: I'm sorry, I don't know very much about it.
Song: It is unbelievable that your government can easily pick a side to join that is opposed to China, when it remains ignorant of the Dalai Lama and Tibet. The Dalai clique is a bloc mixing religion and politics. Mixing religion with politics is forbidden in Western Europe, including France; and it is considered illegal.
Bastien: I'm not quite sure about this, as nobody has told me about this.
Song : But the Dalai Lama has kept very close ties with the Aum Shinrikyo ( Supreme Truth) cult.
Bastien: That's impossible.
Song: But it's a fact. The Dalai formed a tutor-pupil relationship with the Aum cult guru, Shoko Asahara; and even worse, he accepted a 100,000-dollar offer from the Aum cult. In return, he granted the cult a certificate which gave the cult a religious status in Japan. It was because of the Dalai Lama who persistently supported and trumpeted Shoko Asahara that the Aum cult could acquire "tax exemption" privileges and accumulated funds to bankroll his cruel evil doing against the Japanese people.
Bastien: (suspiciously) Did it really happen that way?
Song: You can find it on the Internet, and you can also find a group of photos with the both of them.
Bastien (reticent) ...
Song: Then do you know what the Tibetan social structure was like before 1959, when the so-called "uprising" was foiled by the central government?
Bastien: Democratic society, of course.
Song: (astonished) What? Democratic society! Come on, that was serfdom! It is incredible how you French could call it democracy.
Bastien: What?
Song: Do you know why the Chinese were irate and outraged this time? It is simply because your media fabricated news and made slanted reporting.
Bastien: (excited) Certainly impossible.
Song: The Chinese people both at home and abroad are still protesting this. RTF even fabricated a story saying the Chinese Embassy apologized to the French media.
Bastien: But was that true?
Song: It was crafted news. China's Foreign Ministry has straightened it out at the weekly press conference, stating that no such apology ever happened.
Bastien: Oh! I didn't know that.
Song: When the armed rebellion erupted in Tibet in 1959, the two brothers of the Dalai Lama were both working for the US's CIA, as the U.S then tried to cultivate Tibetan rebellious groups and airdropped them into Tibet to launch and organize the riots.
Bastien: Are you sure about this?
Song: Yes, this is history.
Bastien: As far as I know, the Dalai Lama has all along been seeking greater autonomy, not independence.
Song: But I wonder if you really know about the true nature of this "autonomy." What is behind the "autonomy" he preaches are his unspoken political ambitions: first, he attempts to smash the existing social system in Tibet, and rebuild a Tibetan society by mixing religion and politics. Second, he attempts to force the central government to pull troops out of Tibet. And third, he attempts to establish the "greater Tibet" which covers Tibet Autonomous Region and neighboring provinces which have never belonged to Tibet; and making up a quarter of China's territory. He even attempts to carry out "ethnic cleansing" by driving the Han Chinese out of Tibet. Do you really believe Tibetans would enjoy more human rights under the leadership of such a political Lama?
Bastien: Why has the Chinese side never explained this to other people?
Song: We have. The Chinese government, embassy and the overseas scholars keep informing others of the truth. Unfortunately, you are selectively blind to the facts and turn a deaf ear to the calls for justice.
Song: There is still one thing I personally can't understand: why did the French government sent such a hostile message to China this time? You must have done this for a reason, right? For instance, France strongly opposed to the U.S invasion of Iraq because of oil. More than a decade ago, the French government finished a deal with Taiwan on arms sales, which aroused great indignation from the Chinese and poisoned relations between the two countries. But we all knew, even then, it was driven by profit. But this time, for what? Who will want to deal with such an unreliable and unpredictable friend in future?
Bastien: (silent) I really didn't know about this before.
As we continued talking, I suddenly realized that Bastien is a French person with limited information and knowledge about Tibet and the Dalai Lama and fed by the media's selective or even manipulative reports. I can not help but think of a military term - asymmetric warfare - which originally refers to war between two or more players or groups whose relative military power differs significantly. But today, "asymmetric warfare" can describe a conflict in which the resources of two opposing sides differ; and during the struggle, each side interacts and attempt to exploit each other's characteristic weaknesses. Some biased foreign media is launching pseudo- asymmetric warfare on China.
By People's Daily Online
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90780/91342/6393940.html
'I see different Tibet': French hotel tycoon tours region by bike
2008-04-20 09:36:00 |
An eight-month bicycle ride from France to Cambodia has given 74-year-old Paul Dubrule a chance to see a different Tibet from what he had learnt in France.
I spent three months riding through Tibet during that trip. This experience completely changed my perspective about the region, Dubrule, chairman and founder of the leading multinational hotel group Accor Group, told Xinhua here on Friday.
Compared with those talking about Tibet in the French media but never setting foot in the region, I think I have more things to tell, he said.
In 2002, Dubrule, then 68, made a 15,000-kilometer journey by bicycle from his home at Fontainebleau to Siem Reap, Cambodia, during which he rode from Ngari in west Tibet to Qamdo in its east.
Before arriving in Tibet, I thought local people were under repression of the central government as many other Westerners (thought), he said.
But, during the tour, he saw schools, hospitals, power plants, airports, and especially highways.
I saw many roads under construction, he said. Along my way, I met many local people. Their life was not as good as in France but I found they were benefiting from the economic development.
Dubrule had read books about Tibet since the 1990s and many of them portrayed the Dalai Lama as a saint and victim. But he later learnt in Tibet that under the Dalai Lama's rule there was no medical service in an area between Ngari and Lhasa. The former is about 1,000 km away from the latter.
In Tibet, I found that people would like to have the region modernized rather than maintaining old lifestyles simply for tourists, he said.
He did not agree with the Dalai Lama who said economic development in Tibet was causing a disappearance of traditional culture. If a culture can not move forwards with economic and social development, it will end up in the museum instead of blessing its people.
Should anyone refuse development, schools and hospitals in the name of protecting culture and religion
In his 50,000-word travel book, Le Test du Cocotier, he wrote about what he saw in Tibet and was criticized by some back home for his stance to support present policies in the autonomous region.
I am not surprised. Because many French had not been to Tibet, most of the information they got about the region was biased or confused. The real Tibetan history is unknown to many, he said. I believe that they will change once they have the access to more positive information and exchanges with Tibet.
His travel book was published in Chinese in 2005. On the book's cover, Dubrule, on his bike, passed several Tibetans worshipping local mountain spirits.
Although I have never met the Dalai Lama, I would like to tell him that a country should protect the religious belief of its people but religions should not be a tool for people to turn against their country, he said.
http://eng.tibet.cn/Features2008/314sj/today/200804/t20080421_376907.htm
German scholar refutes Dalai's claim of "cultural genocide" in Tibet
2008-04-25 08:12:00 |
A German sinologist and ethnologist on Wednesday refuted the Dalai Lama's claim that the Chinese government has conducted "cultural genocide" in Tibet and criticized some Western media for not letting the voices of ordinary Tibetans be heard.
CULTURAL GENOCIDE? COMPLETELY WRONG
"The concept of 'cultural genocide' is completely wrong," said Ingo Nentwig, who chairs the research department of the Museum of Ethnology in Leipzig, in a written interview with Xinhua.
"The Tibetan culture flourishes and prospers in China," including "language, literature, study of oral literature, everyday life and traditional architecture," he said.
Nentwig said that China has published a vast collection of books, newspapers and magazines in Tibetan language, and "there are a lot of Tibetan publishing houses, not only in Tibet but also in the neighboring provinces and even in Beijing."
Tibetan authors write in the Tibetan language and Chinese, Tibetan translation of foreign books are also available in China, and "there is an academy for traditional Tibetan medicine in Lhasa," he cited the example to illustrate his point.
The scholar said that unlike "some representatives of the clerical elite demanding independence for Tibet or just wanting to exert political power" who describe the modernization of the Tibetan society as "cultural genocide," "most Tibetans recognize the opportunities in a modern Tibet, which is part of China and open to the modern world."
SYSTEMATIC ASSIMILATION? OUT OF THE QUESTION
Nentwig said a systematic immigration and assimilation of Tibet "through a Han-Chinese (China's majority ethnic group) settlement invasion is just out of the question."
"If you come to Lhasa, you actually have the impression that there are many Han-Chinese who account for more than 50 percent of the population in Lhasa for sure," he said, but noting the bulk of them, however, stay there only temporarily.
Soldiers, for example, are to leave after demobilization, many construction workers are just there for road or railway projects, some officials are assigned to work in Tibet on a rotation basis and then leave. While some business people operate stores or restaurants there, but they seldom intend for a long-term stay, he said.
"But once you leave Lhasa, you hardly meet any Han-Chinese," said Nentwig, who spent a month in Tibet for a field research on yak shepherds in the summer of 2002.
"I did my field research in a county where just 20 or 30 Han-Chinese live among 50,000 to 60,000 Tibetans," he said.
The scholar said the overall proportion of long-term Han residents in Tibet is about just 7 percent, while ethnic Tibetans account for over 90 percent.
Even taking the short-term residents into account, the Han people account for an estimated 20 to 25 percent of entire population in Tibet, while ethnic Tibetans are still the "overwhelming majority of about 75 to 80 percent," he said.
Areas inhabited by ethnic Tibetans in the neighboring provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan, however, are ethically and culturally more diversified, where Tibetans have coexisted peacefully with Han and other ethnic groups such as Hui, Mongolian, Qiang, Tu and Salar for many centuries, Nentwig said.
If exiled Tibetans, under the "anti-assimilation" or "anti-sinicization" slogans, want to fight for Tibetans' cultural or political dominance, this would go against the historical truth and would be unfair for all other residents there, he said.
OLD RULING CLASS' ACCUSATION? DIFFERENT STORY TO TELL
The scholar listed some historical and geographical reasons for Tibet's relatively slow development compared with other Chinese regions.
Tibet is "unsuitable for a comprehensive industrialization and its agriculture is also handicapped by natural conditions" as large grazing areas there have "such thin topsoil that virtually nothing can be cultivated," he said.
He also called attention to the fact that before 1950, there were no hospitals and no schools except the monastic education.
While acknowledging such huge gap "can not be narrowed overnight," Nentwig noted with delight that the average life expectancy in Tibet has raised from 35 years in the 1950s to the present 67 years.
He hailed the liberation of the vast majority of the Tibetan people from the bondage of serfdom as a "great progress," adding most Tibetans are in much better conditions now than 50 years ago.
He said the Chinese government's ethnic policy is "enormously generous" and there are many examples to illustrate that China's ethnic minorities are given preferential treatments.
"The Tibetans, for example, may basically have two children ... (and) Tibetans in the countryside may have three or even more children" while the one-child policy is applied to the Han.
"The latest census showed that in the past 20 to 30 years, the population growth rate of Tibetans was much higher than that of the Han," he said.
Nentwig criticized some Western media for only reporting the voices of the former ruling class, namely, representatives of the old theocracy, the clerical and feudal aristocrats, who lost their power and can "no longer exploit the people at will," while ignoring the voices of the ordinary Tibetan people who "have a totally different story to tell."
Admitting that China's approach to ethnic minorities still has much room for improvement, he said if anyone wants to criticize China, such criticism should be concrete, constructive and based on expertise.
"It helps nobody if unqualified nonsense is disseminated as many Western media unfortunately have done and are still doing," he said.
http://eng.tibet.cn/index/news/200804/t20080425_377394.htm
Austrian parliament leader congratulates China Tibet Culture Festival
www.chinaview.cn 2006-10-17 11:08:58
VIENNA, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Andreas Khol, President of the National Council of Austria, sent a congratulatory message on Monday, for the forthcoming China Tibet Culture Festival to be held in Austria.
Khol said in the message he was very glad that the festival, scheduled for Oct. 18-29, was being held in Austria on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the establishment of Austria-China diplomatic ties.
He hoped that, for Austrians, the festival would be a window into the fascinating culture of China's Tibet.
The festival will be the sixth large exhibition of Tibetan culture to be held abroad since 2001, and it will include an exhibition of more than 200 photos selected from 150,000 pictures taken by 100 photographers from 19 countries. They were invited to take photos in Tibet last year. Enditem
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-10/17/content_5213191.htm
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China Tibet Culture Festival to celebrate Austria-China ties
www.chinaview.cn 2006-10-16 13:45:00
BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The China Tibet Culture Festival will open in Austria on Oct. 18 and run till Oct. 29, marking the 35th founding anniversary of China-Austria diplomatic ties and the ongoing "Year of China" initiated by the Austrian government.
The festival is the sixth large exhibition abroad of Tibetan culture since 2001, said a spokesman for the Chinese Association for Cultural Exchanges with Foreign Countries.
The festival will include an exhibition of more than 200 photos selected from 150,000 pictures by 100 photographers from 19 countries. They were invited to take photos in Tibet last year.
Helmut Strohmer, a well-known Austrian photographer, is also expected to display 50 works, showing impressions of modern life in Tibet.
Fifteen Tangkar -- traditional song and dance -- performances will illustrate the religion, medicine and history of Tibet, the spokesman said.
A song and dance ensemble will perform folk songs and dances. The organizers has invited four Tibetologists and living Buddhas to give lectures at universities and meet with Austrian Tibetologists. Enditem
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-10/16/content_5208712.htm
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Austria: Railway to help bring closer Tibet
www.chinaview.cn 2006-10-22 12:38:30
VIENNA, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Vice-president of the Austrian State Council Anna Elisabeth Haselbach cherishes a yearning for a trip to China's Tibet.
Meeting a Chinese delegation attending the "China Tibet Culture Festival," Haselbach said she hopes the Qinghai-Tibet railway built on "the roof of the world" would help bring closer Tibet and the rest of the world.
The "China Tibet Culture Festival" being held in Austria on Oct. 18-29 is part of a series of activities marking the 35th anniversary of the establishment of China-Austria diplomatic ties. The Austrian government has designated 2006 as a "China Year."
Over the past 35 years, the friendly relations between Austria and China have always been good despite the changing international situation. Many Austrian people have a strong interest in Tibet, she said.
The train has been proved to be a environment-friendly transportation tool, but some European countries made excessive use of trains for development of tourism at the expense of the environment, said Haselbach.
Austria has valuable experiences in environmental protection and is willing to share expertise and cooperate with China in the Qinghai-Tibet railway project, she added.
Extending her warm welcome to the two living Buddhas with the delegation, Haselbach said many Austrians believe in Buddhism, as they believe that Buddhism represents peace, kindness and tolerance.
"Such a spirit is just what we need to solve the current international problems," she said, hoping that Austria and China could join hands to promote world peace and stability.
The head of the Chinese delegation, Li Guangwen, a deputy head of the standing committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region's People's Congress, said the Chinese government has invested heavily in building the Qinghai-Tibet railway.
Before the launch of the project, relevant departments organized experts to study the local eco-system, and borrow good experiences from developed countries.
Li said data showed the railway has so far had no negative impact on the local environment.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-10/22/content_5234343.htm
Lhasa -- The Heart and soul of Tibet
www.chinaview.cn 2006-08-18 15:53:19
By Sunita Dwivedi
Being the capital of Tibet Autonomous region, Lhasa is the political, economic, cultural, communication and transportation center for the entire region. It has a recorded history of more than 1,300 years. Great changes have taken place in the city of Lhasa since the reforms and opening up policy of China since 1979. The area has seen the construction of many new buildings including government buildings, hotels, night clubs, educational institutes combining traditional and modern styles. There are more than 10,000 commercial stores in the city.
Lhasa's suburbs are developed in agriculture. A number of vegetables and meat production centers have been set up. As soon as you take the suburban road from the airport to the city you notice long stretches of green houses where vegetables like tomatoes, chillies, cabbage, cucumber and turnips are growing. These green houses covered with plastic sheets over bamboo structures are interspersed with orchards of apple, peach, pear and walnut. Heads of yak, sheep and goats can be seen grazing on the meadows by the side of the Lhasa river.
The villages are few and far between and resemble the villages in India especially in the Ladakh and the Spiti areas. The houses are built of stone and surrounded by fluttering prayer flags and small white-washed stupas. Huge heaps of cow dung cakes dot the green fields as the dung is an important fuel for the villagers. Here and there one can see women clad in pants or long gowns grazing their cattle or working in their fields.
The population is scarce and out of a total of four lakh people only about 1.5 lakh are living in the city. For this reason there is no crowding or traffic jams on the streets of Lhasa.
On the six lane roads separate provisions have been made for rickshaws and pedestrians which flow unhindered.
Apart from the Tibetan people who take up 87 percent of the population of Lhasa, Han, Hui, and some 30 nationalities also live here.
Lhasa has more than 200 cities known for their cultural relics and more than 20 of them have already been opened to tourists. Work is underway to open 3 more sites to the public. Main tourist destinations include the Potala palace, Jokhang monastery, Ramoche and the Sera monasteries, the Norbulingka. Cute little rickshaws will carry you to the Potala or the Jokhang.
Barkhor Area: The glittering Barkhor street is the place where religion and commerce meet. The huge area through which a broad street runs just in front of the Jokhang monastery is always buzzing with activity. The huge quadrangular space at the entrance of the monastery is the best place to be at all times of the day. Here one can observe the men and women offering oil lamps to Buddha and burning incense. Monks and nuns circambulate the monastery with prayer wheel in hand and chanting Buddhist mantras.
Devotees kiss the ground and prostrate themselves. Just outside the square in the lanes and bylanes of the Barkhor Street bejeweled Tibetan women sell antique jewelley, statues of Buddhist deities and also of Chairman Mao. CDs of India films are very popular with the Tibetans and almost everyone know Shahrukh Khan, Priety Zinta and Kajol. Dance numbers of Urmila Matondkar are also very popular and one can see the famous actress gyrating to loud music on the TV sets in the Barkhor Bazar. The best gift to buy are stone bead necklaces made by Tibetan women in their homes.
Lhasa River Front
The Lhasa river front can be compared to the famous Bundh in Shanghai on the river Huang Po. The backdrop is formed by the high mountains and snow clad peaks surrounding the city. The beautiful river front stretches for miles on the outskirts of the Lhasa city. In the glow of the evening sun young coupes stroll and hand in hand along the river. Some just sit by the side of the cobbled street enjoying a quiet sunrise over Lhasa. Far away bouts can be seen carrying sand from the river bank.
No Mini-Lhasa in Dharamsala:
Many Indians happily describe Leh [in Ladakh] and Dharamsala [in Himachal Pradesh] as the "mini-Lhasa" of India. Apart from the fact that Tibetans form a large part of the population in these towns there is little else by way of material development that can make these towns eligible as "mini-Lhasa". A visitor to Dharamsala will at once notice the deplorable conditions in which the Tibetans eke out a living in the filthy and narrow back lanes of the township. Amid heaps of garbage and bursting pipelines Tibetan women sell momos and other Tibetan delicacies. The resthouses for Tibetan refugees in the dirty bylanes are teeming with men, women and children. I happened to go inside a refugee shelter not far away from the Namgyal monastery. The bathrooms were stinking and the rest halls were crowded with charpoys.
Just outside the Main temple which was to be the venue of the meeting to be addressed by the Dalai Lama, a sewer line had burst in the monks quarters and sewage flowed on the rear pathway to the Temple office spreading a lot of stink. The Temple area is congested mainly due to crowding by too many big and small hotels around the monastery. Plastics are strewn all over the township and stray cattle can be found all over the place munching at the waste thrown outside the eateries. However this is the shameful story of most of the Indian towns.
Monasteries crumbling in Ladakh:
I also happened to be in Ladakh in May 2005 and had a taste of the poor condition of road. Even the westerly Leh-Kargil road on which I was traveling up to Lamayuru was not only narrow but also pot-holed and dusty. The only mobile phone service that worked in Leh town was Cell One, while the suburbs had no service.
Even the important monasteries like the Lamayuru, the Alchi, the Hemis and the Spituk on the Leh-Manali road showed little or no upkeep. Rare and beautiful paintings were being destroyed in the harsh climate of Ladakh and little was being done to preserve them. The reason clearly is that very little funds are available to the monasteries in India for their upkeep despite tall promises by the government to preserve them for tourism.
No Comparison with Lhasa:
At least for those who have visited Lhasa recently and have seen the pace of development here will not commit the folly of comparison. The capital city of Lhasa is clean, well spread out and has well swept six-lane roads. On either sides of the road stand beautiful and fancy lamp-posts that illuminate the streets with high powered bulbs. Even the suburbs are well connected through land and mobile phones. Not one but many mobile phone services are available throughout the long highways connecting the autonomous region with other provinces of China.
The Chinese government is also spending millions of yuan on the restoration of the monasteries and historical monuments. On the Potalta palace alone, the Chinese government has sent about 200 million yuan to strengthen the foundation. The Norbunlingka or the Summer Palace of the Dalai Lama is in for an intensive restoration work currently underway. Similarly, restoration work is also in progress at the Ramoche monastery which belongs to the seventh century A D.
In several monasteries that I visited, the Dalai Lama's throne occupies a prominent position. The throne lies vacant. In the bazaar area and in some monasteries, the Tibetans, on spotting an Indian, enquire about the present Dalai Lama XIV [now living in India] and whether or not he has seen him. Dharamsala and Ladakh are in no way qualified to be termed as Mini-Lhasa but for the fact that the Dalai Lama is ensconced at McLeodgang while the people miss him in Tibet.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/18/content_4978564.htm
Golden Roof Shining in the Sun
www.chinaview.cn 2006-08-03 15:59:47
By: Soni Bhattathiripad£¬MALAYALA MANORAMA,India
Tibet. Land of mysteries. Unknown to the external world even in the early decades of the twentieth century. Great valleys crouching beneath snow laden mountains. Lakes mirroring blankets of snow. Majestic Buddhist edifices. Conspicuous to the world for political reasons, this dark land enclosed by huge mountains ranges was sparingly trodden till recently.
It was mid noon when we landed at Lhasa the Tibetan capital. It took two hours' drive into Lhasa city. First destination next day was Potala Palace which Tibetans proudly claim to be the prime miracle since the creation of this world.
Bitter cold permeated around. At Lhasa temperatures go as low as 5¡ãC. Nights have even wollen sweaters captivated by cold.
Potala Palace is visible from any distance, with the golden roof shinning in the sun. Its interiors house a thousand suns to astound the hapless visitor. The palace is as old as the city of Lhasa, which claims a heritage of 1,300 years.
Its construction began in the sixth century A.D. but completed only in 17th century during the days of the fifth Dalai Lama. From this red peak, the toil of millions who drained their life here, smile upon the world as the largest palace ever constructed by human hands.
Potala Palace was the abode of the Lamas. Their investiture, schooling, growing up-all happened here. 1,300 chambers spread across 130,000 sq. meters. Amidst renovation initiated by the Chinese government, men at work come across even chambers. In the last two years only China has spent as much as 2,000 millions dollars upon the palace.
Potala Palace stands as if it grew with the mountain peak. The grand interiors housed 13 stories bear almost anything. Buddhist sculptures, places for worship and meditation, antiques and curios heralding the rich and age-old heritage of Tibet.
The palace has quite fittingly found a place in UNESCO's world cultural heritages list and it boasts of a huge inflow of tourists. The palace is like two snakes coiled upon each other. One white palace, the other red. White palace was the political headquarters of the Lamas, the red was their spiritual headquarters.
A host of paintings welcome the guests even as they step in. Every Lama gas made his contribution to the palace. Approximately ten thousand pictures have taken their lives from the Buddhist concept that 'Not a Thing Shall be Spoilt'.
On leaving the paintings arcade, the accompanying Chinese diplomat showed us the room once occupied by Dalai Lamas. Forsaken corridors. Strange indeed are the predilections if history. Painting adorning the magnificent walls aches to say something. Silence pervades all.
While leaving the prayer hall with silent prayers for the Tibetans in India dreaming of their homeland, Sunita Dwivedi of our team whispered: "Back at Delhi I should tell my Tibetan friend that their palace is beautiful; that it is a golden feather upon the roof of the world. "
No artillery, no infantry, nor is there elephant or armory or trenches. Alike in the light sun and in darkness, the Palace of Serenity stands glistening.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/03/content_4914996.htm
Pilgrims to Holy Mountains to Get Better Facilities
www.chinaview.cn 2006-08-03 16:10:48
Raghavendra, PTI, India
Pilgrims to holy Mt. Kailash and Mansarovar Lake can look forward to better amenities under a plan to be implemented by authorities in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China.
Acknowledging that the infrastructure at Kailash and Mansarovar was "backward", a senior official of the Tourism Bureau of the TAR said the authorities in Ngari prefecture in western Tibet plan to provide better facilities for pilgrims visiting the two holy places.
"Pilgrims have contributed a lot to the development of the prefecture. In the present situation, the infrastructure conditions are backward," Thondrup, Director of the Tourism Bureau of TAR, told a group of visiting Indian journalists. "The pilgrims from India visit the holy mountains and lake annually. Now, it is a question of development of these places."
Around 500 pilgrims visiting Lailash, located in the Purang County adjoining India and Nepal, and Manasarovar Lake. Kailash, the source of the Ganges, Indus and Yarlung Tsangbu rivers, is also visited by pilgrims from China and Nepal.
Thondrup said authorities were paying attention to improving the infrastructure in the Ngari prefecture to attract foreign tourists.
An airport was also planned to be built, he said, adding it would be done "quickly".
"Preparatory work" was being done and a survey carried out for better infrastructural facilities in the Ngari prefecture, he said.
Asked about opening the route from the Ladakh side to facilitate easy accesses to Lailash and Manasarovar, he said it was an issue which the Indian and Chinese sides had to decide at a higher level. Thoudrup said a delegation from Nepal would visit Lhasa next month to hold discussions for tourism cooperation.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/03/content_4915080.htm
Tibet makes the most of limited freedom
www.chinaview.cn 2006-08-17 14:06:03
BY Ashis Chakrabarti
At 76, Luosang has seen it all! Tibet old and new. In fact, he hasn't just seen it; he has played his part in the dramatic makeover of the mystical land of romantic imagination.
He sits in a first-floor room of his traditional Tibetan style house in Lhasa, his back to a wall adorning several images of Buddha and Buddhist paintings.
In the street below there are endless streams of pilgrims making the rounds of Jokhang, the holiest of the Buddhist shrines in all of Tibet, whose origin dates back to the seventh century. Only a small distance away looms the massive structure of the Potala Palace rising to the top of a hill.
Luosang's story, like modern Tibet's, begins in 1959, when the 14th Dalai Lama left the Potala on his great escape to India, making Tibet an international cause.
Luosang began working for the Lhasa residents' committee in 1959 as a volunteer. It was a hard life maintaining a family of four children.
He is retired now and lives with the family of his youngest son, a carpenter by trade. His other son and two daughters live elsewhere. The eldest daughter has also retired from her government job, while the two other children - a son and a daughter - also have regular jobs.
Luosang is happy with the freedoms that Tibetans now enjoy, freedoms to choose their professions and live their own lives.
"It was hard to imagine such freedoms in the old days when most Tibetans lived as serfs and life was what the serf-owners, who were also the monastic leaders, made of it for the people," explained Luosang.
But what about religious and political freedoms? He does not talk of the post-1951 communist takeover of Tibet or the Cultural Revolution clampdown on religion.
"The government's policy gives the people the freedom to either believe or disbelieve in religion," he said.
A government official sitting next to Luosang adds: "The scene at the Jokhang says it all. Religious freedom is there for all to see."
Luosang would like the Dalai Lama to come back, but only as a religious leader.
"The government and the people will welcome him only if he gives up his separatist campaign," claimed Luosang.
As for political reform, "It's reflected in the people's freedom to elect or be elected as members of the People's Congress (the state and national level parliaments)."
Partyspeak, official propaganda, or a reality check on today's Tibet? The answer depends on what picture of Tibet one carries in one's mind. There is little doubt Luosang has been a communist party cadre. Obviously, he has had little sympathy for the Tibet campaigners who see the old world as a Shangri-La the Reds rose from hell to destroy.
No doubt Luosang's story skips some crucial facts, particularly the present-day restrictions. It says nothing of the communist party's and the government's control of religion through the so-called democratic management committees of the monasteries, the government's religious affairs bureau, the "political education campaigns" of the monks and sundry other ways.
But then such restrictions are not unique to Tibet. The official policy that acts tough on "anti-national" and "separatist" activity is as valid elsewhere in China.
What is undeniable, though, is the march of the development engine. It has now gained momentum since the government initiated the western development program in 2003 to accelerate the economic growth of backward areas like Tibet.
Even if one goes only by an overview of Lhasa's leap into modernity, with its wide roads, high-rise official and residential blocks and other facilities, there is no denying the common Tibetan now lives a better economic life.
To say the development projects benefit only the Chinese settlers in Tibet seems simply untrue. To say also the development is confined only to big towns of Tibet would also be untrue. The evidence lies in big highways and roads that cross high mountains and broad rivers that had remained un-crossed for centuries.
And, the development drive is all set to get a new impetus this September when Lhasa celebrates the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/17/content_4973283.htm
Tibet on Trade Track
www.chinaview.cn 2006-08-03 16:07:54
Ashis Chakrabarti, The Telegraph, India
Tibet is keen to follow the rest of China in opening up to the world. That could mean a new turn in China's relations with India, since all of the 3,500-km border between the two countries runs along the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR).
The vice chairman of TAR, Lhasong Gyaltsen, told a group of visiting Indian journalists that the government would like trade, tourism and other interactions with India and other South Asian countries to improve.
Of the South Asian countries, Tibet's largest border trade is with Nepal. TAR has 28 ports for border trade and most are on its border with Nepal.
Lhasong's remarks are significant in the backdrop of the arrangement between India and China to begin border trade across Nathu-la in Sikkim.
The TAR government's keenness to look up new areas for border trade could offer new opportunities for Ldakh.
Lhasong's statement comes within days of the Chinese vice-minister for foreign affairs, Wu Dawei, saying in Beijing that China could consider a opening up more border trade points with India if the latter agreed. He also indicated that the TAR government was interested in opening up western Tibet to tourism from India.
At present, only about 500 Indian tourists visit the pilgrimage route in the Kailash-Mansarovar area.
"I have to admit that the tourism infrastructure in those western regions is poor compared to that in Lhasa. We'll like to improve the infrastructure in those areas. We welcome Indian tourists in Tibet and would work to create facilities for them," he said.
Tibet's proposals to open up more to China's South Asian neighbors could be an extension of the massive efforts being taken in TAR to improve and expand its road and railway network.
The 1,100-km railway project connecting Lhasa to Qinghai, across high mountains and turbulent rivers, Lhasong said, would be completed in July 2006.
Work on four major highway projects will also be completed in the next two or three years, thereby expanding the road coverage in Tibet to 42,000 km in 33 counties.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/03/content_4915064.htm
Rails that Touch the Skies
www.chinaview.cn 2006-08-03 16:03:55
By: Soni Bhattathiripad£¬MALAYALA MANORAMA£¬India
China, the land of the Great Wall, one of the great miracles of world, is all set to astonish the world with yet another miracle. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway line is to be realized in March 2006 as the tallest railway line in the world. And it would sure be a technological marvel.
Western media have described thus railway line as a venture, which is as Herculean as building the Great Wall. A railway line to the roof of the world was a dream cherished ever since the Chinese accession of Tibet. But for sundry the project remained unrealized till now.
The construction of Qinghai-Tibet railway began as early as 1962. It was the first reach from Golmod to Lhasa. The formidable part was yet to come.
From Golmod to Lhasa, soil as hard as steel, deliquescent blankets of snow, cold that chills even the soul were only a few of the deterrents. Many a time were studies conducted, every time the project was dropped. In June 2001, the Chinese government decided to tale upon this railway laying as a challenge and complete it as a prestigious project.
And it was a challenge by all means. Of the 1142 kilometers of rail from Golmod to Lhasa, 960 kilometers pass over huge mountain ranges as high as 5072 meters above sea level.
Ten million U.S. dollars were spent on study alone. The total project cost them a dear 3.2 billion U.S. dollars. Laying rails directly over the land is always under the threat of imminent landslips. Engineers have innovated to construct bridges first and lay rails above it.
Qinghai-Tibet rail has won also the credit of being the first environment friendly railway in the world. The government has set aside 8% of the total cost for conservation of environment.
Tibetan mountains and valleys are home to immense genetic diversity. Many rare species of plants and birds are housed here. Tibetan forests boast of a huge line of medicinal plants. The government set out to construct the railway line only after considering the recommendations made by the Academy of Environment Protection after years long study.
The railway line to be commissioned next year will conduct trial runs for one complete year. The government is all set to open for transport before Olympic games.
The railway line will no doubt take Tibetan tourism by leaps and bounds. Influx of tourists via road and air is already in a boom thanks to the government renovation of restrictions on visitors to Tibet.
The Chinese government believes that 90% of tourists will take on the railways once it is opened up. It would be an unforgettable expedition across full bosomed clear streams cascading down beautiful mountain ranges, sharing kisses with glistering dew drops, an amorous ride with nature. It would be the dream of any tourists from any land.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/03/content_4915032.htm
Click the following to view the White Papers on Tibet issues:
Tibet -- Its Ownership And Human Rights Situation
New Progress in Human Rights in the Tibet Autonomous Region
Tibet's March Toward Modernization
White Paper on Tibetan Culture
White Paper on Ecological Improvement and Environmental Protection in Tibet
Tibet's Compulsory and free-of-charge Education
White Paper: Regional Ethnic Autonomy in Tibet
Forum on development of China's Tibet opens in Vienna
by: 2007-11-30 09:58:39
Nyima Tsering, vice chairman of China's Tibet Autonomous Region, addresses the First Forum on the Development of Tibet, China, in Vienna, Nov. 29, 2007. (Xinhua/Liu Gang)
The First Forum on the Development of Tibet, China is held in Vienna, Nov. 29, 2007. (Xinhua/Liu Gang)
Qian Xiaoqian, deputy director of State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China is making a speech in the forum, Nov. 29, 2007.
Tibet will further open up to the outside world and attract more direct foreign investment while promoting ecological and environmental protection, Nyima Tsering, vice chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, said here Thursday.
"We shall participate in domestic and international economic cooperation and competition in more fields and on a higher level, and strengthen cross-regional economic and technological exchanges and cooperation," Tsering said at the opening of "the First Forum on the Development of Tibet, China" in Vienna.
He said Tibet would work hard to develop an open economy and promote regional economic and trade cooperation on different levels and by various means, especially with southern Asian countries, in the wake of the launch of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.
In his speech, Nyima Tsering elaborated on the progress achieved by Tibet over the past four decades and the challenges facing Tibetans.
He said that to pursue sustainable and balanced development of the autonomous region, Tibet must continuously push forward the "frog-leap" mode in economic and social development, accelerate infrastructure construction and promote the construction of "a new countryside."
It is a priority of the Tibetan government to improve the working and living conditions of farmers and herdsmen and increase their incomes, he said.
Tibet will also deepen reform and innovate systems, he added.
"We shall follow the established path of market economy development, treat the market as a guiding force, and continue to actively reform the investment and financing mechanism so as to attract more investment," he said.
According to Nyima Tsering, since the establishment of the Tibetan autonomous region, Tibet has been in the best period of economic development with the fastest economic growth thanks to the strong support of the central government of China and unselfish assistance by other parts of the country.
Tibet has maintained an economic growth rate of over 12 percent for the past six consecutive years, and in 2006, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the region reached 29.1 billion yuan (about 3.93 billion U.S. dollars), 89 times that of 1965, he said.
Over the last four decades, Tibet has witnessed comprehensive progress in social construction, he said.
"A fairly complete modern educational and medical care system has been installed in Tibet," he added.
There are six universities, 118 high schools, seven intermediate vocational schools and 880 elementary schools in Tibet, with a total enrollment of 540,000 students and attendance of 96.5 percent of the school-age population, he elaborated.
The life of the Tibetan people has improved significantly over the past four decades, he said.
"Social stability is being continuously maintained and people are enjoying their life and work," he said.
In his words, Tibet is a region rich in local resources, such as abundant grasslands, mineral, water, forest, flora and fauna, and tourist resources, which have created great conditions for Tibet's development.
But to achieve further progress, Tibet faces much challenges, he pointed out, citing weak infrastructure basis, investment and vulnerable ecological environment among others.
"We deeply understand we must make a lore more effort in the long run, and will sincerely implement a human-oriented and scientific outlook for coordinated and sustainable development, and work hard to solve existing problems while adhering to a policy of reform and development," he added.
The senior Tibetan leader encouraged people around the world to visit Tibet more instead of listening to "untrue" and "unfriendly" reports about the region.
"Tibet is a place where people live happily and also a beautiful tourist resort," he said. "I believe a fast-growing and new Tibet will leave every visitor an unforgettable memory."
The two-day forum on Tibet is jointly sponsored by the State Council Information Office of China, the Chinese embassy in Austria, the permanent mission of China to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna and Austrian organizations including the Organization to Support the Austrian and Chinese Economic Cooperations.
http://en.tibet.cn/news/tin/t20071130_289252.htm
To clarify: Dalai Lama and his so called "Tibetan independence"
click here
Primary School on Roof-of-the-World
http://pic.people.com.cn/GB/31655/6543727.html
This unique Primary School is located on Roof-of-the-World, 5573 meters above sea-level.
The Government of China is committed to provide a free-of-charge and compulsory education for every Tibetan child.
The Central Government of China invested a huge sum of money to re-build this school from ruins in 1986, so that the children of the nomads can receive an education.
This school covers an area of 8400 square meters and the building provides a useful area of 1221 square meters. The children are too far away from their nomadic families and are all staying in this boarding school for the entire school term.
Every morning the whole school will be singing the China national anthem.
The windows of this school are installed with double layers(rarely seen in China) due to winter fourty below temperature.
This school uses the latest technology, i.e. teaching Fine Art with computerized CD equipment.
The six teachers in this school and some of their students.
There are 141 students and all stay in this boarding school. It is too far from their nomadic camps. Students will learn how to take care of their bedding.
The school principal (also a teacher) is teaching his student how to read/write Tibetan.
The school principal's wife decided to move to such high altitude location, just to help out cooking tasks at the school.
Teaching Biology and practice it with a micropscope.
Students using computer aided equipments and internet access receive long distance educational training.
The cracks on a young face of every student review the hardship of the sun at high-altitude and lack of oxygen. It takes a very dedicated teaching staff to remain working long term in this special school.
The students automatically line up for their meals during lunch hours. This is a very well organized school.
Older students are serving rice (the main dish) to the students.
A study of the food being served, it reviews that students receive a very well-balanced diet.
After lunch being served, students are having fun at the school play ground.
During the Dalai Lama era there was no school or university, a child had to join one of the Monasteries to receive an education and that was the reason why many Tibetan mothers were forced by their own clans to give up their love ones to the Monasteries. Today, no Tibetan mother has to make such a decision.
The truth is that during the Dalai Lama era most Tibetan women were second class citizens and very seldom had any chance of an education. Today, all Tibetan children, both boys and girls, have equal chances of a free-of-charge and compulsory education. Tibetan women today provide a major and essential workforce in the government of Tibet Autonomous Region.
Without Lhamo Toinzhub(14th Dalai Lama), Tibet is better off today!
In 1951 Lhamo Toinzhub signed widely known as 'the 17 Pacts'
to run Tibet for Chairman Mao until he sneaked out in 1959.
For almost 9 years Lhamo Toinzhub had worked for Chairman Mao.
Tibet Today still fighting her Biggest Enemy...
Click below:
Secret CIA Sponsorship of Tibetan Rebels against China Exposed---
How A Ground-breaking Book Unveiled History as It Was
http://www.china-hiking.com/tibet/invasion.htm
In 1959 conned by then Ambassador in India(Henderson) at his own free will,
Lhamo Toinzhub left Tibet and thus had given up his right to run Tibet.
As an early version of Iranian Czar or Filipino Marcos, he was tricked to leave Tibet.
Since 1959 for 49 years Tibet Autonomous Region has been run by capable
native Tibetans, most of whom were a SERF during Dalai Lama era.
These Tibetan leaders should be the only people who can make decisions
for the future of Tibet Autonomous Region, NOT Lhamo Toinzhub.
He has neither Tibetans' Trust nor experience to run Democratic and Modern Tibet.
Tibetans do not want someone both a Political and Religious leader to head Tibet.
Why do nations want to have Tibet returned to a SERF system under Dalai Lama?
It is because they want to control Tibet with a puppet like Dalai Lama.
This will lead Tibet into neither Democratic nor 'Freedom of Choice'.
Our World is enough to have only one Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini !
USA Professor asked: Want Another Taliban?
Lhamo Toinzhub has to realize Tibet today is a well established society,
and stop allow himself being used as a puppy by nations against China.
It is sincerely hope before his approaching death Lhamo Toinzhub
(14th Dalai Lama) will give up his so called 'Tibet Independence'
and for once in entire life doing something good for people of Tibet.
The only way to avoid ending up in history like Iranian Czar or Filipino Marcos!
http://pic.people.com.cn/GB/31655/6543727.html
Click the following to view the White Papers on Tibet issues:
Tibet -- Its Ownership And Human Rights Situation
New Progress in Human Rights in the Tibet Autonomous Region
Tibet's March Toward Modernization
White Paper on Tibetan Culture
White Paper on Ecological Improvement and Environmental Protection in Tibet
Tibet's Compulsory and Free-of-Charge Education
White Paper: Regional Ethnic Autonomy in Tibet
Click the above for full text of White Papers on various Tibet Issues
Potala Palace is the symbol of Tibet, China
On July 1, 2006 Qinghai-Tibet Railway put into operation
which changed the History of Tibet forever !!
click here
Ride Qinghai-Tibet Railway with us to visit Potala Palace
Click here
We are operating these tours and its profit goes to provide
hearing aids to children living in the remote regions of China.
We do this to foster people-to-people relations between USA and China.
In this world today everywhere is full of hatred, greed, terrorism and nature disaster.
Our project is like a 'breathe of fresh air'. Hope that you can join our project.
click here
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