Beijing’s imaginary Tibet re-opens to foreign tourists
In the past two months the Tibetan Autonomous Region and Tibetan areas of Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan were off limits to foreign tourists. The ban was ostensibly imposed as a protective step because of potential dangers associated with important anniversaries. Martial law was de facto in place as Chinese authorities deployed tens of thousands of soldiers across these regions.
The current reopening is partial though since Beijing requires foreigners to obtain special permission to visit Tibet and it is unclear if tourists can stray from organised tours. But not everyone can even hope for a permit. For instance, foreign journalists are excluded from those who can travel to the mountain nation.
In an exclusive interview with AsiaNews Prime Minister Rinpoche spoke about a recent report released by the China Tibetology Research Centre, an institution that depends from the central government that has claimed that Tibet is a prosperous region and that Tibetans are happy and protected.
“If this were true, why is it that not everyone is allowed to see such happy Tibetan people? Why is it that foreigners and journalists are not allowed in? If people were really happy there would be no complaints and protests, which do occur even if China tries to deny them.”
According to the Chinese report, in 2008 the population of Tibet stood at 2.87 million people, 2.7 of which ethnic Tibetans.
Many experts have questioned these figures since so many ethnic Han Chinese living in Tibet have not been counted because they do not meet formal residence requirements.
For Rinpoche it is clear that “in Lhasa Chinese immigrants are twice as many as Tibetans.”
“First, the government has favoured mass settlement by ethnic Chinese by providing them with economic incentives. Tibetans have already become a minority in their own country: six million against at least 7.5 million ethnic Chinese (figures include Tibetan areas in Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai). [. . .] Statistics show that Tibetans remain overwhelmingly rural in all five Chinese provinces that incorporate traditional Tibet. This ‘demographic aggression’ is threatening Tibetan culture.” Indeed ethnic Chinese are a majority in the cities and dominate trade and commerce.
“Secondly, [Tibet’s] environment has been damaged beyond repair,” Rinpoche added. “The damage caused by aggressive development of the fragile high- altitude ecosystem is becoming irreversible, and the melting rate of glaciers of Tibet is alarming.”
“Thirdly, China routinely boasts about the progress and development it has brought to Tibet by investing millions of yuan for the welfare and economic progress of the Tibetan people. The truth however is completely different.”
“The Chinese have routinely taken away immense wealth and resources from Tibet. They have cut trees from its vast forests and harvested medicinal plants from the Tibetan plateau; a mere 6-7 per cent of the value taken out has been put back in. Whatever development has taken place it has been for the settlement of non Tibetans and the military.”
What is more, Rinpoche blames China for plundering the country’s religious and cultural wealth. “The Chinese have looted ancient artefacts and relics from monasteries and homes in the 1960s and 1970s, including precious jewels and gems, gold and silver, as well as ornaments,” he said. NC)
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19/07/2005
