Tibet: new railway to be inaugurated tomorrow despite ethnic, environmental protests
Many Tibetan groups claim the new Qinghai-Tibet line is just another way of increasing Beijing's control over the region. A new influx of ethnic Han Chinese are expected to flood the area together with tourists, who could wreck the environment.
Lhasa (AsiaNews/SCMP) Tomorrow's inauguration of a new railway linking Qinghai and Tibet has sparked a wave of protests by pro-independence Tibetan groups. They fear more migration of Chinese of Han ethnicity and if this should happen, protest leaders claim ethnic Tibetans could become a minority in their own home.
Tenzin Choedon, co-ordinator for Students for a Free Tibet, said: "Once the Han start to immigrate, Tibetans will be marginalised economically and socially. Survival of culture and identity would also be threatened by the railway."
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the number of Han Chinese in the autonomous region nearly doubled between 1990 and 2000, going from 74,500 (the first wave) to 155,300.
In a bid to draw attention to the problem, several groups have called "on all Tibetans, from New York to London", to show their opposition by wearing black armbands and demonstrating outside Chinese embassies and consulates tomorrow. They have urged tourists to boycott the new railway, which is 1,956km long with 43 stops at stations along its route.
"We see this railway as a very destructive project," said Yael Weisz-Rind of the Free Tibet group. "It was created for solely political reasons, to consolidate China's control over Tibet; tourism is a weapon in Beijing's hands."
The increase in tourists hoped for by Beijing is also worrying environmentalists in a country that is one big nature reserve. Dawa Tsering, director of the WWF's Lhasa office, said many shops for tourists in the Tibetan capital already sold wild plants as souvenirs. "One of the worries is that a lot of people will be brought by the railway to Tibet, knowing nothing about the nature of the place. The railway provides a great opportunity for economic development in Tibet, but it will also put pressure on environmental protection."
Mao Zedong and his Prime Minister Zhou Enlai were very keen on the project, taking it into consideration from the beginning of the People's Republic. Some historians say the original idea can be traced back to Sun Yat-sen. Construction of the railway was divided in two: the first section, 800km long, was started in the early 80s and leads to Xining in Golmoud. The second spans 1,200km from Golmud to Lhasa, largely snaking its way through altitudes ranging between 4,000 to 5,000 metres. The highest point, near Tanggula, is 5,068 metres above sea level.
The first train is set to leave from Beijing at 9.30am to arrive in Lhasa at 9pm two days later. The trip from the Chinese capital covers more than 4,000km but it is not yet clear how many trains will undertake the entire journey.
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30/08/2006
