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No reason to deny Tibet reforms and rule of law(1)
BEIJING, May 13 -- I had the pleasure of visiting Tibet last month. What I saw and heard there has convinced me that the recent attacks on China by some Western media outlets over the issue of Tibet are seriously flawed. And I would like to share some of my thoughts of the issue with the readers here.
The Tibetan separatists overseas have made a lot of irresponsible remarks over the years. They either directly demand "Tibet independence" or seek the establishment of a "greater Tibet region", where no ethnic Han officials or armed forces would be allowed to stay. I find such demands devoid of any legal ground or historical logic.
These people appear determined to go against the current of history and reject the central government's constitutional rule of Tibet; they also invite doubt as to whether they agree that Tibet is part of China or are seeking virtual independence of Tibet under the disguise of "unprecedented autonomy".
Political and cultural links existed between Tibet and the "middle land" long before the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) and Tibet has been part of Chinese territory since the 13th century. Our central government has maintained a bottomline on the issue of Tibet throughout history: Tibet's is a local government with no diplomatic power or power to cede any part of Chinese territory to foreign countries.
It is exactly over the latter issue that the Tibetan regional government grossly betrayed the interest of the Chinese nation, including Tibet, by secretly signing the "Simla Treaty" with Britain in 1914 behind the Chinese central government's back.
The Tibetan regional authorities back then lost the trust of the central government because of its abuse of power and for forfeiting its own credibility. The government of the People's Republic of China launched democratic reforms in Tibet for the sake of the whole nation's fundamental interest and ended the theocratic rule in Tibet. This was reasonable and necessary for protecting the national sovereignty as well as the Tibetans' human rights.
Tibetan Buddhism represents a rich and glorious trove of spiritual civilization, but it suffers from the inherent handicap of being based in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, also known as the "roof of the world", where the living conditions are very harsh to say the least and communication extremely difficult. The natural geographical conditions of Tibet pose a tremendous challenge to human existence there, particularly the 3,000-5,000 meter altitude where atmospheric density is only 80 percent to 60 percent of that at the sea level. Such is the natural condition of Tibet that neither the Dalai Lama nor the bkav-shag government in old Tibet had ever been able to change.
However, the human race can improve the means of communication between Tibet and the rest of the country without changing the natural climate of the high-altitude region. And no other such facility has brought the Tibetans more convenience and benefits than the Qinghai-Tibet highway, which opened to traffic in 1954 and has been improved to a Grade 2 trunk road according to the national standard with the top speed of 60 kilometers per hour.
The "Suez Canal on the Roof of the World", as the highest highway in the world is sometimes called, has been responsible for 80-90 percent of all goods transported to and from Tibet since it started serving the region in the 1950s.
Even more impressive is the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, which went into operation in 2006 and is affectionately called the "heavenly road" by local Tibetans. It is helping greatly in the development of Tibet by dramatically improving the land access between Tibet and the rest of the country and in improving the living conditions of people in the autonomous region.
During my stay there I saw with my own eyes how much the two transport arteries had helped improve the life of Tibetans one way or another. Some local governments of the areas which the highway and railway pass through have been able to curb desertification and develop farming, thanks to better transportation, while some others have built new homes by the rivers for those who used to live far away from water sources.
The Tibetan separatists overseas have made a lot of irresponsible remarks over the years. They either directly demand "Tibet independence" or seek the establishment of a "greater Tibet region", where no ethnic Han officials or armed forces would be allowed to stay. I find such demands devoid of any legal ground or historical logic.
These people appear determined to go against the current of history and reject the central government's constitutional rule of Tibet; they also invite doubt as to whether they agree that Tibet is part of China or are seeking virtual independence of Tibet under the disguise of "unprecedented autonomy".
Political and cultural links existed between Tibet and the "middle land" long before the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) and Tibet has been part of Chinese territory since the 13th century. Our central government has maintained a bottomline on the issue of Tibet throughout history: Tibet's is a local government with no diplomatic power or power to cede any part of Chinese territory to foreign countries.
It is exactly over the latter issue that the Tibetan regional government grossly betrayed the interest of the Chinese nation, including Tibet, by secretly signing the "Simla Treaty" with Britain in 1914 behind the Chinese central government's back.
The Tibetan regional authorities back then lost the trust of the central government because of its abuse of power and for forfeiting its own credibility. The government of the People's Republic of China launched democratic reforms in Tibet for the sake of the whole nation's fundamental interest and ended the theocratic rule in Tibet. This was reasonable and necessary for protecting the national sovereignty as well as the Tibetans' human rights.
Tibetan Buddhism represents a rich and glorious trove of spiritual civilization, but it suffers from the inherent handicap of being based in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, also known as the "roof of the world", where the living conditions are very harsh to say the least and communication extremely difficult. The natural geographical conditions of Tibet pose a tremendous challenge to human existence there, particularly the 3,000-5,000 meter altitude where atmospheric density is only 80 percent to 60 percent of that at the sea level. Such is the natural condition of Tibet that neither the Dalai Lama nor the bkav-shag government in old Tibet had ever been able to change.
However, the human race can improve the means of communication between Tibet and the rest of the country without changing the natural climate of the high-altitude region. And no other such facility has brought the Tibetans more convenience and benefits than the Qinghai-Tibet highway, which opened to traffic in 1954 and has been improved to a Grade 2 trunk road according to the national standard with the top speed of 60 kilometers per hour.
The "Suez Canal on the Roof of the World", as the highest highway in the world is sometimes called, has been responsible for 80-90 percent of all goods transported to and from Tibet since it started serving the region in the 1950s.
Even more impressive is the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, which went into operation in 2006 and is affectionately called the "heavenly road" by local Tibetans. It is helping greatly in the development of Tibet by dramatically improving the land access between Tibet and the rest of the country and in improving the living conditions of people in the autonomous region.
During my stay there I saw with my own eyes how much the two transport arteries had helped improve the life of Tibetans one way or another. Some local governments of the areas which the highway and railway pass through have been able to curb desertification and develop farming, thanks to better transportation, while some others have built new homes by the rivers for those who used to live far away from water sources.
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