By Zamlha Tempa Gyaltsen*
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| Hayua Gold Mine in Tashigang, Lhuntse in Tibet, near Indian border |
A recent article in South China Morning Post
(SCMP) about rapidly expanding Chinese gold mining activities in Tibet, close
to India's border, reverberated the Sino-India border tension. The Post
deliberately titled the article 'How Chinese mining in the Himalayas may create a new
military flashpoint with India' to stir the volatile relation
between the two neighbors.
The highly competitive Indian media quickly
picked up the news with bits of its own exaggeration, which helps SCMP to
achieve its long term commercial goal of expanding readership across the Indian
subcontinent.
In between such political games and
commercial interest, the views of the local communities are often overlooked
and the importance of the places in case are constantly misunderstood.
Lhuntse, from where the Chinese mining
activity was reported, is only about 150 km from Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.
It is one of the 12 counties of Lhokha prefecture under the so-called Tibet
Autonomous Region (TAR) presently under Chinese occupation.
So why is Lhuntse suddenly in the news?
It's unlikely the Chinese government would
have allowed large scale mining in a faraway, restricted area, where the
People's Liberation Army (PLA) has stationed heavy military bases, unless there
is a strategic plan. The most probable reason for the sudden surge in mining
activities in Lhuntze could have been for two important issues - strategic and
historical.
Strategic Move against India
The strategic plan is to heavily populate the
region with Chinese migrants to outnumber local Tibetans and create a strong
base to counter Indian influence across the border in Arunachal Pradesh. Mining
would be an ideal excuse to attract thousands of Chinese migrants in the
scarcely populated area to build a new Chinese town in the region. Such an
atmosphere could facilitate a strong migrant Chinese support for PLA in the
region.
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Wu
Yingjie, the Communist Party Secretary of Tibet Autonomous Region greets border
security forces during visit to the Yulmey Township, the border village on 12
October 2016.
The strategic plan is
further evident from what Professor Zheng Youye of China
University of Geosciences in Beijing told the SCMP. He said that the new mining
activities would lead to a rapid and significant increase in the Chinese
population in the Himalayas, which would provide stable, long-term support for
any diplomatic or military operations aimed at gradually driving Indian forces
out of territory claimed by China.The SCMP
also writes that Chinese migrant workers have poured into
the area so fast that even the local government officials could not provide a
precise count for the current population
As per 2010 Chinese
census, Lhuntse County has a population of 35248, with more than 99% being
Tibetans. But the demography could quickly change as expansion of mining
activities in the region would attract thousands of Chinese migrant workers,
accompanied by cluster of Chinese shops, restaurants and night clubs. The area
also has a heavy military presence whose numbers were not included in the local
population census.
The gradual outnumbering
of local population by migrant Chinese could also reduce the strong influence
the Dalai Lama has in the region. The Tibetan peoples' deep faith in the Dalai
Lama has created a very favorable attitude towards India as it is the current
home for the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetans Administration.
Historical Importance for Tibetans
The Chinese could be also planning to change
the demographic outlook of the place to reduce Tibetan cultural influence and
wipe out historical memories. The place has been an important political and
military base in different periods of Tibetan history. The most
recent was in the 1950s. On 17 March 1959, the Dalai Lama was forced to flee
with his ministers from Lhasa as PLA threatened to bombard the Dalai Lama's
palace.
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| The interim government of Tibet being proclaimed by the Dalai Lama at Lhuntse Dzong, Tibet in n 29 March 1959. Picture Courtesy Tibet Museum, CTA |
On 29 March 1959, after reaching Lhuntze, the
Dalai Lama declared it as the temporary seat for the Tibetan Government and
nullified the forcefully signed 17th Point Agreement.
Lhuntse is also an important military base
for Tibetan resistance guerrilla fighters, the Chushi
Gangdruk as popularly known to Tibetans. The military organization fought the
invading Chinese and successfully led the Dalai Lama to escape into India.
Huayu Mine and its
location
The mine site is located
near Tashigang, about 45 km from the county headquarter or the Lhuntze town. An
official website of the Chinese government states that the county is rich in
gold, iron, medelevium, lead, zinc, antimony, copper etc. The Huayu Mining that
owns the mine in Lhuntze proudly declares that its Zhexikang (Tashigang) mine
has 600,000 tons of lead, zinc and antimony.
The mine is right next to
the provincial highway S202, which makes transportation of mineral ores very
convenient.
The S202 is an extremely
important road for both civilian and military purpose in the region. The
highway starts from Tsethang, the prefecture city of Lhoka, after passing
through Lhuntze and Tsona, it ends close to the border
opposite Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. The S202 is also connected with Shigatse
and Lhasa with other provincial highways for faster movement of goods, people
and military.
Environmental Implications
Huayu claims that the company has been
honored by the local government for its work safety, but such honors lack any
credibility in the region. For example, despite the
A report in TAR official website (September 1, 2017) states
that the government has been able to reduce soil erosion and decrease
desertification along the Lhuntze valley. But the Tashigang mine could cause
soil erosion and water pollution as it sits right on the bank of Nangme Chu
river, a tributary of Nyelchu river that flows through the Lhuntze valley. The
river becomes Subansiri River as it enters into Arunachal Pradesh. Any water
pollution by the mine could quickly flow into India as it happened back in
November 2017 when Brahmuputra began to turn black for months due to
(unconfirmed) activities on the Tibetan side of the border.
There is another big mine to the north of
Lhuntze, the Norbusa Mine. Norbusa meaning 'Land of Gems' in Tibetan, is the
biggest chromite mine in Tibet.
Conclusion
On 29 October 2017, Xi
Jinping wrote (the much reported) letter to Dolkar and Yangzom sisters of
remote Yulmey Township in Lhuntze. The presidential gesture, though made to
look like meant for the two sisters, in fact was a message for India. It was a
strategic move to illustrate people's love for the state and the government
presence in the border region. Only Beijing would know if the sisters ever sent
a letter to which the Chairman replied.
The letter to the family
and now the sudden surge in mining activities in the region comes after an
embarrassing end to the Doklam standoff for China. The unexpected tough
resistance from India could have spurred China to seek new strategy - a
demographic shift with Chinese characteristics on the Indo-Tibet border. Such a
move could assist the PLA's expansion across the border with a fervent Chinese
migrant support, which the Chinese military on the border obviously lacks.
*Zamlha Tempa Gyaltsen is a Research Fellow at the Tibet Policy Institute
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