By Zamlha Tempa Gyaltsen
July 21, 2018
China’s latest white paper
‘Ecological Progress on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau’ begins with a brazen lie
that “the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government have always
valued ecological progress.
In fact, the infamous slogan ‘Man must conquer nature’ was declared by the founding father of the CPC Mao Zedong. In his opening speech at the National Conference of the CPC (March 21, 1955), Mao stated that ‘there is a way of conquering even Nature as an enemy”. He further stated that “even the high mountains must bow, and even the rivers must yield”. Such attitude towards nature by CPC and its call to develop at all cost has plunged China into as one of the most polluted regions on earth.
Too Many Lies and Factual
Errors
The paper would have been a
wonderful reading for someone who knows very little about Tibet, but for a
regular observer, there are too many lies and factual errors. The paper states
that ‘the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is one of the regions with strictest water
resource management and water environment protection in China’. There
were too many cases of factories and mining companies who were not punished
despite polluting local water bodies.
The case of waste from lithium
mines been flushed into the Lichu river in Minyak Lhagong ( Karze region of
Tibet) by the Ronda Lithium Co Limited is one such example. The toxic
waste caused (May 4, 2016) mass death of fish and polluted the drinking water
source of the local communities.
In a similar case on September 23,
2014, more than 1,000 local Tibetans of Dokar and Zibuk villages near Lhasa
protested against the poisoning of their river by the Gyama Copper Poly-metallic
mine. The mine is located close to a river that locals use for drinking,
irrigation and feeding their livestock.
Another example of lack of proper
water management is the rampant dumping of rural and urban wastes into nearby
rivers. The paper states that RMB 6.3 billion was spent on domestic sewage and
waste disposal projects but in reality, the garbage collection and management
facilities are almost non-existent across Tibet, especially in rural areas.
While claiming that the Qinghai –
Tibet railway was an example of green development, the paper quotes from
Science Magazine (April 27, 2007) saying (the railway will) “ultimately promote
the sustainable ecological, social, and economic development of western China”.
But according to the actual article in the Science Magazine titled ‘Building a
Green Railway in China’, the sentence begins by stating that ” If carefully
managed (emphasis added), the Qinghai -Tibet railway will ultimately promote
the sustainable ecological, social and economic development of the western
China’. To support its argument, the paper disregards intellectual integrity by
selectively misquoting incomplete sentences from Science Magazine to alter the
actual context.
Contradictions between Policies
and Implementations
There are far too many
contradictions between policies for environmental protection and actual ground
implementation. The paper claims that ‘the relevant provinces and autonomous
regions have taken active measure to increase public awareness of
eco-conservation, such as strengthening public campaigns on environmental
protection’.
But an official circular issued by
the Tibet Public Security Department of the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region
on February 7, 2018 has made environmental protection activities in Tibet an
illegal act, thereby contradicting the claims made above.
The disregard to the pleas of
Tibetans in Amchok against mining is yet another contradiction. On May
31, 2016, around 2,000 local Tibetans of Amchok in north-eastern Tibet gathered
to protest agaist mining on their sacred mount Gong-nyong Lari. But the Chinese
government brutally suppressed the protesters by seriously injuring many and
detaining six local Tibetans. They were calling for “protection of environment,
protection of the sacred mountain and protection of people’s safety”.
Some Important Issues are
Ignored
The paper makes no mention of
natural disasters despite Tibetan areas facing devastating floods, landslides
and mudslides in recent years.
The mountainous Tibetan Plateau
faces the severest impact of climate change due to its high elevation at low
latitude. The situation is further exacerbated by unregulated constructions and
mining activities in the region. The plateau has seen unprecedented number of
natural disaster across Tibet since 2016. There are numerous floods and
landslides occurring in North-eastern and Central regions of Tibet as we write.
Unfortunately, the paper does not mention these natural disasters or efforts
taken by the Chinese government to mitigate the impact.
This is apparently due to lack of
real understanding of the current socio-environmental situation in Tibet by the
Chinese government. The Chinese government has done very little to
address climate change and put forth any preventive measures to mitigate the impact
of increasing incidents natural disasters. As is often the case, it has been
the Tibetan monasteries who have rushed to the scene of natural disasters to
help the public.
While claiming massive progress in
the creation of nature reserves, the plight of millions of resettled nomads are
conveniently brushed aside. The lack of jobs and educational opportunities in
the resettled areas have pushed the nomadic population into the margins of the
society where they are compelled into alcoholism, prostitution and children
engaging in petty crimes. A whole generation of Tibetans are impoverished and
forced into destitution.
The paper also gives very little
information about Ngawa and Karze regions of eastern Tibet. These regions have
seen increasing natural disasters, numerous protests against mining and often
face repressive policies.
Conclusion
Environmental conservation efforts
in Tibetan areas are arrogantly forced upon them by the state without informing
or taking local communities into confidence. Such colonial approaches have
often led to confrontation between the people and the government. It’s the
Tibetans who have preserved the fragile plateau for thousands of years and
acquired enormous indigenous knowledge of the land and its climatic patterns.
The lack of mitigation efforts to
face the new environmental situation and climatic conditions is a major
failure. Tibetans should not be left to face natural disaster in the coming
years as it has been in the last three years.
The formulation of stricter
regulations on protection of nature reserves is a welcome effort, a similar
policy is also urgently required to strictly regulate the influx of millions of
tourists into the plateau as it could leave massive carbon footprint on the
fragile ecosystem of Tibet.
The millions of resettled nomads
should be provided with jobs, education and medical facilities to restore their
dignity and livelihood.
Ever since Xi Jinping became the
president, there has been positive efforts on environmental protection across
China and in Tibet. But the lack of environmental knowledge, respect for
environment and sincere desire for environmental protection among Chinese
officials have led to various contradictions and confrontations. As a result,
environmental conservation projects by various local Chinese governments in
Tibet often end up further damaging the local environment and destroying people’s
livelihood.
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