Tibet’s Economic Development and China’s ‘Boomerang Aid’

On 1st September 2015, the Central Tibetan Administration or the Exile Tibetan Government responded to the Chinese White Paper on Tibet issued back in April 2015. 

The response  was realistically and responsibly titled "Tibet was not Part of China but Middle Way Remains a Viable Solution ". Fortunately, the response from the Exile Tibetan Government  has more reliable information and realistic approach than the Chinese white paper which contains nothing more than absolute rhetorics and deliberate lies.

As an Institution that deals with environment and developmental issues in Tibet, the most interesting part of the Chinese White Paper  and the response from Exile Tibetan Government is the current state of Environment and path of development in Tibet under Chinese rule. We were encouraged by the Chinese government's latest effort to tackle environmental issues in China, but appalled by the lack of similar effort in Tibetan areas where extensive mining and damming causing extreme damage to the fragile ecosystem of the World's highest Plateau and marginalizing its rightful inhabitants of any real benefits.

Following is an extract from the Tibetan Response on the Chinese white Paper which claims environmental protection and economic progress for the Tibetan people.

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Tibet’s Economic Development and China’s ‘Boomerang Aid'

While the Chinese government attempts to rationalise its occupation of Tibet stating that it was backward and feudal, Tibet today is far from current international standards in terms of human development. Tibet today is off-limits to any scrutiny by independent international media and rights groups. On the issue of the current state of Tibet’s development, the United Nations Development Programme says, “Tibet still lags behind other areas of China in terms of human development. Harsh conditions, scarce resources, and insufficient infrastructure limit potential sources of economic growth. Meanwhile, the growth that does take place is concentrated in cities and yields little benefit to many ethnic Tibetans, most of whom live in rural areas and lack skills compared to migrant workers from other parts of China.” There is an acute need for a shift in the basic approach towards the development of Tibet. Beijing’s approach has led to chronic dependence on subsidies, referred to as “blood transfusion economy” by economists. There is massive central government aid to Tibet to develop infrastructure, highways, railway lines, airports and communications system, all aimed to facilitate Beijing’s control of Tibet. But what the central government’s right hand gives to Tibet is also taken away by its left hand. Economists define this sleight of hand as “boomerang aid.” Tibet’s expanding network of highways and railway lines is helping Beijing to exploit the region’s abundant natural resources. Tibet’s water and hydro energy resources and its minerals are exploited with no or little compensation for the local Tibetans. On the other hand, Beijing’s focus on urbanisation and infrastructure, plus settling the Tibetan plateau with immigrants, has not really helped to improve the life of the majority of Tibetans but has increased their marginalisation. Nor has there been a transfer of skills to Tibetans. Tibet continues to rely on outside aid, both capital and labour. “This urban-oriented growth has contributed to rapidly increasing income disparity between urban and rural areas, and between Han and Tibetan populations” (Holcombe, Arthur. 10 June 2002. Testimony to US Congressional Executive Commission on China). The Chinese government often talks about spending millions on boosting development in Tibet, but how much of that money is actually spent on improving health, education, job and social welfare that benefit the local Tibetans is a big question. China’s own statistics show that most of the money as part of China’s Western Development programme is being spent on mega projects like extending and expanding highways, railways and airports to transport minerals from Tibet and bring in tourists, officials and Chinese migrants to the plateau. What Tibetans actually need are good schools with qualified teachers, hospitals with modern facilities and doctors, jobs and employment opportunities in their own villages and towns.

Why Tibet Matters.
Can download this Infographic at http://tibet.net/#/wtm/1

CHINA’S NEW ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION LAW, NOT FOR TIBET

The toxic smog engulfing Beijing and other Chinese cities has forced the Communist government to amend its development model and bring in a new environmental protection law in a bid to calm ever growing public anger. Unfortunately, as in the past, the new environment law may prefer to stay within China proper rather than extend into the ethnic regions of the PRC.

Ever since the former President Hu Jintao’s scientific development concept slogan in 2003, there has been loud government rhetoric on environment protection, but the lack of genuine efforts was evident from Chai Jing’s ‘Under the Dome’ documentary film. The film reveals that the giant state-owned companies continue to flout environmental laws and still pride themselves as patriots

Site of the Lianghekou Dam currently under construction will be the highest embankment Dam in China

So, how might the new environmental protection law be enforced is a question which needs analysis.

The swift approval of the new law and the appointment of Chen Jining as the minister to enforce the law is a step forward. This is a welcome indication that President Xi Jinping is serious about environmental protection. But the commercial interests of the giant state-owned companies are deeply intertwined with the wealth of the Chinese central and provincial officials. So any moves directly affecting this lucrative business would mean serious internal friction.

Therefore the Chinese government may take an approach that aims to appease both the officials and urban citizens. Beijing would enforce the new environmental law as strictly as possible in China proper to calm growing public dissent, while leaving the law ambiguously enforced in the ethnic regions like Inner Mongolia, East Turkestan and Tibet (as it often does in the ethnic regions where constitutional rights are misinterpreted and curbed in the name of development and stability). Such an approach would thus enable the Chinese companies to continue making money far away from Beijing; in places where the laws are interpreted and manipulated as it suits the interests of the central and local officials, or where environment protests are ruthlessly suppressed as they are deemed ‘anti-national’ or ‘influenced by the Dalai clique’.

The more than 20 large-scale mining protests in Tibetan areas brutally suppressed by the Chinese government in the past 5 years is a dreadful reminder of the ambiguity of such laws.

• The Gyama (near Lhasa) mine landslide in March 2013 which killed 83 mine workers was clearly induced by mismanagement of the mine, but the company was not punished.
• The same mine was blamed for the poisoning of a stream flowing through Dokar village in September 2014, but the officials again sided with the mining company. The stream is a tributary of Lhasa Kyichu River which joins the Yarlung Tsangpo or the Brahmaputra.
• On August 2013, the locals of Zatoe in Kham (north-eastern Tibet) protested against mining in the Sianjainyun (Source region of Machu, Drichu and Zachu River) Nature Reserve. The officials fired tear gas and detained the locals instead of enforcing the nature reserve protection laws.
• Mining has been declared the pillar industry in the Tibetan areas, despite being the biggest threat to the fragile ecosystem of the world’s highest plateau, thus hurting both the land and the people of this ancient civilization.

So the terrifying visible outcome is that the Tibetan plateau is being plundered and poisoned, and gradually being turned into another toxic Chinese province. Environmental protection means not repeating past errors, but Beijing seems completely indifferent when it comes to the need of protecting the environment of the ethnic regions.

This indifference is apparent if we take a careful assessment of President Xi Jinping’s commitment to peak carbon emissions by 2030. This surely is a way forward, but it means drastically reducing coal consumption. So as Grace Mang of International Rivers put it so aptly in her article ‘No need to sacrifice rivers for power’,  that the devil is in the details, and how will Beijing plan to quench the ever rising energy thirst of the world’s second largest economy?

Unfortunately, the Chinese government is set to dam and divert water from Tibetan rivers to light cities and factories in China. Like the removal of Tibetan nomads from grasslands to bring in mining, the fragile ecosystem of the Tibetan plateau is now being put at risk to reduce smog in coastal cities of China.

The risk from 510 megawatt Zammu hydropower dam on Yarlung Tsangpo in Gyatsa county  of Southern Tibet and the 295 meter high Lianghekou dam on Nyakchu River in the Nyarong area of the eastern Tibet is simply too great. The impact on the region’s wildlife habitat and reduced river flow into the downstream areas are apparent, but the most dreadful threat would be from (RIS) Reservoir-Induced Seismic activity like the horrifying Wenchuan and Ludian earthquakes. Experts have voiced the possibility of 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (which killed 80,000 people) induced by the nearby Zipingpu Dam and the 2014 Ludian earthquake in Yunnan, which was similarly induced by the Xiluodu dam.

Sadly, China has planned more such mega dams on Tibetan rivers and destructive mining on the mountains, a rapidly surging threat on the fragile plateau.

The call for the rule of law in China by President Xi Jinping is a glimmer of hope that the laws would be enforced and the unruly state-owned companies would be disciplined. But the question is, will the new environmental protection law be equally and fairly enforced and extended into Tibet?

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*The writer, Zamlha Tempa Gyaltsen is a research fellow at Environment & Development Desk of the Tibet Policy Institute

Environment Talk Series in remote Tibetan Settlements

Environment and Development Desk (EDD) Staff Jigme Norbu and Tempa Gyaltsen Zamlha traveled to the remote Tibetan Settlement of Odisha, Mainpat and Bhandara at the end of February 2013. The trip was a follow up to the on going environment awareness  program by EDD to educate general public about current environment situation on Tibetan Plateau. The two staff made it very clear and firm in their approach to make the presentations short, relevant and convenient to the general public.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO MAKE MORE INVESTMENT' AND COUNTY UPGRADE IN THE WESTERN TIBET?

On 25 January 2013, two major announcements were made by China’s official news media: the plan to invest over 3.5 billion Yuan to protect environment and creation of a new county in Nagchu Prefecture in the so called Tibet Autonomous Region (comprising western half of the historical Tibet).

China daily reported that according to the draft budget of 2013 submitted by the finance department of the so called Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), "the region plans to invest 3.5 billion Yuan (USD 563 million) in 2013 […] in environmental protection”. The report further stated that most of the investment (3.23 billion) will be used for “major forestation projects and for compensating and rewarding locals who protect grass and forests, and conserve wetlands, lakes and water resources”. Besides, “over 50 million Yuan will be allocated to support environment improvement projects and preserve resources”. The investment will also “support the building of an ecological safety screen on the plateau”, report said.

Tibetan Delegates Attend World Climate Summit in Doha

DOHA, Qatar: The world leaders from different countries and representatives from IGOs and NGOs have gathered in Doha for the climate summit at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) which began today under a very tight security. Two Tibetan researchers also got registered for this historic event. They represent millions of Tibetans whose voices are suppressed under the Communist military regime in Tibet and those that are often lost in the economic deals and negotiations.

Mr Tenzin Norbu, head of the Environment and Development Desk of the Central Tibetan Administration and Ms Tenzin Chodon, a researcher at the Tibetan Women’s Association in Dharamsala, India, arrived in the Islamic state of Qatar on 2 December. For the remaining five days of the ongoing conference, they will lobby, raise awareness and strengthen the network with the riparian states that depends on the rivers that flows from Tibet.

Mr Tenzin Norbu, Head of the Environment and Development Desk of the Central Tibetan Administration (sitting on left) speaking to a Chinese delegate at the climate summit in Doha

International Day of Climate Action Observed in Sambhota Tibetan School, Paonta

 

Ms Chokyi from EDD, talking to the students of Sambhota Tibetan school in Paonta about climate change.

 

The students participating in an environmental awareness program at the school.

DHARAMSHALA: The Environment and Development Desk (EDD) of the Department of Information and International Relations, held a comprehensive talk on climate change and its impact on the Tibetan plateau.
Ms Chokyi, a researcher from the EDD section, talked about current climate changes taking place on the Tibetan Plateau with glacier meltdown and desertification of the plateau’s grassland. These changes on the plateau in turn subsequently bring negative implications on the Tibetan nomads and their sustainable way of life.
With the theme for the Climate Action Day ‘Let’s make a switch’, she urged students to do what is in their capacity to control climate change such as choosing renewable energy, planting trees, switching lights off when its not in use and recycling waste materials.
The one-day program included a mono-act performed by students from different houses, eco-related games conducted by the junior students, exhibition on climate change ‘cause and effect’ and a go-green fancy marathon race.
The principal, Mr Migmar Tsering concluded the program with his speech emphasising on the practical implementation of environmental education to conserve our nature.

Why Is China Taking Away Trees From Tibet? Aren’t There Trees in China?

Leh, 9 October --- Mr. Tenzin Norbu, the head of the Environment and Development Desk of the Department of Information and  International Relations of the Central Tibetan Administration, at the invitation of the SOS Tibetan Children’s Village school in Choglamsar gave a crisp and clear power-point presentation to the senior students of the school. Titled Tibet: the Third Pole, the presentation introduced the students to the importance of the plateau to Asia and the world and growing environmental problems that beset Tibet today.

Tibet Brings the Himalayas Together in Ladakh

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October 7, 2012 10:45 am

Leh, 6 October — Under a brilliant, sunlight sky in Leh, 11 experts on Tibet and the Himalayas discussed the ancient cultural and spiritual contacts between the two in a three-day conference organised by the Delhi-based Foundation for Non-violent Alternatives (FNVA) from 5 to 7 October.

Representation of Tibet at COP11

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October 9, 2012 2:54 pm

HYDERABAD: As representatives from over 170 countries began deliberations in Hyderabad yesterday on the way forward to protect the planet’s biodiversity, a small contingent of Tibetan environmentalists are also voicing concerns, raising awareness and urging the parties and NGOs to help protect the unique biodiversity of the Tibetan Plateau.

EDD concludes Environment Awareness Program in South India

The team of researchers of Environment and development desk of DIIR successfully concluded its month-long awareness program among the monastic and lay Tibetan communities in the five settlements in south India.

Recently, EDD concluded its awareness program in south India during a hall-packed gathering in Camp 4 of Mundgod Doeguling Tibetan settlement. The month-long program was well received by people from different walks of life and was well attended by a total of around 5,800 people in five major Tibetan settlements in south India including Bylakuppe Lugsung Samdupling, Bylakuppe Dickyi Larsoe, Hunsur Rabgyeling, Kollegal Dhondenling and Mundgod Doeguling.

Environmental Awareness Program in South Indian Tibetan Settlements

EDD staff Mr. Jigme Norbu la and Tsering Dhundup la are currently in South India and this is the short report they have sent to us;

Around 600 monks gathered outside the courtyard of Sera Lachi Monastery on Tuesday, braving light shower and savage attacks of mosquitoes, to listen to a talk about the present environment and development issues concerning Tibet. Many monks reacted in distress as they learned and saw pictures of melting glaciers, deteriorating permafrost, degrading grasslands, displacement of nomads and large-scale resource extraction in Tibet.

One railroad serves all (Purposes): Geopolitical analysis of the Qinghai-Tibet Railroad

by Ms. S. Swathi Meenakshi*
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He who holds Tibet dominates the Himalayan piedmont; he who dominates the Himalayan piedmont threatens the Indian subcontinent and he who threatens the Indian subcontinent may well have all of South Asia within his reach, and with it all of Asia.

~ George Ginsburgs and Michael Mathos[i]

Relations between India and China have traditionally been tenuous. Earlier, the mountainous terrain of the Himalayan ranges, Tibet, Bhutan and Nepal acted as buffer areas to ease tension between the two Asian giants. But, recent infrastructure developments along the border raise questions of concern. China’s build up holds important security implications for India and adds heat to age old territorial claims. Given this background, of particular significance is the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway line. This railroad symbolizes China’s sovereignty over Tibet while establishing its technological prowess in building the highest railroad in the world[ii]. The railroad will gain ever more strategic significance as it connects hitherto inaccessible parts of the Tibetan plateau with the ‘Chinese motherland’. This paper tries to examine the geopolitical[iii] implications of such developments.

Tibet’s Environmental Issues Raised at Rio+20 (UNCSD) Summit by EDD Staff

EDD staff continues to raise pressing issues concerning Tibet’s environment during the events and activities of UNCSD Rio+20 conference being held in Brazil.

Mr. Tempa Gyaltsen Zamlha, a researcher at the Environment and Development Desk (DIIR) of Central Tibetan Administration has been taking active participation in several events and activities of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) commonly called Rio+20 being held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Conference focuses on two main themes:  a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication; and the institutional framework for sustainable development. 

World Environment Day: EDD in Action

Tuesday, June 5, 2012 marks the 40th observance of World Environment Day, a global day for environmental awareness organized by the United Nation since 1972.


In Dharamshala (a north Indian city in Himachal Pradesh), several events and activities were organized to raise awareness about environment protection and discuss ways to restore it. Tibetan Women's organization observed the day by organizing various green events such as marathon race, cycle rally, mass clean up & tree plantation. The Local Indian NGOs led by Prof. Kalia also organized events which included poster and speech competition among children of three local Indian schools.

Tibet:The Third Pole - Importance of Environmental Stewardship

This paper was presented by EDD during the 6th World Parliamentarian' Convention on Tibet held on April 27 to 29, 2012; Ottawa, Canada

        Conference Venue: Government Conference Centre, Ottawa, Canada

Introduction: Transboundary commons

With an average elevation of 4500 meters above mean sea level, the Tibetan Plateau physically dominates the geographical map of the world. The whole plateau stretches for almost 3,000 kilometers from west to east and 1,500 kilometers from south to north. Since time immemorial, the plateau held the Hindu Kush Himalayan Ice Sheet, considered as the largest ice mass and reservoir of fresh water outside the two poles, hence the name ‘Third Pole’. The Tibetan plateau even though very inhospitable to many species due to its high altitude and extreme climates holds one of the most diverse plant and animal species, some of which are unique to the Tibetan Plateau for instance Wild Yak, Tibetan Antelope and medicinal plants such as Rheum palmatum (Chumtsa), Frittilaria (Abhika) and about 400 species of Rhododendron.

Environmental Protection: In Belief, Custom and Songs

The conscious awareness about environmental protection has been deeply rooted in Tibetan religious beliefs, customs, moral obligations and taboos. For thousands of years, Tibetans have maintained a harmonious relationship with the natural environment by protecting the ecosystem, treasuring resources and conserving it for future generations.

The idea of protecting nature dates back to, as early as 3000 years ago when Tibetans followed the primitive Bon religion. According to Bon, everything in the world —including mountain, water, tree etc.—have its own deity, who can both protect and punish based on human behavior towards nature.

Anthropogenic (Human-Induced) Factors Causing Environmental Degradation on the Tibetan Plateau

Various anthropogenic factors on the Tibetan Plateau are also responsible for speeding up the environmental degradation and its associated problems. One of the major causes has been the Chinese government’s policy to bring changes in land use, in particular, conversion of grassland into cropland to maximize agricultural production. In addition, several developmental projects and mining activities are also adding to the ecological problems in Tibet.

Tibetan Plateau and Climate Change: An Overview

            Source: EDD

Today, climate change and its impact is a grave concern to the entire world and one that can no longer be ignored. Such a change is not an inexorable force of nature but in fact, has known human causes and available solutions to restore climatic stability.

After Arctic and Antarctic, the Tibetan Plateau is Earth’s largest store of ice and a hotspot of climate change. Due to its unique geographical location and high altitude, Tibetan Plateau faces rapid changes in its weather patterns and ecosystems in more extreme ways than other parts of the world. The Plateau has been warming three times as fast as the global average and its glaciers are shrinking more rapidly than anywhere else.

Despite its cold environment, for thousands of years the Tibetan people inhabited this plateau and created cultural landscapes based on the principles of simplicity and non-violence, in harmonywith the environment.

Tibet and Climate Change: What’s the underlying story?

Why Tibet matters? Several scientists have realized the importance and Tibet’s role in the planetary climate. However, the six million Tibetans are silenced and forbidden to form their own organizations, people think Tibet is small and unimportant on a global scale. Actually, it is an immense upland, with an area of ~2.5 million sq. km and averaging over 4500 meters in elevation. It is not just the largest and highest area in the world today (also referred to as ‘the roof of the world’); it may be the largest and highest in all geologic history. It is also close to 2% of the land surface of the planet.