-- The 50th Anniversary of Tibet's Peaceful Liberation

Editor's Note: In the more than 700 years since the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), the central government of China has exercised sovereignty over Tibet. During the 19th century, imperialist powers invaded China, encroaching not only on its interior areas, but also Tibet, where they sowed seeds of discord between Tibet and the motherland. On the eve of the establishment of the People's Republic of China, imperialist influenced separatist activities became still more menacing, which is why the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Chairman Mao Zedong, ordered the peaceful liberation of Tibet soon after the founding of new China.

Tibet's peaceful liberation began in Qamdo. The development of Qamdo from a small eastern Tibet town to its present bustling prosperity epitomizes the progress of the whole of Tibet. From the memoirs of Li Guozhu, a woman soldier who participated in the Qamdo Battle, it can be seen that in the process of delivering Tibetan people from darkness to the light, countless Tibetan and Han people paid the ultimate price.

Fifty years is but a moment in time within the history of humankind, which makes the changes that have occurred in Tibet during this period all the more gratifying. The following account by Radi, chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Tibet Autonomous Region, provides an insight into new Tibet.

Tibet:
Nearer and Nearer

-- An Interview with Radi, chairman
of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Tibet Autonomous Region

"In the 50 years since peaceful liberation of Tibet, the people of various ethnic groups in Tibet have advanced from darkness to the light, from backwardness to progress, from ignorance to civilization, from poverty to prosperity, and from isolation to openness," says Radi, a Tibetan, and chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Tibet Autonomous Region.

People often liken the old Tibet to the Middle Ages of Europe, with its monopolization of political power, and ownership of the means of production and of serfs by the government and nobles. In such a society serfs had no rights. Although they toiled all year round, serfs lived in a state of perpetual destitution, as all the fruits of their labor belonged to the serf owners. The peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951 marked this secluded land's first step towards civilization and progress. Following the democratic reforms of 1959, and abolition of the former system of inhuman exploitation, conditions suitable for the progress of Tibetan people were established.

Today, around the old Potala Palace a modern city has developed. Wide streets have replaced the narrow, muddy lanes, and trucks running along mountain highways have replaced yak caravans. Tibet now has airports, schools, universities, TV stations and modern industries, which are as much a part of it as the ancient palace.

Great changes have taken place among the Tibetan people, because the "roof of the world" is no longer isolated from the rest of the world. The people of Tibet now read newspapers, use modern telecommunications facilities, receive education, work in factories or stores, and get the latest information through the Internet.

The Tibetan people can now proudly proclaim that in 50 years they have built a new Tibet.

Radi is particularly keen to talk about Tibet's economic development, infrastructure construction, and improvements in education.

He begins with the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, which has recently been approved. This will be the first railway of its kind in the whole world. Within six years, the 1,100-km railway will link Lhasa, the capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, and Golmud, a city in Qinghai Province.

"Do not minimize the feat which this 1,100 kilometers of railway represents. It will necessitate building on a 550-kilometer track of permafrost, while most of the remaining 550 kilometers will pass through high mountains. In many sections the altitude is more than 5,000 meters above sea level. It will therefore break two world records -- one being the longest plateau railway, and the other being the longest permafrost railway in the world," says Radi proudly. In the course of building this railway of 1,100 kilometers, workers will meet landslides and mud-rock flows, and in some areas earthquakes also occur. The railway will pass through two nature reserves, so care must be taken to avoid damage to the living environment of wildlife, and to protect vegetation coverage of the source areas of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers. Also to be taken into account is the health of builders working at high-altitude, which calls for stipulations concerning the length of work shifts, and the supply of emergency oxygen equipment in the event of altitude sickness. These difficulties have already twice impeded the construction of the railway to Tibet, once in the 1950s, and the other in 1979, when construction had to be suspended at the "gateway" to Tibet.

"But, without doubt Tibet needs such a railway," says Radi.

Over the past six years Tibet's GNP has increased at a rate of more than 10 percent annually, averaging 12.9 percent, ranking at the national forefront. However, Tibet is the only region in China with no railway. Its air transportation capacity is limited, and highway transportation is vulnerable to the vagaries of climate.

Tibet is rich in farm and livestock products, but at present it is not possible to transport them to other provinces, and their circulation within Tibet is also difficult. Its new industries, such as pharmaceuticals, minerals, pollution-free green foodstuffs, and tourism, need raw material input, visitor access and a means to ship out finished products. Tibet, in all its aspects, needs, and could benefit from, a stable transportation line.

"The railway will not damage Tibet's natural environment," says Radi, thereby allaying the greatest concern connected with the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

At the time construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was impeded, the necessary prospecting and experiments carried on. Scientific and technological personnel have since devised a plan for railway construction that also embraces the environmental protection issue.

Within this plan, any detriment the railway may cause to the environment will be reduced to a minimum. When building the railway in the source area of the Huanghe, Yangtze and Lancang rivers, turf will be transplanted to other areas before any earth is moved, and restored after construction is finished. New vegetation coverage will also be planted through artificial methods.

The railway will pass through the edge of the Koh Hil Nature Reserve, not its central area, so it will have minimum impact on wildlife. Even so, the Ministry of Railways is considering leaving openings on bridges for wild animals, to guarantee their unrestricted movement.

Investment in the railway will total 13 billion yuan, equivalent to Tibet's current annual GNP. Radi says, "The Qinghai-Tibet Railway will have an epoch-making influence on Tibet. It will greatly promote its economic development and social progress, and bring about development in relevant industries such as tourism, exploration of resources and commerce."

The railway will bring Tibet nearer to other parts of China and to the whole world.

It will not only narrow the distance in geographical terms. The people of Tibet are also working hard to narrow the gap in various other aspects, including economy, education and culture.

According to Radi, the current school attendance rate in Tibet has reached 85.8 percent, and the radio and TV coverage have reached 77.8 percent and 76.2 percent respectively.

In the coming decade, Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, plans to raise the quality of its urban schools to that of medium-developed areas in the interior areas, and within 15 years a modern education system will be established in the city. Within five years, a remote education network will be built, in line with the Tibetan topographical characteristics of a vast territory with a sparse population. In the pastoral areas around Lhasa, children will receive education through television, and children in urban areas will be able to take after-school lessons on the Internet.

In the field of modern information technology, the people of Tibet do not want to lag behind, and the Internet is fast developing in Tibet. Some "Internet bars," largely frequented by young people, have appeared on the streets of Lhasa and Xigaze. Enterprises and institutions in Tibet also recruit personnel through the Internet, and many employers are willing to pay the fees required to surf the Internet every month. Government departments also hope to publicize Tibet through the Internet. The China Tibet Information Center, with Chinese and English versions, is now the website with the richest information about Tibet, and is visited by users all over the world.

Even the ancient Potala Palace uses computers to administrate the 10,000 or so cultural relics in the palace collection.

Following rapid economic development, Tibet urgently needs to introduce talent from the interior areas in all aspects, including enterprise management, development of tourism resources, engineering, information networking, city planning and urban construction, medicine, health, and education. The government subsidizes scientific research.

Radi says, "We must acknowledge that Tibet's foundation for development is inadequate, and that talent and expertise are badly needed."

As from 2001, China entered its tenth Five-Year Plan period, and Tibet also faces a new stage of development. Radi is full of confidence in Tibet's economic prospects. He says, "We are doing our utmost to keep economic growth at a level of 12 percent annually, and by 2005, Tibet's per capita GNP will be at the forefront of western regions."

With this aim in mind, Tibet has worked out a new plan, focusing on the four industries of tourism, plateau ecological agriculture, Tibetan medicine, and minerals, in which Tibet is rich in resources. Moreover, all these pillar industries are open to overseas investors.

Lhasa has now become a prosperous city in which merchants from other parts of China and the world commingle. A woman from the interior area says, "The foreigners I see in Lhasa in one day amount to more than the total number I have seen elsewhere in my whole life."

The metropolitan vista and temples over a thousand years old form the scenery that combines ancient and modern times, which epitomizes Tibet over the past 50 years. Without the opportunity that came 50 years ago, what would Lhasa and the whole of Tibet be like? And what story would the history of the "roof of the world" tell?