Document highlights progress in Xizang

The chairman of the Xizang autonomous region on Friday urged people not to be fooled by fake news about the region and instead come to see it for themselves.

"Many foreign visitors said that what they saw and heard in Xizang was totally different from what they've learnt from the news in their own countries. I welcome people to visit the region so they can tell the world what Xizang is really like in different aspects, objectively," said Yan Jinhai, chairman of the autonomous region.

He made the remarks at a news conference in Beijing after the State Council Information Office released a white paper on the policies of the Communist Party of China on the governance of Xizang in the new era.

The white paper, titled "CPC Policies on the Governance of Xizang in the New Era: Approach and Achievements", highlighted how the Party's guidelines for governing Xizang in the new era have brought about all-around progress and historic success in various undertakings in the region.

Zhang Yun, a researcher at the China Tibetology Research Center, said the white paper will help to refute many irresponsible and false allegations about Xizang.

"Some Western countries don't want people to know the facts about Xizang, including how people's lives have been improved, because they can only benefit when people believe their lies," Zhang said.

"It's particularly sad to see some US politicians who actually visited Xizang but still chose to ignore the facts and carry on making false allegations about the region simply to fulfill their political ambitions."

Contrary to those false claims, statistics in the white paper show that Xizang's historical and cultural heritage has received "unprecedented" protection in recent years, said Wang Haizhou, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Xizang Regional Committee.

According to the white paper, the central government and the regional government of Xizang had earmarked over 325 million yuan ($45.26 million) between 2012 and 2022 for protecting intangible cultural heritage in the region.

It also said that the study and use of the Tibetan language and script are guaranteed by law. And courses in both standard Chinese and the Tibetan language are taught in primary and secondary schools.

Following the CPC's guidelines for governing Xizang in the new era, significant progress has been made to stabilize the social environment, achieve rapid economic progress and strengthen Party organization in Xizang, which has led to a better life for its people, cultural prosperity, sound ecological systems and secure borders, the white paper said.

Xizang's GDP reached 213.26 billion yuan in 2022, which was 2.28 times the figure in 2012. The increase represented an average annual growth rate of 8.6 percent, ranking among the highest across China.

Yan particularly highlighted the achievements made in poverty alleviation in Xizang. "Eradicating absolute poverty in a high plateau area with a harsh environment is extremely difficult, but Xizang has achieved the goal."

According to the white paper, by the end of 2019, through the basic strategy of targeted poverty alleviation, the region had lifted 628,000 registered poor residents out of poverty. This represented a victory in the war against extreme poverty, which has plagued Xizang for thousands of years.

cuijia@chinadaily.com.cn