The Information Office of China's State Council on
Sunday issued a white paper titled "Regional Ethnic Autonomy in Tibet." The
following is the full text of the document:
Regional Ethnic Autonomy in Tibet
-- Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of
China
May 2004,
Beijing
Contents
Foreword
I. The
Establishment and Development of Regional Ethnic Autonomy in Tibet
II.
The Tibetan People Enjoy Full Political Right of Autonomy
III. The
Tibetan People Have Full Decision-making Power in Economic and Social
Development
IV. The Tibetan People Have the Freedom to Inherit and
Develop Their Traditional Culture and to Practice Their Religious
Belief
V. Regional Ethnic Autonomy Is the Fundamental Guarantee for
Tibetan People As Masters of Their Own Affairs
Foreword
China is a united multi-ethnic country. The
Han-Chinese population makes up more than 90 percent of the total population.
The populations of the other 55 ethnic groups, including the Tibetan people, are
relatively small, and such ethnic groups are customarily called ethnic
minorities.
In order to protect the equal and autonomous rights of ethnic
minorities, the Chinese Government, in view of the reality that ethnic-minority
people live together over vast areas while some live in individual concentrated
communities in small areas, regards exercise of regional ethnic autonomy in
areas where ethnic minorities live in compact communities as a basic policy for
solving the ethnic issue and a fundamental political system for implementation
of the people's democracy. Regional ethnic autonomy means, under the unified
leadership of the state, regional autonomy is exercised and organs of
self-government are established in areas where various ethnic minorities live in
compact communities, so that the people of ethnic minorities are their own
masters exercising the right of self-government to administer local affairs and
the internal affairs of their own ethnic groups.
The Tibet Autonomous
Region is one of the five autonomous areas in China at the provincial level
where regional ethnic autonomy is exercised, as well as an ethnic autonomous
area with Tibetans as the main local inhabitants. In the Tibet Autonomous Region
there are a dozen other ethnic groups besides the Tibetans -- Han, Hui, Moinba,
Lhoba, Naxi, Nu, Drung and others. They have lived in the region for
generations, and Moinba, Lhoba and Naxi ethnic townships have been established
there.
Since regional ethnic autonomy was implemented in 1965 in Tibet,
the Tibetan people, in the capacity of masters of the nation and under the
leadership of the Central Government, have actively participated in
administration of the state and local affairs, fully exercised the rights of
self-government bestowed by the Constitution and law, engaged in Tibet's
modernization drive, enabled Tibetan society to develop by leaps and bounds,
profoundly changed the old situation of poverty and backwardness in Tibet, and
greatly enhanced the level of their own material, cultural and political
life.
To recall the four glorious decades of regional ethnic autonomy in
Tibet, and to give an overview of the Tibetan people's dramatic endeavors to
exercise their rights as their own masters and create a better life under
regional ethnic autonomy is beneficial not only to summing up experiences and
creating a new situation for regional ethnic autonomy in Tibet, but also to
clarifying rights and wrongs, and increasing understanding of China's ethnic
policy and the truth about Tibet among the international community.
I. The Establishment and Development of Regional Ethnic Autonomy in
Tibet
Tibet, situated on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is one of the border
areas where ethnic minorities live in compact communities. In view of the then
transport and communications conditions and realities of Tibet and other border
areas where ethnic minorities live, Chinese central governments throughout
history have adopted administrative methods different from those exercised in
the heartland of the country. After Tibet became part of the territory of China
in the 13th century, the central governments of the Yuan, Ming and Qing
dynasties and the Republic of China, while assuming the responsibility of
approving the local administrative organs, and deciding and directly handling
important affairs concerning Tibet, maintained, by and large, the region's
original local social setup and ruling body, widely appointed upper-strata
ecclesiastic and secular members to manage local affairs, and gave the Tibetan
local government and officials extensive decision- making power. This played a
historically positive role in safeguarding the unification of the country, but
as the feudal autocratic rulers in various periods exercised an ethnic policy
marked by ethnic discrimination and oppression, keeping the original social
system and maintaining the power of the local ruling class for their
administration of Tibet, they did not solve, nor could they possibly solve, the
issue of ethnic equality and that of enabling the local people to become masters
of their own affairs.
Even in the first half of the 20th century, Tibet
remained a society of feudal serfdom under theocracy, one even darker and more
backward than medieval Europe. The ecclesiastical and secular serf owners,
though accounting for less than five percent of the population of Tibet,
controlled the personal freedom of the serfs and slaves who made up more than 95
percent of the population of Tibet, as well as the overwhelming majority of the
means of production. By resorting to the rigidly stratified 13-Article Code and
16-Article Code, and extremely savage punishments, including gouging out eyes,
cutting off ears, tongues, hands and feet, pulling out tendons, throwing people
into rivers or off cliffs, they practiced cruel economic exploitation, political
oppression and mental control of the serfs and slaves. The right to subsistence
of the broad masses of serfs and slaves was not protected, let alone political
rights.
After the Opium War of 1840, China was reduced to a semi-
colonial, semi-feudal country. Tibet, like other parts of China, suffered from
the aggression of imperialist powers, which grabbed all kinds of special
privileges by means of unequal treaties, subjected Tibet to colonial control and
exploitation, and, at the same time, groomed separatists among the upper ruling
strata of Tibet, in an attempt to sever Tibet from China. Therefore, the removal
of the fetters of imperialism and feudal serfdom became a historically paramount
task for safeguarding the unification of the country and realizing the
development of Tibet.
The founding of the People's Republic of China in
1949 ended the dark history of the semi-colonial, semi-feudal China, realized
unification of the country, unity of ethnic groups and people's democracy, and
brought hope to the Tibetan people that they could control their own destiny in
the large family of the motherland. It was expressly stipulated in the Common
Program of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which
had the status of the provisional Constitution, that "All ethnic groups within
the territory of the People's Republic of China are equal, unity and mutual
assistance shall be practiced, discrimination against and oppression of ethnic
groups, and acts undermining the unity of the ethnic groups shall be prohibited;
the people of all ethnic minorities shall have the freedom to use and develop
their own spoken and written languages, and to preserve or reform their own ways
and customs and religious beliefs; and regional ethnic autonomy shall be
practiced in areas where ethnic minorities live in compact communities." In the
first Constitution of the People's Republic of China, promulgated in 1954, the
principles of equality, unity and mutual assistance among all ethnic groups, and
the system of regional ethnic autonomy were officially included in the
fundamental law of the state. Proceeding from the fundamental interests of the
Tibetan people, the Central People's Government has profoundly changed the
destiny of Tibet and realized and developed the rights of the Tibetan people as
masters of their own affairs through great strategic decisions and measures such
as peaceful liberation of Tibet, promotion of democratic reforms, establishment
of the autonomous region, carrying out socialist construction, reform and
opening-up.
-- Peaceful liberation laid the foundation for regional
ethnic autonomy in Tibet. On May 23, 1951, the "Agreement of the Central
People's Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the
Peaceful Liberation of Tibet" ("17-Article Agreement" for short) was signed, and
Tibet was peacefully liberated. The peaceful liberation put an end to
imperialist aggression against Tibet, enabled the Tibetan people to shake off
political and economic fetters, safeguarded the unification of state sovereignty
and territorial integrity, realized equality and unity between the Tibetan
ethnic group and all other ethnic groups throughout the country as well as the
internal unity of Tibet, and laid the foundation for regional ethnic autonomy in
Tibet.
The "17-Article Agreement" provides that "According to the ethnic
policy in the Common Program of the CPPCC, under the unified leadership of the
Central People's Government, the Tibetan people shall have the right to exercise
regional ethnic autonomy." According to the provisions of the "17-Article
Agreement," the Preparatory Group of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet
Autonomous Region was established in November 1954, and began preparations for
the establishment of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region.
In March 1955, the State Council held a special meeting to deliberate and adopt
the "Decision of the State Council on Establishment of the Preparatory Committee
for the Tibet Autonomous Region," which expressly stipulates that "The
Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region shall be responsible for
preparatory work for the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and an
organ with the nature of a political power and accountable to the State Council,
its principal task being to prepare for the exercise of regional ethnic autonomy
in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, the '17-Article
Agreement' and the actual situation of Tibet." In April 1956, the Preparatory
Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region was established in Lhasa, with the
14th Dalai Lama as the chairman, the 10th Panchen Lama the first vice- chairman
and Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme the secretary-general. The establishment of the
Preparatory Committee enabled Tibet to have a consultative work organ with the
nature of a political power, and vigorously promoted the realization of regional
ethnic autonomy in Tibet.
-- The Democratic Reform cleared the way for
regional ethnic autonomy in Tibet. When Tibet was peacefully liberated, in
consideration of the reality of Tibet, the "17-Article Agreement," while
confirming the necessity for reform of the Tibetan social system, provided that
"The Central Government will not use coercion to implement such a reform, and it
is to be carried out by the Tibetan local government on its own; when the people
demand reform, the matter should be settled by way of consultation with the
leading personnel of Tibet." But in face of the ever-growing demand of the
people for democratic reform, some people in the upper ruling strata of Tibet,
in order to preserve feudal serfdom, and supported by imperialist forces, staged
an armed rebellion all along the line on March 10, 1959, in an attempt to
separate Tibet from China. On March 28 of the same year, the State Council
announced the dismissal of the original local government of Tibet, and empowered
the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region to exercise the
functions and powers of the local government of Tibet, with the 10th Panchen
Lama as its acting chairman. The Central People's Government and the Preparatory
Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region led the Tibetan people in quickly
quelling the rebellion, implemented the Democratic Reform, overthrew the feudal
serfdom under theocracy, and abolished the feudal hierarchic system, the
relations of personal dependence, and all savage punishments. As a result, a
million serfs and slaves were emancipated, and became masters of the country as
well as of the region of Tibet, acquired the citizens' rights and freedom
specified in the Constitution and law, and swept away the obstacles, in respect
of social system, to the exercise of regional ethnic autonomy.
-- The
establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region marked the full implementation of
the regional ethnic autonomy in Tibet. After the Democratic Reform, the Tibetan
people enjoyed all the political rights enjoyed by people of all other ethnic
groups throughout China. In 1961, a general election, the first of its kind in
Tibetan history, was held all over Tibet. For the first time, the former serfs
and slaves were able to enjoy democratic rights as their own masters, and
participated in the election of organs of state power at all levels in the
region. In September 1965, the First Session of the First People's Congress of
the Tibet Autonomous Region was convened, at which the organ of self- government
of the Tibet Autonomous Region and its leaders were elected, and the founding of
the Tibet Autonomous Region was officially proclaimed. Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme was
elected chairman of the People's Council of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Many
emancipated serfs took up leading posts in state organs at various levels in the
region. The establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region marked the
establishment of the people's democratic power in Tibet and the commencement of
exercise of regional ethnic autonomy in an all-round way. From then on, the
Tibetan people were entitled to enjoy the right to administer their own affairs
in the region and, together with the people throughout the country, embarked on
a socialist development road.
-- The reform and opening-up has opened a vast horizon for the Tibetan people
to fully exercise the right of regional ethnic autonomy. After China adopted the
policy of reform and opening to the outside world, Deng Xiaoping said expressly
that the key to the exercise of regional ethnic autonomy lay with development of
the ethnic-minority areas. In Tibet, he pointed out, "the key is how to benefit
the Tibetan people, how to accelerate the development of Tibet so that it steps
into the van of China's four modernizations drive." This affirmed the guiding
principle for an all-round exercise of regional ethnic autonomy in Tibet in the
new era.
In 1984, the state promulgated and implemented the "Law of the
People's Republic of China on Regional Ethnic Autonomy," making regional ethnic
autonomy a basic political system of the state, setting out comprehensive
provisions regarding the rights of self- government of the ethnic autonomous
areas in political, economic, cultural and other spheres, and their relations
with the Central Government. It has thus provided a powerful legal safeguard for
the full exercise by the Tibetan people of the right of self- government. From
1984 to 2001, in light of the reality of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the
Central Government convened four Forums on Work in Tibet; set the guiding
principles, major tasks and development plans for work in Tibet timely in the
new era; made the important decision to devote special attention to Tibet and
get all the other parts of China to aid Tibet; formulated a number of special
favorable policies and measures for speeding up the development of Tibet; formed
a mechanism for all-round aid for the modernization of Tibet, by which the state
would directly invest in construction projects in the region, the Central
Government would provide financial subsidies, and the other parts of the country
would provide counterpart aid. All this powerfully propelled economic
development and social progress in Tibet, greatly enhanced the living standards
of the Tibetan people, and guaranteed the realization of equality and the right
of self- government of the Tibetan people.
II. The Tibetan People Enjoy Full Political Right of Autonomy
The Tibetan
people enjoy, according to law, the equal right of participation in the
administration of state affairs as well as the right of self-government to
manage affairs of their own region and ethnic group.
The Tibetan people
enjoy the democratic right to be masters according to law. The Chinese
Constitution provides that all citizens of China who have reached the age of 18
have the right to vote and stand for election, regardless of ethnic status,
race, sex, occupation, family background, religious belief, education, or length
of residence. Since the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the
Tibetan people have actively exercised the right to vote and stand for election
bestowed by the Constitution and law, participated in the election of the
deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) as well as the people's
congresses at all levels in the Tibet Autonomous Region, and participated,
through deputies to the people's congresses, in administration of state and
local affairs. In 2002, when re- election at the regional, prefectural (city),
county and township (town) levels took place in Tibet, 93.09 percent of electors
in the autonomous region turned out to directly take part in the election at the
county level. In certain places, the participation rate of local electors
reached 100 percent. Among the elected people's deputies, the proportion of
deputies of the Tibetan and other minority ethnic groups was more than 80
percent at both regional and city (prefectural) levels, and more than 90 percent
at both county and township (town) levels.
The Tibetan and other
ethnic-minority cadres make up the bulk of the cadres of the Tibet Autonomous
Region, and fully exercise their right as the masters of society. The
Constitution stipulates that among the chairman and vice-chairmen of the
standing committee of the people's congress of an ethnic autonomous area there
shall be one or more citizens of the ethnic group or ethnic groups exercising
regional autonomy in the area concerned; the chairman of an autonomous region,
the prefect of an autonomous prefecture or the head of an autonomous county
shall be a citizen of the ethnic group exercising regional autonomy in the area
concerned. Since the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region, six terms
(including the current one) of the Standing Committee of the Regional People's
Congress and seven terms (including the current one) of the Regional People's
Government have had Tibetans as the chairman. Since the establishment of the
Tibet Committee of the CPPCC in 1959, five terms of the Regional Committee of
the CPPCC have had Tibetans as the chairman. According to statistics, at
present, of the chairman and vice-chairmen of the Standing Committee of the
People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibetans and people of other
ethnic minorities make up 87.5 percent; of the members of the Standing Committee
of the Regional People's Congress, 69.23 percent; of the chairman and vice-
chairmen of the Tibet Autonomous Region, 57 percent; and of the Standing
Committee members and members of the CPPCC Tibet Committee, 90.42 percent and
89.4 percent, respectively. Of the functionaries of the state organs at the
regional, prefectural ( city) and county levels, Tibetans and citizens of other
ethnic minorities make up 77.97 percent; of the people's courts and people's
procuratorates at the regional, prefectural (city) and county levels, they make
up 69.82 percent and 82.25 percent, respectively.
In addition, a number
of Tibetan and other ethnic-minority citizens in Tibet directly participate in
the administration of state affairs, and some serve in leading positions in
state organs at the central level. Of the deputies to the National People's
Congress, 19 are from Tibet, of whom, 12 are Tibetans. In the Standing Committee
of the NPC of all previous terms, Tibetans such as the 14th Dalai Lama, the 10th
Panchen Lama, Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai, and Raidi once
served, or are serving, as vice-chairmen. At present, 29 Tibetans and persons of
other ethnic-minority groups from Tibet serve as members of the CPPCC National
Committee or members of its Standing Committee. Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme and
Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai serve as vice- chairmen of the CPPCC National
Committee.
The local organ of self-government in Tibet fully exercises
the power of autonomy bestowed by the Constitution and law. According to the
provisions of the Constitution, the organ of self- government of the Tibet
Autonomous Region exercises the functions and powers of the local organ of state
at the provincial level according to law as well as the power of autonomy
according to law; and implements the laws and policies of the state in light of
the existing local situation. The People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous
Region has the power to enact local regulations enjoyed by an ordinary
administrative region at the provincial level and the power to enact regulations
on the exercise of autonomy as well as separate regulations in light of the
political, economic and cultural characteristics of the ethnic group or ethnic
groups in the region. According to statistics, since 1965, the People's Congress
of the Tibet Autonomous Region and its Standing Committee have enacted 220 local
or separate regulations, covering political, economic, cultural, educational and
other aspects, including the " Regulations of the Tibet Autonomous Region on the
Protection and Management of Cultural Relics," "Regulations of the Tibet
Autonomous Region on Environmental Protection," "Regulations of the Tibet
Autonomous Region on the Administration of Mountain Climbing in Tibet by
Foreigners," "Regulations of the Tibet Autonomous Region on Correspondence and
Visitation," "Resolutions on the Study, Use and Development of the Tibetan
Language in the Tibet Autonomous Region," "Resolutions on Safeguarding
Unification of the Motherland, Strengthening Ethnic Unity and Combating
Separatist Activities," and "Decision on Severely Cracking Down on Illegal
Imposition of 'Fines for Lost Lives.'" The enactment and implementation of these
local regulations have provided an important legal safeguard for protecting the
special rights and interests of the Tibetan people and promoting the development
of various undertakings in Tibet.
According to the "Law on Regional
Ethnic Autonomy," if a resolution, decision, order or directive of a state organ
at the higher level is not suitable for the actual situation of the region, the
Tibet Autonomous Region has the right to flexibly implement or not to implement
such a resolution, decision, order or directive of the state organ at the higher
level, upon approval by the higher authorities. For instance, the organ of self-
government in Tibet has designated the Tibetan New Year, the Shoton (Yogurt)
Festival and other traditional Tibetan festivals as official holidays in the
region, apart from the official national holidays. In addition, out of
consideration for the special natural and geographical factors of Tibet, the
Tibet Autonomous Region has fixed the work week at 35 hours, five hours fewer
than the national statutory work week. Besides, subject to authorization, the
legislative body of the Tibet Autonomous Region may also enact and implement
flexible regulations and supplementary provisions with regard to relevant state
laws based on the actual local situation. For instance, in 1981, in
consideration of the historical customs and other actual conditions in marriage
of the ethnic minorities in Tibet, the Standing Committee of the People's
Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region adopted the "Accommodation Rules for the
Implementation of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China," which
lowers by two years the statutory marriage ages for men and women provided in
the "Marriage Law," and stipulates that polyandrous and polygamous marriages
formed before the promulgation of the "Accommodation Rules" shall be valid if
none of the persons involved takes initiative to terminate the marriage. The
implementation of the state laws and policies in a flexible manner as prescribed
by law has effectively protected the special interests of the Tibetan people.
III. The Tibetan People Have Full Decision-making Power in Economic and
Social Development
The key to regional ethnic autonomy is to speed up
social and economic development in ethnic autonomous areas and guarantee
minority people's equal rights to development. Over the past 40 years, the Tibet
Autonomous Region, under the correct direction and wholehearted support of the
state, has fully exercised the decision-making right guaranteed to it by law in
economic and social development, and formulated a series of policies and
measures suitable for the actual situation in Tibet. This has greatly promoted
the modernization drive in Tibet and improved its people's living
standards.
According to the Constitution and the "Law on Regional Ethnic
Autonomy," the Tibet Autonomous Region has the power, within the framework of
the Constitution and law, to adopt special policies and flexible measures
according to the local conditions to speed up its economic and cultural
development; under the direction of the state plan and in accordance with its
local features and needs, to map out its principles, policies and plans for
economic development, and decide and manage independently its economic and
social development undertakings; to administer, protect and be the first to
utilize its natural resources; to administer its own finances and independently
arrange the use of its fiscal revenue; to independently develop its educational
and cultural undertakings and manage its educational, scientific, cultural,
health and physical education undertakings; and to enjoy the state's
preferential policies in the aspects of finance, banking and taxation. In the
past 40 years, the Tibet Autonomous Region has fully exercised autonomy in
economic and social development in accordance with the law, and formulated and
implemented 10 Five- Year Plans for Economic and Social Development in light of
Tibet's reality. With the leapfrogging of stages of development as the target of
economic and social development and the improvement of the infrastructure and
the people's living standard as the key, it has independently arranged its
economic and social development projects, and has thus guaranteed the rapid and
healthy progress of Tibet's modernization drive and the development of Tibet's
society and economy in line with the basic interests of the Tibetan
people.
In accordance with Tibet's special features and needs, the state
has spared no effort to help promote Tibet's economic and social development.
The ordinary people in Tibet are the direct beneficiaries of all these support,
aid and policies. Considering present-day Tibet being born from the backward
feudal serfdom, its weak economic and social foundation and its high altitude,
for many years the state has given Tibet special support and help in terms of
finance, banking and taxation, as well as materials, technologies and personnel
according to the stipulations in the Constitution and the "Law on Regional
Ethnic Autonomy." Since the early 1980s, the Central Government has convened
four Forums on Work in Tibet according to the needs and requirements of the
Region, and worked out a series of special preferential policies and measures
concerning the major problems in Tibet's economic and social development. For
instance, since 1984 the policies of "long- term household land use and
independent management" and "long-term private ownership of livestock and
independent management" have been adopted in the agricultural and pastoral areas
of Tibet, which have greatly raised farmers' and herdsmen's enthusiasm for
production, and brought about sustained improvement in both production and the
people's living conditions in the agricultural and pastoral areas. Another
example is that Tibet is the only place in China to enjoy a preferential
taxation policy at a rate three percentage points lower than in any other part
of China, and where farmers and herdsmen are exempt from taxes and
administrative charges. In banking, Tibet has all along enjoyed a preferential
interest rate on loans two percentage points lower than in any other place in
China, as well as a low rate on insurance premiums. Also, farmers and herdsmen
receive free medical care, and their children go to school with board and
lodging free of charge.
Meanwhile, the state gives special support for
Tibet's development in terms of capital, technology and personnel. From 1984 to
1994, a total of 43 projects were undertaken, with a total investment of 480
million yuan from the state and nine provinces and municipalities. Between 1994
and 2001, the Central Government again financed 62 projects, involving an
additional 4.86 billion yuan in direct investment; and 716 projects have been
financed and constructed with free aid from 15 provinces and central ministries
and commissions, involving a total investment of 3.16 billion yuan. At the
Fourth Forum on Work in Tibet, held by the central authorities in 2001, it was
decided to further strengthen the support for Tibet's development by investing
31.2 billion yuan in 117 projects during the 10th Five-Year Plan period
(2001-2005) with funds from the Central Government, coupled with 37.9 billion
yuan in financial subsidy. Meanwhile, Tibet will receive aid from other regions
throughout the country in the construction of 71 projects, involving a total
investment of 1.062 billion yuan. According to statistics, in close to 40 years
since the Tibet Autonomous Region was founded, of Tibet's 87.586 billion yuan of
financial expenditure, 94.9 percent came from Central Government subsidies. In
the last decade, well over 2,000 cadres at various levels have been selected and
sent to help with work in Tibet, together with 10.166 billion yuan in financial
help in the form of capital and materials (not including the capital involved in
the 117 Central Government's aid projects in the same period). The support from
the Central Government and other parts of the country has greatly improved the
production and living conditions in Tibet and promoted its economic and social
development.
In the last four decades, Tibet has progressed by leaps and
bounds in the system, structure and total volume of its economy, ending the
closed, manorial-system-based natural economy for good and moving forward to a
modern market economy. From 1965 to 2003, the GNP of Tibet increased from 327
million yuan to 18.459 billion yuan, and the GDP per capita rose from 241 yuan
to 6,874 yuan. A modern industrial system comprising more than 20 categories and
with distinctive Tibetan characteristics has come into existence from nothing.
Burgeoning industries and trades such as modern commerce, tourism, posts and
telecommunications, catering services, entertainment and IT that used to be
unheard of in Tibet, are now developing with great momentum. There was no
highway in Tibet in the old days, but today a road transportation network has
taken shape with national highways and 14 provincial highways as the trunk
lines, with more than 41,300 kilometers open to traffic. Construction of the
Qinghai-Tibet Railway began in 2001; when it is completed and opened to traffic,
in 2005, the days when Tibet is not accessible by rail will go beyond recall. In
2003, Tibet received 928,600 visits of tourists from both home and abroad, and
the total income from tourism made up 5.6 percent of the GDP in Tibet. By the
end of 2003, there were 22 telephones for every 100 people in Tibet, with the
total number of fixed and mobile phone users reaching 601,700.
The
modernization drive has been developing in harmony with the protection of the
environment. Tibet adheres to the strategy of comprehensive, coordinated and
sustainable development, integrating environmental protection with modernization
efforts by planning and developing them simultaneously, and forming an efficient
supervision and control system for environmental protection and pollution
control. Attention has been given to ecological improvement, and 18 state- and
provincial-level nature reserves have been built, covering 33.9 percent of the
region's total land area, effectively protecting Tibet's fragile plateau ecology
and the living environment in the urban and rural areas. At present, the ecology
in Tibet basically maintains its pristine state, and it is the place where the
environment is best protected in China.
The people's material and cultural
well-beings have improved by a large margin. Now, most of the farmers and
herdsmen in Tibet have basically solved the food and clothing problem, and some
people are now fairly well off. The old Tibet had no school of the modern type,
and the attendance rate of school-age children was less than two percent, with
95 percent of young and middle-aged people being illiterate. By the end of 2003,
Tibet had 1,011 schools of various types and levels and 2,020 teaching centers,
with a total of 453,400 students, the enrollment proportion of primary schools
rising to 91.8 percent and the illiteracy rate dropping to less than 30 percent.
Since 1985, the Central Government has established Tibetan classes/schools in 21
provinces and municipalities, training up to 10,000 college and secondary
technical school graduates.
Medical and health-care conditions have improved markedly. Now, there are
1,305 medical and health institutions in Tibet, with 6, 216 beds and 8,287
medical personnel, the number of beds and medical personnel per 1,000 people
being higher than the national average. The people are now much better assured
of their health than before. Infant mortality rate has dropped from 43 percent
before 1959 to 3.1 percent, and the average life span of the Tibetan people has
increased from 35.5 years to the present 67 years. Tibet's population has grown
from 1.1409 million before 1951 to the present 2.7017 million, of whom the
number of Tibetans rose from 1.2087 million in 1964 to 2.5072 million in 2003,
making up over 92 percent of the region's population.
IV. The Tibetan People Have the Freedom to Inherit and Develop Their Traditional
Culture and to Practice Their Religious Belief
Over the past 40 years, the Tibet Autonomous Region has fully exercised the
right to autonomy guaranteed to it by the Constitution and the "Law on Regional
Ethnic Autonomy," administered and developed local cultural undertakings on
their own, protected and sifted the Tibetan cultural heritage, developed and
promoted Tibetan culture, and protected Tibetan people's freedom of inheriting
and developing their traditional culture and practicing their religious belief.
Tibetan language is widely studied, used and promoted. The regional
government promulgated and implemented the "Stipulations of the Tibet Autonomous
Region on the Learning, Use and Promotion of the Tibetan Spoken and Written
Language (Interim)" and its " Rules of Implementation" in 1987 and 1988,
respectively, and revised the first as the "Stipulations of the Tibet Autonomous
Region on the Learning, Use and Promotion of the Tibetan Spoken and Written
Language" in 2002. These stipulations and rules make clear that equal attention
be given to Tibetan and Han-Chinese languages in the Tibet Autonomous Region,
with the Tibetan language as the major one, thus putting the work of using and
promoting Tibetan spoken and written language on a legal basis.
Both Tibetan and Chinese languages are used in all schools in Tibet, with the
Tibetan as the major one, and the textbooks and teaching reference books from
primary to high school have been edited, translated into and published in
Tibetan language. All the resolutions and regulations of the people's congresses
at various levels in Tibet, and formal documents and public announcements of the
governments at all levels and all governmental departments in the Tibet
Autonomous Region are printed in both Tibetan and Chinese languages. In judicial
lawsuits, Tibetan language is used when Tibetans are involved and in the writing
of legal documents. The official seals, certificates, forms, envelopes, letter
paper, standardized writing paper and emblems of all units, and the signs and
logos of all government agencies, factories, mines, schools, bus and train
stations, airports, shops, hotels, restaurants, theaters, tourist destinations,
stadiums and libraries, and all the road and traffic signs and street names are
all written in both Tibetan and Chinese languages.
At present, both radio and TV stations in Tibet have special Tibetan-language
channels. There are 14 magazines and 10 newspapers published in Tibetan in the
autonomous region. The Tibetan edition of the Tibet Daily is published every
day, using advanced Tibetan-language computer editing and typesetting systems.
In recent years, more than 100 titles of books have been published in Tibetan
every year, with a circulation of several hundred thousand. The standardization
of specialized terms and information technology in Tibetan has made great
progress. The encoded Tibetan language has reached the state as well as
international standard, making Tibetan the first ethnic-minority language in
China to have attained international standardization.
The fine aspects of
traditional Tibetan culture are being carried on, protected and promoted.
Specialized institutions for salvaging, editing and researching Tibetan cultural
heritage have been established by governments at all levels in the region. These
institutions have collected, edited and published the Records of Chinese Dramas
"Tibetan Volume," Collection of Chinese Folk Ballads "Tibetan Volume," and other
collections of folk dances, proverbs, quyi ballads, folk songs and folk tales,
effectively salvaging and protecting the excellent parts of traditional Tibetan
culture. Life of King Gesar has been called the "king of world epics," as it is
the longest of its kind in the world. The Tibetan people created it, and it has
been transmitted orally for centuries. A special institution was founded in 1979
by the regional government to carry out all-round salvaging and editing of Life
of King Gesar. The state has put it on the list of major scientific research
projects, and organized the relevant research and publication work. After some
20 years of effort, more than 3, 000 audio tapes have been recorded, almost 300
hand-copied and block-printed editions of the epic have been collected, and 62
volumes of the epic in Tibetan have been edited and published, with a
distribution in excess of three million copies. Meanwhile, over 20 volumes of
its Chinese edition have been published so far, and some of them have been
translated into and published in English, Japanese and French.
Since the
founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region, a number of regulations on the
protection of cultural relics have been promulgated and implemented. Altogether,
some 300 million yuan has been used to renovate and open over 1,400 monasteries
and to give timely repair to a large group of cultural relics. From 1989 to 1994
especially, the Central People's Government allocated 55 million yuan and a
large quantity of gold and silver for the first- phase maintenance project of
the Potala Palace. From 2001, the state has also earmarked 330 million yuan for
the second-phase maintenance project of the Potala Palace and the maintenance of
the two other great cultural sites of Norbulingka and Sakya
Monastery.
Traditional Tibetan customs and habits are respected and
protected. Tibetans and all the other minority ethnic groups in China enjoy the
right and freedom to keep their traditional lifestyles and to engage in social
activities according to their own customs and habits. While maintaining their
traditional styles of costume, diet, and housing, they have also absorbed some
modern and new healthy customs in clothing, food, housing and transportation as
well as weddings and funerals. Traditional festivals such as the Tibetan New
Year, Sakadawa (Anniversary of Buddha's Birth, Enlightenment and Death)
Festival, Ongkor (Bumper Harvest) Festival, and Shoton (Yogurt) Festival, and
many religious celebrations in monasteries are observed, while accepting
different kinds of national and international festivals that have been
introduced in recent years.
Tibetans fully enjoy the freedom of religious
belief. Most of the people of the Tibetan, Moinba, Lhoba and Naxi ethnic groups
believe in Tibetan Buddhism, while others believe in Islam and Catholicism. At
present, there are over 1,700 venues for Tibetan Buddhist activities, with some
46,000 resident monks and nuns; four mosques and about 3,000 Muslims; and one
Catholic church and over 700 believers in the region. Religious activities of
various kinds are held normally, with people's religious needs fully satisfied
and their freedom of religious belief fully respected.
The transmission
lineage system of reincarnation of a great lama after his death is unique to
Tibetan Buddhism, and this has been respected by the state and governments at
all levels in Tibet. In 1992, the State Bureau of Religious Affairs of the State
Council approved the succession of the Living Buddha of the 17th Karmapa. In
1995, according to religious rituals and historical conventions, the Tibet
Autonomous Region completed the whole process of the search for and confirmation
of the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama through drawing lots from a gold
urn and the honoring and enthronement of the 11th Panchen Lama, and reported it
to the State Council for approval. Since Tibet's Democratic Reform, altogether
30 Living Buddhas have been approved by the state and the government of the
Tibet Autonomous Region. Tibetan clergy has also carried out a reform of the
sutra learning system among the monks, which has greatly stimulated
sutra-learning enthusiasm among the monks, and played an active role in
inheriting and developing Buddhist doctrines.
The stupendous work of
collecting, editing, publishing and researching religious classics has
progressed continuously. Sutras and Buddhist classics preserved in the Potala
Palace, Norbulingka and Sakya Monastery have been well protected. Ancient
documents and books, such as the Catalogue of the Classics in the Potala Palace,
Snowland Library, The Origins of Religions in Tewu, etc., have been rescued,
edited and published. Since 1990, the Chinese Tripitaka: Tengyur (collated
edition) and the General Catalogue of the Tibetan Tripitaka in the Tibetan and
Chinese Languages have been published. Of the Tripitaka, 1,490 sections of the
Tengyur have been published, in addition to offprints of Tibetan Buddhist
classics of rituals, biographies and treatises for monasteries to satisfy the
needs of monks, nuns and lay followers. The Chinese Buddhist Association Tibet
Branch publishes its Tibetan Buddhism journal in the Tibetan language. It also
runs a Tibetan Buddhist college and a Tibetan-language sutra printery. The state
has also set up the China Tibetan-Language Senior Buddhist College in Beijing
specially to foster senior personnel of Tibetan Buddhism.
V. Regional Ethnic Autonomy Is the Fundamental Guarantee for Tibetan People
As Masters of Their Own Affairs
It should be recognized that regional
ethnic autonomy has only been instituted in Tibet for a short time, and it needs
to be improved and developed in the course of implementation. Since Tibet had
very little to start with in terms of social development, and because of its
high-altitude oxygen deficiency and other harsh natural conditions, the level of
modernization in Tibet still lags far behind the coastal areas in southeast
China. Tibet remains thus far an underdeveloped area in China. However, the
basic fact is that in the nearly 40 years since Tibet adopted regional ethnic
autonomy, it has turned from an extremely backward feudal serfdom into a modern
socialist people's democracy, and during this process it has recorded rapid
economic growth and all-round social progress and steadily narrowed the gap
between it and other regions of China. As a member of the big family of the
Chinese nation, Tibetans have won the right to jointly manage state affairs on
an equal footing with other ethnic groups, and the right to autonomy as arbiters
of their own destiny and masters of their own affairs. They have become the
creators and beneficiaries of the material and cultural wealth of Tibetan
society. The ethnic characteristics and traditional culture of Tibet are not
only fully respected and protected, but also publicized and carried forward.
Their contents are also being enriched along with the progress of modernization
to make it more representative of the times. It is undeniable that the
development and changes Tibet has undergone are visible to everyone and have
attracted worldwide attention.
Historical facts indicate that the
institution of regional ethnic autonomy in Tibet was the natural result of
social progress in Tibet, and that it accords with the fundamental interests of
the Tibetan people and the inexorable law of development of human society. To
advance from a feudal, autocratic medieval society to a modern, democratic
society is the inevitable law of development of human society from ignorance and
backwardness to civilization and progress. It is the irresistible historical
trend of modernization of all the countries and regions in modern times. As late
as the first half of the 20th century, Tibet was still a feudal serfdom under a
theocracy. This, plus the policy of ethnic oppression practiced by domestic
reactionary ruling classes over long years in various historical periods as well
as invasion and instigation by modern imperialist forces, reduced Tibetan
society as a whole to constant unrest. But, after the founding of the People's
Republic of China, the Central Government realized the peaceful liberation of
Tibet, and instituted the Democratic Reform and regional ethnic autonomy there,
completing the task of the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal national-democratic
revolution. As a result, Tibet broke away from the control of imperialism,
leapfrogged several forms of society, and entered socialist society. Tibet saw
the completion of the greatest and most profound social transformation in its
history, and in its social development achieved a historic leap never before
seen. This is in line with the law of development of human society and the
progressive trend of the times. It also reflects the requirements of social
progress in Tibet and the fundamental wish of the Tibetan people.
To
institute regional ethnic autonomy in Tibet is the natural requirement for
safeguarding national unification and national solidarity, and for the equal
development and common prosperity of the Tibetan people and people of other
ethnic groups in China. Over the long course of historical development, the
Tibetan people together with people of other ethnic groups in China have created
a unified, multi-national country, and formed the big family of the Chinese
nation, in which all the ethnic groups share weal and woe, and are inseparable
from each other. As an integral part of Chinese territory, Tibet has for
centuries gone through thick and thin together with the motherland for common
development. In modern times, China was reduced to a semi-colonial and
semi-feudal society; Chinese territory, including Tibet, was subject to invasion
and devastation by the big powers of the West, and China was confronted with the
deplorable fate of being carved up and dismembered. After the founding of the
People's Republic of China, under the unified leadership of the state and with
generous support from other ethnic groups, the Tibetan people, through peaceful
liberation and Democratic Reform, have come into their own and instituted
regional ethnic autonomy. They have displayed unprecedented initiative, zeal and
creativity, and brought Tibet onto the track of development in step with the
other parts of the country. Historical facts indicate that without the
unification and prosperity of the country and without the unity and mutual aid
of different ethnic groups in China, there would have been no new lease of life
and no rapid development for Tibet. By the same token, without the prosperity
and development of Tibet, the complete modernization of China and the great
rejuvenation of the Chinese nation cannot be achieved. The institution of
regional ethnic autonomy in Tibet has integrated the unification of state
sovereignty, the role of the people as masters of the country and the local
autonomy of Tibet as an organic whole. This has provided a powerful guarantee
for the Tibetan people to realize equal development and common prosperity
together with other ethnic groups in China.
The institution of regional
ethnic autonomy in Tibet is the logical outcome of the Tibetan people's
adherence to development along the road of Chinese-style socialism under the
leadership of the Communist Party of China, and also the basic institutional
guarantee for Tibetans to be true masters of their own affairs. Regional ethnic
autonomy is a basic policy of the Communist Party of China for solving ethnic
problems. It embodies the essential requirement of Chinese-style socialism for
equality, unity, mutual aid and common prosperity among all ethnic groups. It is
a basic political system whereby the state guarantees that ethnic minorities are
masters of their own affairs. Practice has proved that this system is
commensurate with China's national conditions and the reality of the Tibet
region, and is therefore full of vitality. Over the past 40 years, under the
leadership of the Communist Party of China, the institution of regional ethnic
autonomy in Tibet has effectively guaranteed the equal rights of the Tibetans in
the big family of the Chinese nation and their right to autonomy in Tibet. The
Tibetan people are entitled, without any discrimination, to the same equal
rights as enjoyed by people of other ethnic groups in China in political,
economic, cultural and social fields. They also enjoy the right of self-
government to manage all affairs concerning their own region and ethnic group,
as well as the right to special help and protection from the state, as
prescribed by law. It can well be said that the regional ethnic autonomy
instituted in Tibet not only comprehensively embodies the principles of
equality, freedom from discrimination and special protection as stipulated in
the United Nations' "Declaration of the Rights of People Who Are Minorities in
Terms of Nationality, Race, Religion or Language" and other international
documents on the protection of rights of minorities, but also fully embodies the
advantages of Chinese-style socialism. Practice has proved that only by adhering
to the leadership of the Communist Party, the socialist road and the system of
regional ethnic autonomy can it be possible to truly make the Tibetan people
masters of their own affairs and guarantee them this status. Only then can it be
possible to safeguard and develop the fundamental interests of the Tibetan
people, and guarantee the long-term stability and rapid development of
Tibet.
It is thought-provoking that the Dalai clique, disregarding the
fact that the Tibetan people have become masters of their own affairs and
enjoyed full democratic rights and extensive economic, social and cultural
rights, has constantly attacked Tibet's regional ethnic autonomy, in the
international arena, as being " devoid of essential contents," and proposed the
institution of " one country, two systems" and "a high degree of autonomy" in
Tibet, after the model of Hong Kong and Macao. This argument is totally
untenable. The regional ethnic autonomy in Tibet the Dalai clique attacks is the
very regional ethnic autonomy for Tibet which the 14th Dalai supported and whose
preparation he was involved in. While preparing for the establishment of the
Tibet Autonomous Region, the Central Government conducted full consultation with
the Dalai and Panchen and other members of the upper strata in Tibet. In 1956,
the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region was established, with
the Dalai as the chairman. In his opening speech at the inaugural meeting, he
said, "The establishment of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous
Region indicates that the work in the Tibet region has entered upon a brand-new
stage." In his report at the inaugural meeting he again declared that "The
establishment of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region is
not only timely but also necessary" and that "we wholeheartedly support the
policies of regional ethnic autonomy, ethnic equality and unity and protection
for the freedom of religious belief implemented by the Communist Party of China
and the Central People's Government." The Dalai's attack against the regional
ethnic autonomy in Tibet runs counter not only to the reality of present-day
Tibet but also to the words he once uttered in all seriousness.
The
situation in Tibet is entirely different from that in Hong Kong and Macao. The
Hong Kong and Macao issue was a product of imperialist aggression against China;
it was an issue of China's resumption of exercise of its sovereignty. Since
ancient times Tibet has been an inseparable part of Chinese territory, where the
Central Government has always exercised effective sovereign jurisdiction over
the region. So the issue of resuming exercise of sovereignty does not exist.
With the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, Tibet had fundamentally
extricated itself from the fetters of imperialism. Later, through the Democratic
Reform, the abolition of the feudal serfdom under theocracy and the
establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the socialist system has been
steadily consolidated there and the various rights of the people have been truly
realized and constantly developed. So the possibility of implementing another
social system does not exist either. Regional ethnic autonomy is a basic
political system of China, which, together with the National People's Congress
system and the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation led
by the Communist Party of China, forms the basic framework of China's political
system. The establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region and the scope of its
area are based on the provisions of the Constitution, and the "Law(s) on
Regional Ethnic Autonomy" and decided by the conditions past and present. Any
act aimed at undermining and changing the regional ethnic autonomy in Tibet is
in violation of the Constitution and law, and it is unacceptable to the entire
Chinese people, including the broad masses of the Tibetan people.
It must be pointed out that the local government of Tibet headed by the Dalai
representing feudal serfdom under theocracy has long since been replaced by the
democratic administration established by the Tibetan people themselves. The
destiny and future of Tibet can no longer be decided by the Dalai Lama and his
clique. Rather, it can only be decided by the whole Chinese nation, including
the Tibetan people. This is an objective political fact in Tibet that cannot be
denied or shaken. The Central Government's policy as regards the Dalai Lama is
consistent and clear. It is hoped that the Dalai Lama will look reality in the
face, make a correct judgment of the situation, truly relinquish his stand for
"Tibet independence," and do something beneficial to the progress of China and
the region of Tibet in his remaining years.
