BBC Quotes SFT on Tibet Mines
The BBC just ran an article on mining in Tibet, reporting that Chinese officials claim “they will not approve mining operations in Tibet that could damage the environment.” An official in Tibet named Zhang Tianhua said, possibly with a straight face, “When there is a conflict between protecting the environment and economic development, protection will come first.”
Should we believe Mr. Zhang (by his name, clearly yet another Chinese official running Tibet)?
Mr. Zhang’s promise is contrary to policies anywhere in China, where economic gain is promoted above ecological or public health concerns. His promise is even less believable in Tibet, where the Chinese-controlled government is even less accountable to popular sentiment than in China.
In some parts of China, citizens have used the internet and print media to push for environmental protection. In Tibet, China is so obsessed with fighting “separatism” that any criticism or popular organization immediately falls under deep suspicion. Tibetans have learned that they have to keep their heads down. Is this really a situation where one would expect a government to protect the environment rather than help politically-connected and bribe-paying mining companies?
As the BBC continues,
But with mining already described as a “pillar industry”, it is unclear how a protection policy would work. Tibet has abundant mineral deposits, including copper, iron, lead and zinc.
Earlier this year, Chinese geologists announced that they had discovered 16 major mineral deposits along the railway line that connects Lhasa, the region’s capital, with the rest of China.
Parts of northern Tibet, again near the railway line, could also contain vast oil and gas reserves, the geologists added in a report carried by state-run Xinhua News Agency.
[...]
Pollution, however, is not the only concern. Critics also say Tibetans benefit least from mining in the region.
“Under Chinese rule, Tibetans have no voice to determine the use of their own natural resources,” according to a statement from rights group Students for a Free Tibet.
SFT is calling on mining companies to cease operations and exploration in Tibet until the Tibetan people can freely determine the use of their own resources — particularly non-renewable resources. For more information about this campaign and the ways that SFT is pressuring foreign mining companies, please visit http://stopminingtibet.com/.
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[...] Wing-Gar Cheng, a Beijing-based reporter for Bloomberg news, filed an article similar to the BBC one we just discussed, but with noticeably more credence given to the Chinese government’s claims. In fact, at times the article reads like a story from China’s state-owned Xinhua News Agency: full of unsubstantiated figures, unbalanced praise for Chinese policies in Tibet, and gratuitous revisions of Tibet’s history. Sadly, one would expect much better from Bloomberg. July 28 (Bloomberg) — China’s Tibet Autonomous Region vowed to place the protection of its glaciers, wetlands and grasslands ahead of the development of industries such as tourism and manufacturing in its economic planning. [...]