Funny Thing About Railways…

What is it with railways and colonialism? In Manchuria, the Congo, British India, and now Tibet, colonial powers have used railways to solidify their control over subjugated territory. So when you think about it, the Chinese government’s triumphant celebration of its train to Tibet puts it a good century and a half behind other colonial powers.

What China lacks in timing, however, it more than makes up for in aggressiveness.

Yesterday Lhadon visited the Beijing West Railway Station. As she reported on her blog:

There is no doubt that China is colonizing Tibet by encouraging this influx of Chinese settlers and exploiting Tibet’s natural resources. Both are supported by the railway to Tibet, which begins in the station I was in today.

Lhadon further writes about an article she just saw in the official China Daily:

A Tibetan at a local travel agency is quoted as saying … that an increasing number of people from outside Lhasa had arrived in the city since the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway last year. According to him there are “100,000 Sichuan people doing business in Lhasa, accounting for nearly 80 percent of people from outside the city.”

The Chinese government isn’t even pretending that the railway isn’t altering the demography of Tibet!

Radio Free Asia also just quoted first-hand reports it received from Tibet, detailing the recent Chinese influx there:

“Now many Tibetan residents in Lhasa are very apprehensive about the explosion of Chinese population. They feel and realize that the Tibetan population is being driven into the minority, and is becoming a powerless segment of society.”

.
The funny thing about a railway, however, is that it goes two ways…

Currently, the main thing leaving Tibet is its natural resources. As Lhadon wrote, “resources and profits will be leaving Tibet with little or no benefit to Tibetans. Instead, Tibetans will be left with scarred and polluted lands.”

But let’s ask ourselves what will happen when China’s grip on Tibet is shaken; when Tibet regains its freedom like the Baltic republics? With no more massive capital infusions distorting the Tibetan economy, and no more preferential policies favoring Chinese colonists, many will likely return home to China. Then the railway really will be celebrated by Tibetans like in all those Chinese propaganda photos.

Bod gyalo!



No Responsesto “Funny Thing About Railways…”

1. University Update - West 8 - Funny Thing About Railways… says:

   August 4, 2007 at 1:46 am

   [...] Contact the Webmaster Link to Article west 8 Funny Thing About Railways… » Posted at Tibet Will Be Free on Saturday, August 04, 2007 This article contains copywritten material. Please click on the "View Original Article" link below to view the article on the author’s site. View Original Article » [...]