China Admits it is Losing in Tibet

Does China feel it’s losing the battle for public perception over Tibet? 

China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported on a National People’s Congress (NPC) delegation to Tibet.  Most interesting is that the NPC delegates say that China needs to step up its propaganda efforts on Tibet.  This is an implicit admission that China, for all its money and guns, still hasn’t gained legitimacy for its presence in Tibet. 

What’s really striking is that these exhortations to step up “foreign-oriented propaganda on Tibet” sound exactly like a leaked Chinese government propaganda document from 2000.  In seven years, even as China has gotten more powerful internationally, it’s still fighting the same battles over Tibet. 

Tibetans and their supporters, though they have far less money and power, are strong because truth rests with the Tibetan people’s right to self-determination.  No amount of “foreign-oriented propaganda” can whitewash that.

The Xinhua article is below: 

Source: Xinhua news agency domestic service, Beijing, in Chinese 0444 gmt 12 Aug 07

Chinese legislature stresses need to strengthen overseas propaganda on Tibet

BBC Monitoring Service – United Kingdom
Published: Aug 13, 2007

Text of report by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)

[By reporter Yan Yuanyuan: "When Conducting an Investigation and Study in Tibet, a National People's Congress Standing Committee Investigation and Study Group Points Out the Need To Implement the Scientific Development Concept in an In-Depth Manner and Further Improve the Actual Work Results of the People's Congress"]

Lhasa, 12 Aug (Xinhua) – During a recent investigation and study in Lhasa, an investigation and study group of the National People’s Congress [NPC] Standing Committee pointed out the need to unswervingly uphold the People’s Congress system and the regional autonomy on ethnic minorities, implement the scientific development concept in an in-depth manner, further improve the actual work results of the People’s Congress by proceeding from Tibet’s reality, and do more actual work for the Tibet people.

From 4 to 11 August, NPC Standing Committee Vice-Chairman Raidi and NPC Standing Committee Vice-Chairman and Secretary General Sheng Huaren led an NPC Standing Committee investigation and study group to Tibet to conduct a work investigation and study. During their investigation and study in Tibet, the group inspected the ecological environmental protection along the Qinghai-Tibet railway and the operations of the railway line; inspected the ecological environment and natural scenery in the Lhalu wetland; and investigated and studied the supply and marketing of oil and natural gas in the Tibet region. The investigation and study group went to agricultural and pastoral areas to inspect the production, lives, and settlement project of the farmers and herdsmen, the construction of a new countryside, the implementation of the ethnic and religious policies, and the protection of Tibet historical and cultural heritage. The investigation and study group also cordially visited Tibet’s NPC deputies, personnel of the autonomous regional People’s Congress institutions as well as cadres of NPC institutions stationed in Tibet to assist the region, and the teachers and students of a school under a special education programme.

The investigation and study group listened to a report by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the relevant situation. In particular, the group exchanged views with the autonomous region on the handling of the “Proposal on Building a National Ecological Safety Defence on the Tibet Plateau” and the “Proposal on Building an Ecological Compensatory Mechanism in the Tibet Grassland” put forward at the fourth and fifth meetings of the 10th NPC; on strengthening the prospecting and exploitation project of the mineral resources on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau; and on resolving the shortage of judges and procurators in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The investigation and study group pointed out: The Tibet Plateau is an important source of rivers and ecology in China and is also an ecological safety defence in western China. Its ecological strategic position is very special and is very important to protecting the country’s ecological safety. The NPC has listed these two proposals as key proposals to be taken care of. At present, the relevant plan is being revised and improved and will be put into effect in no time. The investigation and study group indicated its readiness to do more actual work, and do it well, for the people of various ethnic groups in Tibet. The investigation and study group pointed out: The People’s Congress system and the regional autonomy on ethnic minorities have effectively protected the people of various ethnic groups in Tibet in being the masters of their own affairs and in exercising their democratic rights. These correspond with the fundamental interests of the people of various ethnic groups in Tibet. In the coming winter and next spring, various levels of local people’s congresses will complete their change-of-term elections. There is a need to ensure the smooth process of these elections and protect the people of various ethnic groups in Tibet in exercising their democratic rights according to law.

The investigation and study group, based on what they saw and heard, highly commented on the remarkable achievements of the Tibet Autonomous Region in implementing the scientific development concept, promoting social harmony, speeding up Tibet’s economic and social development, improving the people’s standard of living, carrying out the ethnic and religious policies, strengthening national unity, opposing separatism, and safeguarding the motherland’s unification. The group proposed the need to further strengthen foreign-oriented propaganda on Tibet and introduce Tibet in a more in-depth, objective, and dynamic manner so that the people of various countries, particularly parliamentary members of various countries, will acquire more understanding of Tibet. The investigation and study group indicated the need to learn from and carry forward the spirit of dedication and struggle of cadres of various ethnic groups in Tibet and strive to do a good job in the work of the People’s Congress for the new period in the new era.

Source: Xinhua news agency domestic service, Beijing, in Chinese 0444 gmt 12 Aug 07

BBC Monitoring