Editor’s note: The “Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act” was signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden on July 12. The act gives recognition to the notion of a “Greater Tibet” fabricated by the Dalai group, and violates the U.S. Government’s long-held position and commitments and the basic norms governing international relations. China has expressed strong indignation at and firm opposition to the United States on its signing into law of the bill.
Various Chinese departments, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National People’s Congress (NPC), the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and Xizang Autonomous Region, issued statements on the ill-intentioned act on July 13. Tibet is romanized as Xizang in Chinese phonetic system. Main points of these statements as follows:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The so-called “Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act” violates the U.S. Government’s long-held position and commitments and the basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China’s domestic affairs, undermines China’s interests, and sends a severely wrong signal to the “Tibet independence” forces. China firmly opposes it and has protested to the U.S. side.
Xizang has been part of China since ancient times. Xizang affairs are China’s internal affairs, which brook no interference by any external forces. Xizang today enjoys social stability and harmony, with sound economic performance and people’s wellbeing well protected. Xizang is making fresh progress in effectively running its society, maintaining social stability, and achieving high-quality development. No one and no force should ever attempt to destabilize Xizang to contain and suppress China. Such attempts will never succeed.
We urge the U.S. side to take concrete actions to honor its commitments of recognizing Xizang as part of China and not supporting “Tibet independence.” The U.S. must not implement the Act. If the U.S. continues down the wrong path, China will take resolute measures to defend its sovereignty, security and development interests.
NPC Foreign Affairs Committee: Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and with the support of the people of the whole country, the people of all ethnic groups in Xizang have worked together and achieved a full victory in poverty alleviation, resulting in greater social stability, economic and cultural prosperity, a better ecological environment, and a happier life.
Currently, Xizang’s stable development is at its best in history, and the people’s freedom of religious belief is fully protected. The region continuously breaks new ground in long-term stability and high-quality development.
Anyone or any forces attempting to obstruct people in Xizang from pursuing a happier and better life will end in vain, and their attempt to contain and suppress China through destabilizing Xizang is doomed to failure.
Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Xizang Autonomous Region and the CPPCC Xizang Autonomous Regional Committee: The real and sinister intention of the U.S. is to contain and suppress China and attempt to internationalize the so-called “Tibet issue.” The act sends a gravely erroneous signal to the separatist forces seeking “Tibet independence.”
China is a unified multi-ethnic country, and Xizang has been an integral part of China since ancient times. In the new era, under the leadership of the CPC, Xizang has made all-round progress and historic achievements in various undertakings.
Today’s Xizang is a place featuring political and social stability, economic prosperity, ethnic unity, religious harmony and sound ecology, and it is a place where people live and work in peace and contentment.
The so-called “Tibetan government-in-exile” is an out-and-out separatist political group and a political organization violating China’s Constitution and laws. The 14th Dalai Lama and the so-called “Tibetan government-in-exile” have no right at all to represent people in Xizang, still less to decide the future of Xizang.
The U.S. Congress must observe basic norms governing international relations and honor the U.S. government’s commitment to acknowledging that Xizang is part of China and not supporting “Tibet independence.”
In the face of facts and truth, no matter how the U.S. anti-China politicians confuse right and wrong and distort facts, they can never undermine social stability in Xizang and can never prevent all ethnic groups in Xizang from taking firm steps toward a better life.
The act grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs, arbitrarily smears and attacks China’s Xizang policies and sends a gravely erroneous signal to “Tibet independence” forces. China is a unified multi-ethnic country, and Xizang has been an integral part of China since ancient times. Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, Xizang has eradicated absolute poverty for the first time in history and seen political and social stability, economic development, ethnic unity and religious harmony.
People’s happiness is the greatest human right, and it is the people of Xizang who have the most say in this regard. Xizang affairs are purely China’s internal affairs and no external interference will be tolerated. The fact that Xizang has been an inalienable part of China since ancient times will never change, no matter how the U.S. confuses right and wrong and distorts the facts.
Committee on Ethnic and Religious Affairs of the CPPCC National Committee: The act is full of extremely erroneous views and provocative remarks. It was blatant interference in China’s internal affairs under the guise of ethnicity, religion and human rights.
The act fully exposes the sinister intentions of the U.S. to interfere in China’s internal affairs and contain its peaceful development. It is a serious betrayal of the U.S. Government’s commitment to acknowledging that Xizang is part of China and not supporting “Tibet independence.”
Xizang has been an inseparable part of China since ancient times and the people of the Tibetan ethnic group are members of the Chinese nation. This is a fact recognized by the world and will not change at any time.
Since ancient times, Xizang has forged unbreakable bonds with the rest of China in geographical, consanguineal, political, economic and cultural terms.
The U.S. side and the Dalai clique audaciously distort history and brazenly deny the fact of China’s sovereignty over Xizang. This is a typical act of U.S.-style bullying.
In the 65 years since democratic reform in Xizang, historic changes have taken place in the region. Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, Xizang has entered a period of its best development and greatest changes, during which time the people have benefited the most.
The Chinese Government implements a policy of freedom of religious belief, respects and protects religious traditions, and manages religious affairs in accordance with the law, rendering U.S. interference completely unwarranted.
The process of building a new, modern, socialist Xizang that is united, prosperous, civilized, harmonious and beautiful is unstoppable. BR
Xizang in the New Era: Figures and Facts
Following the CPC’s guidelines for governing Xizang in the new era, and with nationwide support, officials and the peoples of the various ethnic groups in Xizang Autonomous Region have worked together and achieved all-round progress and historic success in various undertakings.
● Sustainable, sound and rapid economic development
In 2022 Xizang’s GDP reached 213.26 billion yuan ($29.35 billion), an increase by a factor of 2.28 compared with that in 2012 at constant prices, representing an average annual growth rate of 8.6 percent. Its economic growth rate ranked among the highest in China.
● Improved infrastructure
As of early 2022, the total road length exceeded 121,400 km, including 1,105 km of high-grade highway. A road network covering the whole of Xizang had been formed, with 20 national highways as the foundation, supported by 36 provincial highways together with many border roads and rural roads. The railway network was extended from 701 km in 2012 to 1,359 km in 2022. The pipeline network transported 31 million tons-km in 2022. Tibet Airlines has been successfully launched, with 154 international and domestic routes connecting 70 cities. In 2022, passenger throughput in Xizang Autonomous Region reached 3.35 million. Up to 96.5 percent of villages have access to three-phase power supply.
A total of 8,099 5G base stations and nearly 312,600 km of fiber-optic cables have been installed, and 5G networks now cover all counties, districts and main towns and townships in Xizang. Optical fiber broadband, 4G, radio and TV signals cover almost all administrative villages. Modern cloud and network integration has enabled local people to connect with the world online.
● Eradication of absolute poverty
By the end of 2019, through targeted poverty alleviation, the autonomous region had lifted 628,000 residents and 74 counties and districts out of poverty. This represented victory in the battle against extreme poverty that had plagued Xizang for thousands of years. The per-capita income of those lifted out of poverty reached 13,800 yuan ($1,899.25) in 2022, growing faster than the per-capita disposal income of rural residents.
● Promotion of common prosperity
Xizang has seen a rapid rise in incomes. By 2022, the per-capita disposable income of urban residents had risen to 48,753 yuan ($6,709.73) from 18,363 yuan ($2,527.24) in 2012, representing a 2.7-fold increase. The per-capita disposable income of rural residents more than tripled from 5,698 yuan ($784.2) in 2012 to 18,209 yuan ($2,506.05) in 2022. The income ratio between urban and rural residents dropped from 3.22 in 2012 to 2.67 in 2022, narrowing the income gap. The per-capita disposable income of the region’s residents as a whole rose to 26,675 yuan ($3,668.73) in 2022 from 8,568 yuan ($1,179.19) in 2012, representing the highest growth rate in China for eight consecutive years since 2015.
● Revitalization of fine traditional culture
Xizang now boasts three state-level historical and cultural cities, five such towns and four such villages. Eighty villages have been added to the List of Traditional Chinese Villages. Twenty-nine villages were awarded the title of ethnic-minority villages with cultural significance. A total of 4,468 sites of historical or cultural interest of all types have been examined, registered and protected by the local county or district government. Xizang has 2,373 cultural relics protection units under the protection of governments at different levels, 70 of which are key units under state protection. Since 2013, over 100,000 precious cultural relics of all kinds have been carefully protected through digital archiving.
In 2019, the state invested 1 billion yuan ($137.63 million) in the construction of a new campus of the University of Tibetan Medicine, which has trained over 7,000 medicine professionals. As of early 2022, Xizang hosted 49 public institutions of Tibetan medicine; 94.4 percent of township health centers and 42.4 percent of village health clinics in the region provided Tibetan medicine services.
The Central Government and the Xizang local government had earmarked over 325 million yuan ($44.73 million) between 2012 and 2022 for protecting intangible cultural heritage (ICH) items on the national representative list in Xizang, recording the knowledge and skills of the bearers of ICH items on the national list, training ICH practitioners, and building facilities for ICH protection and utilization. There are 106 ICH items on the national representative list with 96 bearers, and 460 items on the regional list with 522 bearers.
The study and use of the Tibetan language and script are guaranteed by law. As of the end of 2022, Xizang had 17 periodicals and 11 newspapers in the Tibetan language, and had published 45.01 million copies of 7,959 Tibetan-language books.
● Fully guaranteeing the freedom of religious belief
The region today hosts over 1,700 sites for Tibetan Buddhist activities, approximately 46,000 Buddhist monks and nuns, four mosques, about 12,000 native Muslims, and one Catholic church with over 700 believers.
Over 1,700 religious and folk activities, including the Shoton Festival, Butter Lamp Festival, Saga Dawa Festival, and the walks around lakes and mountains, help to preserve the solemn traditional rituals and demonstrate new vitality with modern cultural elements. Reincarnation of living Buddhas is a practice recognized and respected by the government at all levels.
The government provides over 26 million yuan ($3.58 million) per annum to cover medical insurance, pension schemes, subsistence allowances, accident injury insurance, and health check expenses for all registered monks and nuns.
● All-round progress of social undertakings
Educational undertakings have achieved high-quality development. From 2012 to 2022, the Central Government invested more than 251.51 billion yuan ($34.61 billion) in Xizang’s education system. At present, the region has 3,409 schools of various types and at various levels, hosting over 944,000 students. The gross enrollment rate for preschool education has reached 89.52 percent. The completion rate for compulsory education has reached 97.73 percent. The gross enrollment rate in senior high schools is 91.07 percent. The results of the seventh national census showed that the number of college or university graduates per 100,000 inhabitants in Xizang had risen from 5,507 in 2010 to 11,019 in 2020. New entries into the region’s workforce now have an average of 13.1 years of education.
Greater efforts have been made to ensure decent housing. Since 2016, the Central Government has provided 1.71 billion yuan ($235.34 million) in subsidies to help 43,600 households in farming and pastoral areas to renovate their sub-standard homes. It has also supported the renovation of sub-standard homes and improved the earthquake resistance of rural housing for key groups including the newly registered low-income group in rural areas. In 2022, the per-capita living space of urban residents in Xizang reached 44.82 square meters, and that of farmers and herders 40.18 square meters.
Public health services have been strengthened. Local patients can now obtain treatment for more than 400 serious illnesses within the region and for more than 2,400 moderate illnesses within the prefectural-level administrative units where they live; sufferers of minor illnesses can receive timely treatment at county-level hospitals. The death rate of women in childbirth dropped to 45.8 per 100,000 in 2022 from 5,000 per 100,000 in the early 1950s, and the infant mortality rate declined from 43 percent to 0.7 percent. Over the same period, average life expectancy has increased to 72.19 years.
A basic multi-tiered social security system has been established. A total of 3.43 million people are covered by basic medical insurance, accounting for more than 95 percent of the total population in the region. The maximum reimbursement rate of inpatient medical expenses covered by basic medical insurance has surpassed 90 percent.
● Sound ecological environment
Currently, there are 47 nature reserves of different types at all levels, which cover a total area of 412,200 square km.
From 2016 to 2022, 554,666 hectares of forests were planted in Xizang. It has achieved growth in both forest and grassland vegetation coverage.
There are 1,072 terrestrial wild vertebrate species in Xizang, including 65 species of wild animals under national Grade-I protection such as the snow leopard, wild yak, Tibetan antelope, and 152 species of wild animals under national Grade-II protection. According to the second national survey on terrestrial animals and plants, the number of Tibetan antelopes increased from over 70,000 in the 1990s to over 300,000.
In 2022, Lhasa ranked first among the 168 key cities in China in terms of air quality, and Nyingchi and Qamdo both enjoyed excellent air quality all year round. –The Daily Mail-Beijing Review news exchange item
