20/09/2016
Analysis – Rafael Canas
Lhasa (China), 20 sep (EFE).- Chinese authorities point to Tibet's economic progress, spurred by a veritable explosion of tourism, as an argument to justify externally its policy in Tibet, the isolated region of southwestern China.
The recent trip of a group of foreign correspondents (among whom was Efe, who could not enter Tibet for ten years) organized by the authorities has shown the undoubted economic progress, but also the progressive implantation of companies and immigrants from the rest of China.
Bajo el eslogan "verlo para creerlo", The authorities boast of the advances in built infrastructure, as 40.000 kilometers of roads, electrification or access to running water.
In addition to the famous train that from 2006 unites Beijing with Lhasa, The authorities plan to end in 2022 the railway between Chengdu (capital of Sichuan Province) and a journey that could be done in a few hours.
Beijing and the regional government also boast of the improvement of all types of indicators such as regional GDP, the number of hospitals, education or social assistance network of Tibet, a place to which fewer foreign journalists have traveled in recent years than to hermetic North Korea.
Among the most prosperous economic sectors, in addition to tourism, are mining, forests and food (the latter supported by the reputation of high quality of the products and the low contamination of soils and waters., because Tibetan mineral water is a buoyant business).
The correspondents had a degree of freedom unusual in press trips in recent years, since they were able to move freely around Lhasa for some brief periods and talk to the population, although the majority avoids entering into the always delicate relationship with China.
So, The owner of a Tibetan tea shop in a small alley explained, almost ashamed of the interest of foreigners, que ella y su marido llegaron a Lhasa hace seis años del campo para abrir el establecimiento y que les va "muy bien", even if the price of a liter of tea is only 8 yuan (a little more than one euro).
However, questions about political issues generate distrust or fear, in a city that does not seem to have forgotten the violent ethnic-religious riots of 2008.
Insisting on anonymity, some people lament the growing prominence of Mandarin in education and daily life or the continued settlement of people from the rest of China.
One of the emigrants, a han ethnic taxi driver (the majority in China), He explained that he moved to Tibet attracted by the quiet life and affordable prices.
Se ven muchos "han" together with people of Tibetan ethnicity, and the main avenues are populated with offices of large Chinese companies and even shopping centers with some foreign brand stores..
In Lulang village (al is from Lhasa) se ha construido una especie de "parque Disney" Tibetan aesthetics for tourists, but regional officials admitted that the majority of its workers and inhabitants will not be Tibetans.
In many places in Lhasa illuminated panels display official slogans, especially about ethnic harmony: "aumentar la solidaridad étnica para construir una China más hermosa", one said.
"Tíbet es un buen ejemplo de unidad étnica", the vice president of the regional government stated in a meeting, Bianba Zhaxi, quien recalcó el argumento chino de que antes de la "liberación" of 1959 Tibet lived under a regime of feudal serfdom.
For Tibetan exile support groups, This prosperity hides the progressive marginalization of traditional culture, lo que "complica a los tibetanos el acceso a la educación y el empleo, mientras que al mismo tiempo el Gobierno chino incita a los chinos 'han' a asentarse en el Tíbet", John Jones points out to Efe, a Free Tibet activist, based in London.
"Casi todos los miembros principales del gobierno, the police and the army" están "en manos de la etnia 'han', miembros del Partido Comunista", Jones adds., quien recalca la región autónoma tibetana "es uno de los lugares más cerrados de la Tierra" in communications and transportation abroad.
The relative freedom of travel through this restricted region ended in the second stage, in Nyingchi City (some 450 kilometers east of Lhasa), where local authorities lied to journalists about Buddhist monasteries in the area.
The monasteries have largely been the center of Tibetan spiritual resistance against Beijing, but even so before the trip it was promised that some would be visited.
However, in Nyingchi the authorities assured that there were no monasteries nearby, because the closest one was about 80 kilometers and was inaccessible due to landslides that blocked access.
Actually, there is at least one, that of Lamaling (from the 7th century) about thirty kilometers. When a group of journalists from the group tried to travel there in a taxi, He was intercepted by a police patrol car and forced to return to the hotel. EFE
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