"If (under China) Tibet were built up, the livelihood of the Tibetan people improved, and their lives so surpassed in happiness that it would embarrass the gods of the Thirty-Three Divine Realms; if we were really and truly given this, even then we Tibetans wouldn't want it.  We absolutely wouldn't want it."

-Tibetan Dissident Pronouncement
10th Day of the 1st Month of the Tibetan Royal Year 2114 (March 10, 1987)

As part of China's most recent development  efforts, the Chinese government launched a five-to-ten year "Western Development Plan" in 1999, targeting a number of provinces and autonomous regions for accelerated economic development, including occupied Tibet, East Turkestan (in Chinese: Xinjiang), and Inner Mongolia.   This economic scheme is politically motivated.   Development of these regions is intended to further social and political stability and cement control over those populations who resist Chinese control - to erase existing economic, socio-cultural, and political divisions between eastern and western China.   Natural resource extraction, large-scale infrastructure projects, and population resettlement are major components of the multi-billion dollar plan.  

There are a number of negative consequences of China's "Go West" policy, listed below.   Tibetans in Tibet want development, but they do not want the kind of development the Chinese government is imposing on them, where they have no say and ultimately do not benefit from it.   Until Tibetans are able to determine their own political future, Students for a Free Tibet opposes any foreign investment in China's "Western Development Plan" as it harms the Tibetan people and the Tibetan environment.

CHINESE POPULATION TRANSFER

One of the most serious threats to the survival of the Tibetan national, cultural, and religious identity is population transfer.   To the Chinese government, Tibet, with its 850,000 square miles of land (roughly the size of Western Europe), represents the space needed for the rapidly expanding Chinese population.   Mass immigration by Chinese settlers into Lhasa and other areas of the Tibet Autonomous Region is encouraged by the government, which offers economic incentives to settlers.   Tibetans are now a minority in their own land: Tibetan exiles claim 7.5 million Chinese now live in Tibet alongside 6 million Tibetans.  

The practice of population transfer constitutes a serious violation of the rights embodied in the Geneva Convention, Article 49, and threatens the Tibetan people with marginalization within their own country.  

One of the main infrastructure projects the Chinese government is rushing to complete in Tibet is the Gormo-Lhasa ("Qinghai-Tibet") Railway, a rail line that will inextricably link Tibet with the rest of China.   Aside from worries about the environmental impact this railway will have, a major concern is that the railway will expedite the influx of Chinese settlers to Tibet.   Not only this, it will also be a lot easier for the Chinese government to deploy large numbers of troops to Tibet, should there ever be public political unrest.  

JOB DISCRIMINATION

Since the late 1990s, the Chinese government has poured billions of yuan into economic development in Tibet.   Major cities, such as Lhasa or Shigatse, are now bustling centers of commerce.   Most of the money that has gone towards development in Tibet has been used on major infrastructure projects, such as the construction of highways, railways, pipelines and mines - all designed to facilitate the rapid transport of Tibet's natural resources to mainland China.   Very little, if any, has gone towards much needed social services such as hospitals or schools.   The majority of jobs that have been created through the construction of large-scale infrastructure and other development projects go to Chinese settlers, not to Tibetans.   Because many Tibetans cannot afford to pay the high school fees, there is a growing number of young Tibetans who are uneducated and unemployed, while Chinese settlers in Tibet are making money.

For more information on this topic, please read: Poverty by Design (pdf)

ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE

Because of Tibet's high altitude and extreme climate, the damage caused by aggressive development of the fragile high-mountain ecosystem is becoming irreversible.   Much of the traditional respect for the delicate ecosystem has dissipated as demographics of the area have changed with Chinese population influx and traditional Tibetan ways of life being supplanted by other models.   Tibet now face severe environmental challenges, fueled in part by the need to meet the demands of the growing population, as well as the needs and ambitions of mainland China itself.  

· Deforestation:
Forests in Tibet are the third largest within China's present day borders.   Government lumber operations went unhindered for decades.   Reforestation is neglected and ineffective, leaving hillsides vulnerable to erosion.   Rapid and widespread deforestation has life-threatening consequences for the hundreds of millions who live on the flood plains of the major rivers of Southeast Asia, many of which have their headwaters in Tibet.   In 1998, China witnessed severe flooding of the Yangtze (in Tibetan: Drichu) river valley, the result of massive deforestation in eastern Tibet.   Clear-cutting also threatens the habitat of Tibet's other residents -- the rare giant panda, golden monkey, and over 5,000 plant species unique to the region.

· Desertification:
Government-encouraged population migration into the northern Tibetan plateau has caused massive and irreparable environmental damage to huge tracts of fragile tableland.   Experts attribute the deterioration to overgrazing, irrational land reclamation, and wanton denudation of surface vegetation.

· Agricultural Development:
Large-scale agricultural development projects are now being carried out in Tibet, disrupting traditional practices and the delicate ecological balance maintained by farmers for centuries.   Motivated by the need to feed the growing Chinese population in Tibet and to reduce the costly wheat imports, the projects harm Tibetans more than they help them, because of discriminatory employment practices and disruption of traditional lifestyles.   Also, while the Chinese take large amounts of the Tibetans' agricultural production, they provide little or no aid to them in the event of crop failure.

· Natural Resources Extraction:
The Tibetan plateau is rich in natural resources.   Natural gas, oil, timber, gold and other minerals can all be found it Tibet.   Moreover, over 10 major rivers originate in Tibet.   The Chinese government has already begun stealing Tibet's natural resources for use in the rapidly industrializing cities on China's east coast.   The extraction of minerals and wood from Tibetan regions is largely done by, or at the direction of, newly arrived Chinese workers and administrators.   Some meager short-term benefit may accrue to local Tibetans, but more often than not, the land is left spoiled and traditional Tibetan livelihoods disrupted.   Moreover, roads built to access uncut forests or untapped minerals usually result in an increase in Chinese settlers and administrators.   Recently, the completion of an oil pipeline that runs through Tibet has raised grave concerns about lifestyle disruption in traditionally nomadic areas of northeastern Tibet, as well as increased settlement of Chinese workers along the pipeline.  

· Hydroelectric Construction Projects:
China has plans to build dozens of hydroelectric dams on Tibet's rivers and export the electricity to Chinese cities such as Chengdu, Xining, Lanzhou, and Xian.   There are grave concerns about forced resettlement and flooding associated with these dam construction projects.   China has a horrendous track record when it comes to hydroelectric dam construction.   During the construction of the infamous Three Gorges Dam in China, nearly 700,000 people have already been forcefully evicted, and the Chinese police have brutally cracked down on protest by local Chinese against the dam.  

· Biodiversity:
Biodiversity, or biological diversity, refers to all plants, animals, micro-organisms, and everything else in an ecosystem.   The Tibetan Plateau is particularly rich because of the drastic variations in climate from rainforest to scarcely populated high altitude regions.   Many species of flora and fauna are unique to the high altitude areas of Tibet and are found nowhere else in the world.   Most of the world remains unaware of Tibet's important ecological significance because of the Chinese government's restrictions on information and scientific research about Tibet.

· Wildlife:
Pre-1949 (before China's invasion) travelers in Tibet compared it to East Africa, so vast were the herds of large mammals.   Today, the herds have all but vanished, wiped out mainly by Chinese soldiers hunting with automatic weapons from trucks in the 1960's.   Poaching by Tibetans and Chinese continues, threatening the survival of some species.   One Tibetan nomad told Dr.  George Schaller, the foremost Western specialist on Tibetan mammals, "If the officials obey the law and stop hunting, we will too."

· Nuclear Activities
The northern Tibetan Plateau was home to China's "Los Alamos."  Tibet was China's primary site for nuclear weapons research and development.   The Chinese government has used Tibet as a site for nuclear testing as well as nuclear dumping.   Tibet has vast uranium reserves, which have been mined by the Chinese government for use in the production of nuclear weapons.   After years of denials, China finally admitted, in 1995, to the existence of a high-level nuclear waste dump site on the Tibetan plateau.   Tibetan nomads allege that they have suffered illness and death from strange diseases consistent with radiation sickness.