The Information Office of the State
Council issued on Thursday a white paper in Beijing entitled
"Tibet's March Toward Modernization", which
reviews the modernization drive in Tibet over the past 50
years.
The white paper is expected to help the
international community enhance the comprehensive
understanding of the history and reality of Tibet.
The 16,000-word white paper is composed
of three parts: the Rapid Social Development in Tibet,
Tibet's Modernization Achievements, the Historical
Inevitability of Tibet's Modernization.
Employing lots of facts and the latest
statistics, the white paper shows that Tibet has kept
marching forward along the road to modernization and made
significant achievements that have attracted worldwide
attention, under the leadership of the Central Government
and with the aid from the rest of the country and the
unremitting efforts of the people of all ethnic groups in
the region.
The white paper says
modernization has been the fundamental issue in the social
development of Tibet in modern times. The feudal serfdom
under theocracy, which had lasted for several hundred years
in Tibet, stifled the development of the social productive
forces of Tibet, seriously hindered social progress, and
relegated Tibet to the state of extreme poverty,
backwardness, isolation and decline, to the point of verging
on total collapse.
The white paper says
that even in mid-20th century, Tibet was still extremely
isolated and backward, almost without a trace of modern
industry, commerce, science and technology, education,
culture and health care. Primitive farming methods were
still in practice. The grain yield was only four to 10 times
the seeds sown.
The rigid hierarchy and
savage political oppression, the fetters of religion brought
by theocracy, and the imperialists' invasion had led to
enormous deaths from hunger and cold, poverty and diseases
among the serfs, which made over 95 percent of the whole
population in Tibet 50 years ago. Crisis lurked on every
side in Tibet.
On May 23, 1951 the
"Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of
Tibet", known as the "17-Article Agreement",
was signed by the Central People's Government and the local
government of Tibet, marking the realization of the peaceful
liberation of Tibet and opening the way for Tibet to march
toward modernization.
The white paper
says in conforming to the interests of the Tibetan people,
the Central People's Government not only worked actively to
bring about Tibet's peaceful liberation, but also adopted
key policies and measures for Tibet's Democratic Reform,
regional autonomy, large-scale modernization, reform and
opening-up. All this has contributed to changing the lot of
Tibet and propelling Tibetan society in seven-league boots.
The modernization drive in Tibet has
entered a new stage of rapid development with the strategic
decision made by the Central People's Government to accord
special attention to Tibet and get aid for Tibet from all
the other parts of the country.
The
economy in Tibet has progressed significantly over the past
50 years. Tibet is fast on its way toward a modern market
economy after having thoroughly abandoned the former closed,
natural economy.
The region's GDP
reached 11.746 billion yuan (US$1.42 billion) in 2000, twice
as much as in 1995 and over 30 times as much as in the
pre-peaceful liberation period.
Modern
industry, having grown from nothing, has gradually become an
important pillar of the fast economic development in Tibet.
The modern industrial system with Tibetan characteristics
has cultivated some nationally famous brand names.
In 2000, the region's total grain
output reached 962,200 tons, and the total amount of
livestock numbered 22.66 million head. Self-sufficiency in
grains and edible oils had been basically realized. The
distribution of meat and milk per capita had surpassed that
of the national average.
People from
all ethnic groups in the region have basically shaken off
poverty and had enough to eat and wear. Some are even living
a better-off life.
The white paper says
that the reform and opening-up have shortened the distance
between Tibet and the rest of the country as well as other
parts of the world. In 2000, Tibet scored US$130 million of
imports and exports trade volume.
The
unique natural views and cultural points of interest in
Tibet have attracted numerous tourists from both at home and
abroad. In 2000, Tibet received some 600,000 tourists and
earned a direct income of 780 million yuan (US$94 million).
The Central Government and the local
government of Tibet have been keen on the coordination
between environment and economic development to better
protect the fragile ecological environment in Tibet.
They planned to invest 22.7 billion
yuan (US$2.7 billion) and initiate a number of key projects
for ecological protection by the mid-21st century to further
protect and improve its ecological environment.
The white paper says Tibet has made
rapid progress in education, science and technology, and
medical and health care. The enrollment rate of school-age
children increased to 85.8 percent in 2000 from less than
two percent in the past.
By 2000, Tibet
has set up 25 scientific research institutes, engaging in
studies on history, economics, linguistics and religion, as
well as Tibetan medicine and pharmacology.
The number of medical and health
organizations in the region has reached 1,237. The
cooperative medical service has covered 80 percent of the
Tibetan rural areas. The average life expectancy of Tibetan
people has risen from 35.5 years in the 1950s to the present
67 years. Tibet's population had increased to 2.5983 million
by 2000, or an increase of more than 160 percent over the
figure for the early 1950s.
The white
paper says the State has invested a huge amount of fund,
gold and silver in protecting and maintaining the key
historical heritage in Tibet. Some fine folk art works have
been collected and published for the sake of protection and
development.
The Tibetan people's
freedom of religious belief, traditional customs and habits,
and their freedom to study, use and develop their own
language have been respected and protected.
The white paper says great progress has
been made in standardization of information technology in
the Tibetan language. The Tibetan code is the first ethnic
minority written language in China to have reached the
international standards.
Radio, TV,
telephone and the Internet have become the main methods for
the Tibetan people to learn or communicate with the rest of
the country and the world.
The white
paper says people's political status has been constantly
raised, and their participation in political affairs is
becoming more and more extensive.
Currently, of all the officials in
Tibet, 79.4 percent are Tibetans and people from other
ethnic minorities. Of the deputies to the people's congress
at the regional, county and township levels, those from the
Tibetan ethnic group and other ethnic minorities make up
82.4 percent, 92.62 percent and 99 percent, respectively.
The white paper notes that Tibet's
march toward modernization conforms to the world historical
trend and the law of development of human society, and
embodies the internal demands of Tibet's social development
and the fundamental interests and wishes of the Tibetan
people.
Tibet's modernization makes an
inseparable part of China's modernization drive, and the
inevitable demand from the people of all ethnic groups for
realizing common prosperity and the great rejuvenation of
the Chinese nation.
The white paper
says as Tibet's modernization drive is unfolding in the
unique land of Tibet, it must proceed from Tibet' s actual
conditions and take the road with Tibet's local
characteristics.
It notes in the end
that the modernization drive in Tibet has been pushing
forward consistently during the protracted struggle against
the Dalai Lama clique and international hostile forces.
(People's Daily November 8,
2001)