Development and Progress of Tibet

IV. Cultural Preservation and Freedom of Religious Belief

As an important part of Chinese culture, Tibetan culture attracts people from all over the world with its unique charm. Over the years, the Central Government and the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region have worked together to preserve and promote the outstanding traditional Tibetan culture while developing advanced socialist culture, and to protect places of unique folk cultures. Their efforts have reaped fruits, and Tibetan culture is now well preserved and developed.

Preserving and developing the spoken and written Tibetan language

The study and use of the Tibetan language and script are protected by law in China. The Constitution, Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy and Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language have articles protecting the freedom of ethnic minorities to use and develop their own spoken and written languages. The Tibet Autonomous Region enacted the Several Provisions of the Tibet Autonomous Region on the Study, Use and Development of the Tibetan Language (For Trial Implementation), Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Provisions, and the formal version, finally making this work solidly law-based.

Bilingual education, with Tibetan as the principal language, is widespread in Tibet. At present, primary schools in all farming and pastoral areas and some urban areas use both Tibetan and Chinese in teaching, but mostly Tibetan for the major courses. Middle schools also use both languages, and Tibetan classes in middle schools in inland areas also have lessons in Tibetan. By the end of 2012 there were 282,914 primary school students and 177,981 middle school students receiving bilingual education, accounting for 96.88 percent and 90.63 percent of the total respectively in Tibet. Now there are 23,085 bilingual teachers, and 3,700 Tibetan language teachers at schools at different levels.

Tibetan is widely used in political life. Resolutions, laws and regulations adopted at people's congresses at all levels, and formal documents and declarations published by people's governments at different levels and their subsidiary departments in Tibet are written in both Tibetan and Chinese. In judicial proceedings, Tibetan is used to try cases involving litigants of the Tibetan group; and the Tibetan language is used in writing the legal documents. Automation has been realized in the translation and interpretation departments of the Party Committee, People's Congress, People's Government and CPPCC office of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and such offices at prefecture and county levels. The word count of translation in Tibet is more than 60 million each year. Both Tibetan and Chinese are used in official seals, credentials and certificates, forms, envelopes and letter paper, writing paper, identifiers, signs of work units, factories and mines, schools, stations, airports, shops, hotels, restaurants, theaters, scenic spots, sports venues, libraries, and street and traffic signs.

More and more intellectual and cultural products in Tibetan are appearing. There are 14 Tibetan-language magazines and ten Tibetan-language newspapers in Tibet. Tibet People's Radio has 42 programs and columns in Tibetan (including Khampa); its Tibetan-language news channel broadcasts 21 hours a day, and its Khampa channel broadcasts 18 hours a day. Tibet TV Station has a Tibetan-language channel broadcasting 24 hours a day. In 2012 some 780 titles of books in the Tibetan language were published in the Tibet Autonomous Region, with a total of 4.31 million copies.

In addition, the use of Tibetan is becoming more and more IT-based. Computer coding of Tibetan characters has met the national and international standards. Tibetan editing, laser phototypesetting and electronic publishing developed independently by China are extensively applied. Through the Internet, mobile phones and other means, Tibetans can read, listen to and watch domestic and international news and get all types of information, which has become part of their daily life.

While preserving and developing the Tibetan language, the State also popularizes standard Chinese around the country, including in regions inhabited by ethnic minorities. According to the Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language, "the State popularizes modern standard Chinese and standardized Chinese characters" and "every Chinese citizen has the right to learn and use the standard spoken and written Chinese language" so as to "promote economic and cultural exchanges between ethnic groups and regions." In addition, "The use of the standard spoken and written Chinese language should help maintain state sovereignty and national dignity, safeguard state unification and national unity, and promote socialist material, cultural and ethical progress." In China, no individual or organization shall oppose the popularization, study and use of standard spoken and written Chinese language on the pretext of protecting and developing the language and script of their ethnic group.

Preserving and carrying forward outstanding cultural heritages

Cultural relics and historic sites have been effectively preserved in the Tibet Autonomous Region, which has issued the Notice of the Tibet Autonomous Region People's Government on Strengthening the Protection of Cultural Relics, and Regulations of the Tibet Autonomous Region on the Protection of Cultural Relics, and some other laws and regulations to ensure that cultural relics are protected in accordance with the law and due procedures. Currently, Tibet has 4,277 cultural relics sites (including 55 state-level ones and 210 regional ones), and 2.32 million items of cultural relics are in their collection. The Potala Palace, the Norbulingka and Jokhang Temple are on the World Heritage List. Lhasa, Shigatse and Gyangtse are honored as State-level Historical and Cultural Cities. Tibet Museum is a state-level museum. Since 2000 the Central Government has invested 2.04 billion yuan in key projects for the preservation and maintenance of cultural relics in Tibet, among which more than 380 million yuan has been used in the three key projects of the Potala Palace, Norbulingka and Sakya Monastery.

The region's intangible cultural heritage has been effectively preserved, promoted and developed. The Regional People's Government and local prefectural (city) governments have set up special organizations to salvage, collate and study the Tibetan cultural heritage, making a general survey of the cultural and artistic heritage of the Tibetan group. These organizations have edited and published Chronicles of Chinese Dramas: Tibet; Collection of Folk Dances: Tibet; Collection of National Instrumental Folk Music: Tibet, and seven other collections, including over 10,000 pieces of folk music, songs and other art forms and over 30 million characters of literary data. Currently, Tibet has nearly 800 intangible cultural heritage projects, over 80 performance troupes of traditional dramas and 1,177 inheritors of such intangible cultural heritage. Tibetan opera and the Gesar epic have been included in UNESCO's Masterpiece of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Tibetan Thangka, Tibetan papermaking technique and 73 other cultural items have been included in China's Masterpiece of the Intangible Heritage, and 68 inheritors of such cultural items have been affirmed as representative inheritors of China's Intangible Heritage projects; 323 projects and 227 inheritors have been put on the Tibet Regional List of Intangible Heritage; and 158 books have been put on the State List of Valuable Ancient Books. The Ministry of Culture and Tibet Autonomous Region have named five places as national homes of folk art, 19 as regional homes of folk art, and two as homes of special art.

Developing traditional Tibetan medicine

The People's Government of the Tibet Autonomous Region has made the development of traditional Tibetan medicine a key part of its health care strategy. It has drawn up the Decision on Strengthening Traditional Tibetan Medicine Work, Opinions of the People's Government of the Tibet Autonomous Region on Providing More Support to and Promoting the Development of Traditional Tibetan Medicine and some other related documents. These measures are conducive to the protection and development of traditional Tibetan medicine. Tibetan medical establishments at all levels in Tibet exploit their advantages to the full, and study special traditional Tibetan medical treatment techniques and drugs and put them into practice. They collate ancient books, records and documents on traditional Tibetan medicine, and have compiled and published the Annotations on the Four Canons of Medicine and other important documents in this field. Currently, Tibet has 19 Tibetan medical establishments, and over 50 county-level hospitals have departments of Tibetan medicine, making Tibetan medicine accessible to people throughout the region. Traditional Tibetan drugs are now produced in modern factories instead of small manual workshops, meaning they are produced in scale according to standardized procedures. The 20 Tibetan drug manufacturers registered in Tibet all have the GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) certificate, and produce over 360 types of Tibetan medicine. Their products are sold in China and some foreign countries. The total value of their products reaches 100 million yuan or more. Traditional Tibetan medicine has gone beyond Tibet, and is now serving more and more people, both in China and around the world.

Respecting and protecting customs and folkways of ethnic minorities

The State respects and protects the right of all ethnic groups in Tibet to live and conduct social activities according to their own traditional customs and folkways; it respects and protects their freedom in attending normal religious service, performing sacrificial rituals, and taking part in major religious activities and folk festivals. While maintaining their traditional ways and styles of clothing, diet and housing, people of all ethnic groups in Tibet have absorbed new, modern customs in terms of clothing, food, housing, transportation, and wedding and funeral ceremonies. The Shoton Festival in Lhasa, Mt. Qomolangma Culture and Art Festival in Shigatse, Yarlung Art Festival in Shannan, the Great Canyon Culture and Tourism Festival in Nyingchi, Kham Art Festival in Qamdo, Horse Racing Festival in Nagqu, Shangshung Culture and Art Festival in Ngari, and some other festivals have been revived. National and international festivals such as the March 8th International Women's Day, May 1st Labor Day, June 1st
Children' s Day, and October 1st National Day are becoming more and more popular. New customs and habits have been formed encompassing both national characteristics and spirit of the time. While the people' s material life keeps improving, every festival is a feast for the mind, giving them more and more recreational activities. Tibetan people like to spend the Incense Festival with relatives and friends; while Langma halls for song and dance performance and sweet tea houses are major places for Tibetan leisure and recreational activities.

Constantly enhancing public cultural services

In recent years Tibet has invested more and more in building its cultural infrastructure. Radio and television are accessible to every village and household, and there are libraries and cultural centers at county, township and village levels, popularized digital TV on the basis of cable TV and digital libraries, electronic reading rooms for the public, and other cultural projects for the people, including libraries in the countryside and monasteries and the Spring Rain Project, in which cultural volunteers from other parts of China go to the frontier to serve the people there. Through these efforts, the local government tries to protect the people' s cultural rights. By the end of 2012 Tibet had built eight people's art centers, 77 libraries, two museums, 73 county-level cultural centers, 239 township-level cultural stations, over 500 village cultural rooms. In addition, it had one regional center, 73 county-level sub-centers, 103 township-level stations, and over 3,000 village-level stations as part of the project for sharing cultural information and resources. As a result, a network of cultural facilities has taken shape, from the regional level at the top all the way to the villages at the bottom. In 2012 Tibet completed the task of providing radio and television access to 50,500 households of farmers and herdsmen, bringing the number of such households to over 85 percent of the total. Lhasa completed the digital conversion of cable TV in 131 communities, and built five core sub-platforms at the prefectural or city level. Digital film screening service is now available in all farming and pastoral areas, with films shown on over 130,000 occasions for free. In 2012 Tibet dubbed over 10,000 hours of TV programs and 75 films. It built 5,451 small libraries in the countryside and over 1,700 libraries in monasteries, making such facilities accessible in all administrative villages and all monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism. Tibet now has ten professional performing art troupes, over 20 county-level folk art troupes, over 160 amateur performing art and Tibetan opera troupes, and over 4,000 cultural and performing art professionals. Professional performing art troupes have worked harder in artistic creation, launching Princess Wencheng in Peking Opera and Tibetan Opera forms, Colorful Hada, Heavenly Tibet and Tibet Spring in song and dance performances, Liberation, Liberation and Tashigang in drama form, and a film titled Thangka. Moreover, Tibet has enhanced its cultural exchanges with other countries and regions. Over the past 60 years it has sent more than 360 groups or teams of nearly 4,000 people to over 50 countries and regions for visits and for performances in over 110 overseas cities. It has also received over 200 experts and scholars from over 30 countries and regions for performances, lectures and exhibitions.

Respecting and protecting freedom of religious belief

According to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, Chinese citizens enjoy freedom of religious belief as a basic right. In Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism, Bon, Islam, Catholicism and some other religions coexist, and there are different sects within Tibetan Buddhism. After the democratic reform, Tibet abolished feudal serfdom under theocracy and separated religion from government, removed what had been tarnished by feudal serfdom and restored the true nature of religion, realizing true freedom of religious belief and religious tolerance between different religious beliefs and sects. The Central Government and the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region fully respect citizens' freedom of religious belief, respect and protect all religions and sects, and protect normal religious activities and beliefs according to law. Currently, Tibet has 1,787 places for different religious activities, over 46,000 resident monks and nuns, and 358 Living Buddhas. The majority of the people in Tibet believe in Tibetan
Buddhism. Traditional religious activities such as scripture learning and debate, degree promotion, initiation into monkhood or nunhood, abhisheka (empowerment ceremony) and self-cultivation are held on a regular basis, while ceremonial activities are also held at important religious festivals. Living Buddha reincarnation is a special succession system of Tibetan Buddhism and is respected by the State. So far, over 40 incarnated Living Buddhas have been confirmed through traditional religious rituals and historical conventions.

In present-day Tibet it is not difficult to see prayer flags, Mani stones inscribed with Buddhist scriptures, and believers taking part in religious activities. Ordinary believers usually have a scripture hall or a Buddha shrine at home, and such religious activities as circumambulation while reciting scriptures, Buddha worship, and inviting lamas or nuns from monasteries to hold religious rites are normally conducted. The Tibet Autonomous Region and its seven prefectures or cities have each set up a Buddhist Society; the Tibet Branch of the Buddhist Association of China runs a Buddhist college, a sutra printing house, and a Tibetan-language journal - Buddhism in Tibet. Tibet has protected and repaired murals, carvings, statues, Thangka, sutras, religious ritual implements, shrines, and some other carriers of religious culture. It has also salvaged, collated and published a great number of religious books and records. It has promoted the development of conventional sutra printing houses at monasteries. There are now nearly 60 such sutra printing houses in Tibet, including one in the Moru Monastery and one in the Potala Palace; they print 63,000 sutra titles every year. In addition, there are 20 private shops selling these sutras. Regarding religious management, the State upholds the policy of separating religion from government; it strengthens the administration of religious activities according to law, prohibits religion from intervening in the country' s administration, justice system and education, and allows no individual or organization to use religion for illegal activities.

V. Social Changes and Development of All Undertakings

Tibet has achieved all-round development. With the changes in the political and economic systems, Tibet has made the transition from a traditional society to a modern one. Its people' s rights to education, employment, health and social security have been further protected, and all social undertakings are thriving.

Science and education have achieved rapid development.

Before its peaceful liberation in 1951, Tibet had no scientific research institutes or staff in the modern sense except in the areas of Tibetan medicine, astronomy and the calendar. Now, Tibet has 33 state-owned independent scientific research institutes, ten private scientific research institutes, and 184 agricultural and animal husbandry science and technology promotion organizations at the autonomous region, prefectural (municipal), and county (district)levels; 29 agricultural science and technology parks and key laboratories at the national and autonomous region levels; 27 state-level new and high-tech enterprises and 46 autonomous-region-level small and medium-sized sci-tech enterprises, and five state-level innovative enterprises and corporate technology centers. Currently, Tibet has 56,264 technical professionals, of whom 43,552 are from ethnic-minority groups, accounting for 77.41 percent; 2,870 senior technical professionals (including one member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 244 experts enjoying special government allowances, 16 young and middle-aged experts with outstanding contributions and three national outstanding technical professionals), 13,869 intermediate technical professionals and 36,216 junior technical professionals. All these people play an active role in scientific innovation and application in agriculture, animal husbandry, industry, Tibetan medicine, new energy, tourism, cultural creativity, ethnic handicrafts and other fields. In 2012 the contribution rate of science to economic growth reached 35 percent, to agricultural and animal husbandry growth 42 percent, and the popularization rate of science and technology 85 percent.

Before the peaceful liberation of Tibet, the educated were mostly aristocrats, while serfs and slaves, accounting for 95 percent of the total population of Tibet, had no right to education at all, and the illiteracy rate among young and middle-aged people was 95 percent. Now, Tibet has established a modern education system covering pre-school education, basic education, vocational education, higher education, adult education and special education. Since 1985 China has covered all tuition, food and boarding expenses for students from farmers and herdsmen' s families in the stage of compulsory education, raised the subsidy standard 12 times and benefited 510,400 people. In 2007 Tibet became the first place in China to enjoy free nine-year compulsory education, and in 2012 the first place in China to enjoy 15-year free education (three-year preschool, six-year primary school, three-year junior middle school and three-year senior middle school). By the end of 2012 Tibet had 292,016 primary school students, with an enrollment rate of 99.4 percent among school-age children; 130,266 junior middle school students, with an enrollment rate of 98.6 percent; 47,825 regular senior middle school students and 18,291 secondary vocational school students, the senior middle school enrollment rate reaching 70.2 percent. In addition, there were 33,452 undergraduate students and 1,079 postgraduate students, the higher education gross enrollment rate reaching 27.4 percent. In China 26 senior and junior middle schools in 20 provinces and municipalities directly under the Central Government have classes specially for Tibetan students; 60 key senior middle schools enroll students with registered permanent residence in Tibet; 48 state-level demonstration secondary vocational technical schools and 170 institutions of higher learning enroll students from the Tibetan classes. These schools and universities have accumulatively enrolled 42,040 junior middle school students, 47,492 senior middle school students (secondary vocational school students), and 16,100 undergraduate students. Currently, inland Tibetan classes have 42,460 students. The campaign to get rid of illiteracy has reached all population in Tibet, the illiteracy rate among young and middle-aged people has decreased to 0.8 percent, and the average length of education for people above the age of 15 has reached 8.1 years.

Citizens' right to employment is protected.

Since the democratic reform in Tibet in 1959, all trades in Tibet have thrived, areas of employment have expanded and the requirement for employees' knowledge and skills raised. The government vigorously encourages farmers and herdsmen to seek employment locally by promoting free vocational training, building labor service brands, and improving the mechanism for organized transfer employment and providing better employment environment for migrant workers. The government helps "zero-employment" families, the disabled and other groups with employment difficulties to find jobs by increasing public welfare positions, "enacting policies and providing jobs, skill training, employment services" and other employment assistance. In recent years the government has provided public welfare positions for 19,867 people with employment difficulties, thereby eliminating the number of "zero-employment" families. The government has actively built a two-way selection platform for urban and rural employers and workers. In 2012 new jobs in other fields were found for 450,000 farmers and herdsmen. At the same time 14,153 higher-education graduates were employed, with an employment rate of 98.36 percent. To protect the lawful rights and interests of the workers, the government has set a standard for minimum wages, promoted the adoption of labor contract and collective bargaining, enhanced labor supervision, mediation and arbitration, and improved the mechanism of preventing and handling labor-management dispute cases. In 2012 Tibet' s newly increased urban employment totaled 25,000, and the registered urban unemployment rate was below 2.6 percent.

The people's health has increasingly improved.

Before the peaceful liberation of Tibet, only Lhasa and Shigatse had government-run Tibetan medical institutions, private clinics and Tibetan doctors, which were small in both number and operating size. Now Tibet has a public medical and health service system combining Tibetan medicine, Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine that covers all urban and rural areas of the autonomous region with Lhasa as the center, thereby realizing the objective of "one clinic for one village." In 2012 Tibet had 6,660 medical and health institutions, 8,352 hospital beds and 21,558 health workers (including 9,336 health technicians). The medical institutions provided treatment on 10.12 million occasions and accommodated patients in hospitals on 145,500 occasions. Free medical services are now available to all the farmers and herdsmen in the autonomous region. The subsidy for these medical services was raised from 5.5 yuan annually per person in 1993 to 300 yuan in 2012. The autonomous regional government allocated a special fund of 23 million yuan to set up a major disease supplementary health insurance for farmers and herdsmen. Tibet was the first in China to provide free physical examinations for urban and rural residents, and the subsidy has been raised to 300 yuan annually per capita. In 2012 Tibet provided free medical treatment to 1,032 children with congenital heart defects (CHD). Tibet has set up 81 disease prevention and control institutions; promoted an immunization program throughout the autonomous region; improved the epidemic disease reporting and monitoring system; basically contained plague, tuberculosis (TB), leprosy, Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) and iodine deficiency disorders (IDD); reduced the incidence of measles, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, poliomyelitis and other infectious diseases by a large margin; and basically eliminated IDD, with an iodized salt coverage rate of 96.59 percent. In 2012 Tibet implemented a fitness program for farmers and herdsmen in 1,000 administrative villages; enhanced the construction of urban physical fitness zones and gymnasiums; ensured that agricultural and pastoral areas have fitness sites and equipment; promoted a scientific fitness program; and enhanced the building of community-level sports organizations, community sports clubs and nationwide fitness centers to improve the people' s health and quality of life. Tibet has been implementing a flexible birth-control policy, which exempts the farmers and herdsmen, who account for over 80 percent of Tibet' s total population, from the limit set on the number of children one couple could have. The government encourages late marriage and postponed childbearing, healthy pregnancy and scientific nurture, and healthy and civilized marriage lives.

Before the peaceful liberation, Tibet's population remained stagnant for a long period of time because of economic backwardness, low survival rate of newborns, poor medical conditions and a large proportion of monks and nuns in the total population. But since the peaceful liberation, Tibet' s population increased from 1.1409 million in 1951 to 3.002 million in 2010, of which 2.716 million were Tibetans, accounting for more than 90 percent of the total; over 40,000 were from other ethnic-minority groups, accounting for 1.3 percent; and 245,000 were Han people, accounting for 8 percent. In 2012 Tibet' s total population reached 3.08 million. The average life expectancy there has increased from 35.5 years in 1951 to 68.17 years now; the death rates of infants and women in childbirth have dropped greatly and the people' s health has been remarkably improved.

Social security system increasingly improved.

In recent years Tibet's social security system has been increasingly improved, so that the sick can seek medical treatment, the elderly are cared for and the financially straitened can receive aid. By the end of 2012 Tibet had established a social security system consisting of basic old-age insurance, basic health insurance, unemployment insurance, work-related injury insurance and maternity insurance, and covering all urban and rural residents, with an insured population of 2.397 million. In 2012 Tibet covered all types of social insurance to the tune of 2.38 billion yuan. The basic living allowance coverage keeps expanding in urban and rural Tibet, and the amount of allowance granted has been raised several times. In 2012, 48,047 urban residents and 329,000 rural residents received basic living allowances from the government, with 400 yuan per person per month in cities and 1,600 yuan per person per year in the countryside. The yearly payment to those who enjoy the "five guarantees" (for food, clothing, medical care, housing and funeral expenses) has been raised significantly to 2,600 yuan per person per year in 2013. People with economic difficulties in urban and rural areas received medical aid on nearly 120,000 occasions, with total funds amounting to 205.75 million yuan. A total of 6,925 urban and rural households with economic difficulties received temporary relief funds totaling 7.762 million yuan. A total of 6,432 students with financial hardships were provided with 16.769 million yuan in assistance. By August 2012 a total of 394,636 urban and rural residents entitled to basic living allowance, the "five guarantees" and special social care received temporary price subsidies totaling 126.069 million yuan. Under the special care of the government, all the monks and nuns in Tibet have been included in the social security system and covered by health insurance, old-age insurance and basic living allowance. Monks and nuns above the age of 60 receive a 120 yuan monthly pension; nuns above the age of 60 and monks above the age of 65 enjoy permanent basic health insurance.

VI. Environmental Protection and Ecological Improvement

Tibet serves as an important ecological safety barrier in China. Over the past few decades the central and regional governments have upheld scientific development, struck a balance between socio-economic development and environmental protection, and given priority to ecological conservation and environmental protection in China' s modernization drive. Vigorous efforts are being made to promote local ecological progress and build a beautiful Tibet. Being one of the areas with the best environmental quality in the world, most parts of the region have maintained their original natural states.

Ecological environment of the Tibet Plateau influenced by climate change

Scientific research findings show that the earth has entered a warming period over the past century. Due to its unique altitude, the Tibet Plateau has been influenced more strongly than surrounding areas by global warming. From 1961 to 2007 the Tibet Plateau registered an average temperature increase of over 0.3 degrees C every ten years, doubling the global average. Global warming has accelerated the retreat of glaciers. Over the past 30 years, the area of glaciers has decreased by 131 sq km annually on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the permafrost has experienced patches of degradation, manifested by reduction of the seasonal frozen depth and rising thaw depth.

In the wake of global warming, remarkable changes have taken place in the ecosystem of the Tibet Plateau. Since the 1980s the vegetation has witnessed early greening, late withering and an average increase of ten days in the growing season. The vegetation coverage has been slightly raised overall, and the NPP (net primary productivity) has grown by around 11 percent. The NPP's remarkable growth has led to an increasing carbon sink in the alpine ecosystem. From 1980 to 2002 Tibet's alpine ecosystem created an average annual net carbon sink of 23 million tons, accounting for 13 percent of the total increased carbon sinks of all the earth' s vegetation in China, of which 17.6 million tons was produced by alpine grassland ecosystems every year. The vegetation ecosystem of the Tibet Plateau acts as one of China' s important areas for carbon sinks. At present, Tibet' s vegetation is improving as a whole. However, there are differences between different regions. The ecosystem is degrading in the southern areas with reduced rainfall, while it is improving in the northern areas with increased rainfall. Following the implementation of large national ecological projects and eco-compensation policies, Tibet has effectively curbed ecological degradation in areas intensely influenced by human activities, and further enhanced its function as an ecological safety barrier.

Strengthening legislation and planning for ecological conservation and environmental protection

Over the past few decades Tibet has remained the focus within the country' s general framework of environmental protection and ecological conservation. In the National Plan for Eco-environmental Improvement and the National Program for Eco-environmental Protection formulated by the State Council in 1998 and 2000, respectively, a separate plan has been drawn up to make the freeze-thawing zone on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau one of the country's eight major areas for ecological improvement, complete with a number of explicit tasks and principles for work in this regard. According to the National Plan for Major Function-oriented Zones issued by the State Council in 2010, two of the 25 national key eco-function zones are located in Tibet, i.e., "forest zone on the edge of the plateau in southeast Tibet" and "desert zone on the Changtang Plateau in northwest Tibet." Covering areas of 97,750 sq km and 494,381 sq km, respectively, they account for nearly half of Tibet' s total area. In 2009 the State Council approved the Plan for Ecology Safety Barrier Protection and Construction in Tibet (2008-2030), aiming to basically complete the building of an ecology safety barrier by 2030 and give full play to its function. The Tibet Autonomous Region has drawn up and implemented a series of plans covering eco-environmental protection and construction, including the Eco-environmental Improvement Plan, Plan for Conservation of Water and Topsoil, Comprehensive Improvement Plan for the Environment in Farming and Pastoral Areas, Plan for Environmental Protection of Drinking Water Sources in Urban Areas, 12th Five-Year Plan for Comprehensive Prevention and Treatment of Heavy Metal Pollution, Plan for Pollution Control on the Upper Reaches of the "Five Rivers" (the Yarlung Zangbo, Lhasa, Nyangqu, Nyakchu and Nyang rivers), and Ecological Function Zoning. Meanwhile, Tibet is actively carrying out fundamental work in this field, including investigation of the status quo of the ecological environment, ecological function zoning, soil pollution investigation, ecological compensation research, basic survey of nature reserves, and investigation by remote sensing of eco-environmental changes during the period 2000-2010 and relevant evaluation, so as to provide a scientific basis for environmental protection and ecological conservation.

Tibet's work in the field of ecological improvement and environmental protection is progressing steadily and in a law-governed manner. A relatively comprehensive legal system ensuring environmental protection has taken shape. The people' s congress and people' s government of the Tibet Autonomous Region have promulgated relevant local laws, regulations and administrative decrees, including the Regulations for Environmental Protection in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Rules for the Implementation in the Tibet Autonomous Region of the Grassland Law of the People' s Republic of China, Measures for the Implementation in the Tibet Autonomous Region of the Law of the People' s Republic of China on the Protection of Wildlife, and Opinions of the People' s Government of the Tibet Autonomous Region on the Implementation of the Decision of the State Council on Implementing the Scientific Outlook on Development and Strengthening Environmental Protection.

Remarkable progress in ecological improvement

Tibet has effectively protected its biodiversity and significant eco-function zones. A total of 47 nature reserves at various levels have been established in Tibet, including nine national-level ones, 14 at the autonomous region level and 24 at the prefecture or county level. Nature reserves cover a total area of 413,700 sq km, accounting for 33.9 percent of the total land area of the region and leading all the other areas of China. All the region's 125 types of wild animals and 39 wild plants under state key protection are well preserved in the established nature reserves. For instance, red deer, generally considered by the international animal research community to have been extinct, was discovered again in Tibet in the 1990s, and their numbers are increasing. The number of Tibetan antelopes is growing year by year to reach 150,000 so far. There are about 7,000 black-necked cranes in the region. Tibet is home to 22 ecological conservation areas (one at national level), eight national forest parks, three national wetland parks, four geological parks (two at national level), and three national scenic areas. In the preface written by Jimmy Carter, former president of the United States, to the book Across the Tibetan Plateau: Ecosystems, Wildlife, and Conservation, he appraised the biological diversity protection work of Tibet, saying it was not easy to increase the population of an endangered species but the industrious Tibetan people did it.

Forest and grassland ecological protection in the autonomous region has been crowned with signal success. Tibet strictly controls the scale of tree-felling. A project for the protection of natural forest resources, with a total area of 31,000 sq km, has been implemented in the three counties of Jomda, Gonjo and Markam, putting an end to the felling of natural forest resources for commercial purposes in these areas. In addition, Tibet has carried out a project for the planting of non-commercial forests in key areas, and set up demonstration zones of desertification control in Chushur and Chanang counties, Shigatse Prefecture and Shiquanhe Town. In 28 counties along the upper reaches of the Jinsha, Lancang and Nujiang rivers and the drainage area of the Yarlung Zangbo River, where the hazards of sandstorms and soil erosion are serious, a project to reforest cultivated land is being undertaken, in the course of which the afforested area has topped 83,700 ha, 338,700 ha of mountainous areas have been sealed off to facilitate afforestation, and every year an additional 19,200 ha of cultivated land is restored to forests. The forest coverage rate has now risen to 11.91 percent. Tibet rationally utilizes and protects grassland to ensure the sound development of the grassland ecology. Emphasis has been placed on fencing and building water-conservancy projects on natural grassland, and a pasture-responsibility system has been implemented. In line with the principle of limiting the number of grazing animals by the size of the pasture, rotation grazing periods and no-grazing areas have been designated. Energetic efforts have been made to promote man-made grassland, improve deteriorated pastureland and prohibit the grazing of animals in some areas so that the grassland can be restored. By the end of 2012 there was 85.11 million ha of natural grassland in total, of which 69.1 million ha was available for grazing. Tibet has initiated a compensation scheme for non-commercial forests and a rewarding mechanism for the protection of grassland.

Tibet has also intensified its efforts in the areas of water and soil conservation, and prevention of geological disasters. It has launched the construction of a water- and soil-conservation monitoring network. In recent years, projects have been carried out to prevent disasters caused by landslides in Zham Town, Nyalam County, landslides and mud-rock flows in the county seat of Chongye, landslides threatening the Grade II power station of the Bayi Power Plant in Nyingchi Prefecture, and mud-rock flows into the Liusha River in Lhasa.

Environmental protection and ecological improvement work is progressing smoothly in the rural areas of the autonomous region. Since 2010 work covering improvement of the people' s living environment and the ecological environment has been carried out at 4,761 administrative villages in seven prefectures (prefecture-level cities) and 74 counties (county-level cities and districts) in Tibet. By the end of 2012, pilot programs in this regard had been launched in 2,500 villages. Besides, Tibet actively popularizes the use of clean energy to reduce the destruction of natural vegetation and effectively protect the ecological environment in farming and pastoral areas. It conducts energy projects to promote the use of methane gas and solar energy, and small-scale wind power generation in rural areas. Methane-generating pits have been built in 210,000 households, and 395,000 solar cookers have been put into use. Over 10,000 sets of panels for solar photovoltaic systems have been installed in dwelling houses, and a solar heating central system now covers a total area of 10,000 sq m. The total installed capacity of wind-PV complementary power generation has reached 220 kw.

Steady efforts have been made to ensure the safety of drinking water in urban areas. Tibet has finished an investigation on drinking water sources for urban residents, and built a database on drinking water sources. It has set up a special fund for the protection of drinking water sources, and carried out a project to protect the environment of water sources.

Ecological improvement work is progressing in an all-round way in Tibet. The regional government has set the goals of constructing an ecology safety barrier, preserving the eco-environment, and building a beautiful Tibet. Lhasa is working hard to turn itself into a national model city in environmental protection, while Nyingchi Prefecture is making efforts to improve its ecological environment. The prefectures of Shannan and Nagqu have put forward plans for building an "ecological model area" and "eco-friendly grassland," respectively. Meanwhile, 97 towns and 221 administrative villages in Lhasa and the prefectures of Nagqu, Nyingchi and Shannan are engaged in building ecological towns and villages. By the end of 2012 there were 22 ecological villages at the autonomous region level.

Tibet is one of the cleanest areas in the world.

At present, the Tibet Plateau is the third-cleanest area in the world in terms of its environment, after the South and North poles. It has a clean and transparent atmospheric environment, and similar contents of pollutants to the North Pole. Tibet has few types and low concentrations of pollutants, compared to other places. Its atmospheric content of heavy metals is close to the background value of such elements in the global atmosphere. In addition, the atmospheric content of heavy metals in Lhasa is much lower than that in densely populated areas and industrialized regions. The average annual mass concentration of PM2.5 is 10micrograms/m³ in the non-metropolitan areas of Tibet, and 14.58 micrograms/m³ in Lhasa, much lower than 35micrograms/m³, the standard set by the country' s Ambient Air Quality Standard (AAQS), and less than one-tenth of those of the areas with intensive human activities. The major rivers and lakes in Tibet maintain fine water quality, meeting the national standard specified in the Surface Water Environment Quality Standard (GB3838-2002). The concentration of heavy metals is near the background level of global rivers and lakes ecosystem, indicating that they have not been polluted by human activities. The content of heavy metals in Tibet' s soil inherits the parent material, with no marked change during the 30 years from 1979 to 2009.

Concluding Remarks

Over the past 60-odd years, Tibet has finished a course of historical journey that would normally take several centuries or even a millennium for the human society to complete. It has written a spectacular chapter in the history of mankind. At present, Tibet presents a picture mixing traditional and modern elements, featuring economic and political progress, cultural prosperity, social harmony, sound ecosystem and a happy and healthy life for the local people. We may gain valuable enlightenment from Tibet' s extraordinary journey.

-Tibet's development can't be separated from the choosing of a right path. Over the past 60-odd years, by adhering to the path of socialism in the arms of the Chinese nation, the people of all ethnic groups in Tibet have become masters of their own country, society and fate, and Tibet has made the dramatic change from a place of poverty and backwardness to one of prosperity and civilization. Practice shows that only by adhering to the leadership of the CPC, the socialist system and the system of regional ethnic autonomy, can Tibetans become and remain the masters of their own affairs, and can the fundamental interests of the Tibetan people be safeguarded and developed. In the future, too, this path will remain essential to Tibet' s development.

-Tibet would not have this development and progress without the support of the Central Government and the assistance of the rest of the country. The superiority of China' s state system and the fine tradition of mutual help of the Chinese nation have given a strong impetus to the development of Tibet. The Central Government has always attached great importance to the development of Tibet, and the well-being of all ethnic groups in this autonomous region. It has mobilized the strength of the whole nation, made preferential policies, and provided enormous support in manpower, materials and funds to promote the development and progress of Tibet. From 1952 to 2012 the Central Government appropriated a total of 454.34 billion yuan to Tibet as financial subsidies, taking up 96 percent of the accumulated fiscal expenditures of the local government since it was founded. The Central Government has planned to complete 226 major projects in Tibet in the five years from 2011 to 2015 in sectors relating to the improvement of people' s well-being, infrastructure construction, industries with local characteristics and ecological environment, with a total investment of 193.1 billion yuan, 71.5 percent of which will come from the Central Government. After the Fifth Tibet Work Forum held by the Central Authorities in 2010, the Central Government approved the amount of aid funds to be provided to Tibet by 17 provincial and municipal governments involved in the paired-up support program for Tibet, based on one-thousandth of the fiscal revenue of each. And a mechanism has been established to ensure stable increase of the funds.

-Tibet's development can't be separated from the concerted efforts of all ethnic groups in Tibet. In the final analysis, credit should be given to the creative power of the people in Tibet. At all stages in the history of Tibet, relying on their wisdom and the awareness that they are the masters of their own affairs, people of all ethnic groups have destroyed the old and established the new, and brought about fundamental changes in the region, giving impetus to historical development.

-Tibet's development can't be separated from opening up and foreign cooperation. Isolation used to be the prerequisite for the feudal serfdom under theocracy that lasted several hundred years in old Tibet, hindering the development of this region. Over the past sixty years or more, however, Tibet has implemented opening up, enhanced exchanges and communications with the rest of China and other countries, and absorbed the achievements of other civilizations to enrich and improve itself.

The development and changes in Tibet are obvious to everyone. Any fair-minded person would be filled with amazement, and anyone who cares about Tibet will be pleased to see all this. However, a handful of people just turn a blind eye to the facts, and attack and deny Tibet' s development path and modernization drive that people of all ethnic groups strive for.

The 14th Dalai Lama and his clique in exile are conducting separatist activities for a long time to sabotage the development and stability of Tibet. After the failure of their armed rebellion in 1959, they fled abroad and began to harass China' s borders for years. In recent years, they have put forward the so-called concepts of "Greater Tibet" and "a high degree of autonomy," which in fact go against China' s actual conditions, and violate the Constitution and relevant laws. Their true aim is to overthrow the socialist system and the system of regional ethnic autonomy that is practiced in Tibet, and rock the systemic foundations that have ensured the development and progress of Tibet.

There are some others in the world who intentionally distort the past and present of Tibet due to their ideological bias or out of consideration for their self interests. They created a "Shangri-La" myth, wishing to keep Tibet in a backward primitive state forever. The development and progress of Tibet over the past 60 years or so has proved that the people in Tibet and the people of the rest of the world have equal right to enjoy the achievements of modern civilization, to improve the quality of life and to choose their own way of life.

At present, people of all ethnic groups in Tibet and in the rest of the country are making combined efforts in fighting for the great renewal of the Chinese nation. We have every reason to believe that, in the course of this, the Tibet Autonomous Region will have a better future.