海角大神

The Dalai Lama says Tibet is 鈥渉ell on earth,鈥� but China鈥檚 central government is boasting that $45.4 billion in aid to the region over the past nine years has helped 鈥渂oost Tibet鈥檚 leapfrog development鈥� and achieve 鈥渓asting stability.鈥�

The announcement came during a high-level planning conference on Tibet from Jan. 18 to 20, attended by Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.

Whether Tibet is currently stable now, or will remain so, is of course a hotly contested topic. In 2008, rioting erupted in Lhasa, Tibet's capital, after the arrest of Tibetan monks seeking to commemorate a failed uprising against Chinese rule. Last April, China executed two Tibetan men for participating in that riot.

But China is claiming phenomenal economic growth in the region. 鈥淭ibet has been able to maintain in terms of GDP for 17 straight years, outpacing the national average,鈥� reports official Chinese news agency Xinhua. Tibet鈥檚 GDP was expected to top $5.85 billion in 2009, up 12.1 percent year-on-year and up 170 percent from 2000, according to Xinhua.

This emphasis on economic development, reports The New York Times, 鈥渋ndicates that Chinese leaders still see the solution to the problem of Tibet as one of .鈥� But the issues of cultural suppression and political restriction must be addressed to change Tibetan attitudes toward the state, says Robbie Barnett, director of the Modern Tibetan Studies Program at Columbia University in New York.

"As far as one can tell," he wrote by e-mail Monday, "Tibetans certainly appreciate improved economic conditions and greater opportunities for consumption and commodities, but this doesn't explain why Tibet has to have mass tourism, widespread mining, unrestricted migration of non-Tibetans, or religious and cultural restrictions."

Ethnic Han Chinese civilians today outnumber Tibetans in Tibet's capital, Lhasa. Longtime Han migration to the region sped up in 2006 with completion of a $4.2 billion railway linking Lhasa to Beijing, leading some observers to question whether Tibetans or Han Chinese have benefited more from the region鈥檚 economic growth.

鈥淭hey're developing the territories they have conquered. No one would dispute that,鈥� says Ganden Thurman, executive director of Tibet House, a New York-based organization dedicated to preserving the country's cultural heritage. 鈥淭he point is that ... it鈥檚 not being done to help the Tibetans. It鈥檚 being done to exploit the natural resources of the area.鈥�

Mr. Thurman cited the bloody riots that broke out in Lhasa in March 2008, sparked by the police suppression of monks protesting to mark the 49th anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising in 1959.

鈥淭he people have nothing to lose,鈥� he said by telephone Monday. 鈥淧eople are fleeing the country. That鈥檚 voting with your feet.鈥�

By 2020, President Hu reportedly said, and herders should be close to the national average. Investments in Tibet have already expanded roads, electricity, and safe drinking water. Beijing also credits itself for increasing the supply of Tibetan-made products, such as the first batch of Lhasa Beer that was exported to the US in May 2009.

But Hu added that greater emphasis must be put on increasing environmental protection and improving the livelihood of Tibetan farmers and herdsmen. And further growth must still overcome the 鈥渟eparatist forces led by the Dalai clique,鈥� he said. "Hu asked to substantially prevent and strike 'penetration and sabotage' by 'Tibet independence' separatists, in order to safeguard social stability, socialist legal system, the fundamental interests of the public, national unity, and ethnic solidarity," Xinhua reported.

In October, President Obama became the first president to the White House since the Nobel Peace Prize winner began visiting Washington in 1991. The decision drew ire from some quarters, as Obama-the-presidential-candidate had called on former President Bush to boycott the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony in protest of the government's response to the March 2008 riots.

However, Obama has said he will meet with the Dalai Lama early this year. This, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton鈥檚 recent call for worldwide Internet freedom, is expected to increase bilateral tensions with China.

Websites that post content about the 2008 riots or the Dalai Lama鈥檚 government-in-exile are blocked in China, and it is against the law to have a picture of the Dalai Lama in China. Tibetan monks are especially wary of the government鈥檚 presence, as many monks are believed to be undercover police, the 海角大神 Science Monitor reported in September.

Even monks and workers at Lhasa鈥檚 Potala Palace, a UN World Heritage Site and home to the Dalai Lama until 1959, are believed to be undercover Chinese officials.

鈥淚f I go to Potala Palace, the monks there listen to what I tell the tourists,鈥� one government-approved tour guide told the Monitor then.