Tibet
(This section of the report on China has been prepared pursuant to Section 536 (b) of Public Law 103-236. The United States recognizes the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR)--hereinafter referred to as "Tibet"--to be part of the People's Republic of China. The preservation and development of Tibet's unique religious, cultural, and linguistic heritage and protection of its people's fundamental human rights continue to be of concern.)
Respect for the Integrity of the Person
The Chinese Government strictly controls access to and information about Tibet. Thus, it is difficult to determine accurately the scope of human rights abuses. However, according to credible reports, Chinese government authorities continued to commit numerous serious human rights abuses in Tibet, including instances of torture, arbitrary arrest, detention without public trial, and lengthy detention of Tibetan nationalists for peacefully expressing their political or religious views. Tight controls on religion and on other fundamental freedoms continued and intensified during the year, especially during spring and summer. There were political protests by Tibetans in a number of ethnic Tibetan areas, including outside of the TAR.
The Government's record of respect for religious freedom in Tibet deteriorated as TAR authorities imposed new, severe restrictions on many traditional religious practices and public manifestations of belief in urban areas during the spring and summer. In the fall, after a new Party secretary assumed power, there were some signs of moderation in the intensity of the crackdown. Local authorities in many areas were not enforcing the new restrictions on lower-level government employees, students, and others. However, tight preexisting restrictions remained in place for higher-level cadres and government workers. Activities viewed as vehicles for political dissent are not tolerated at any time and are promptly and forcibly suppressed. Individuals accused of political activism faced ongoing and serious persecution during the year. There were reports of the imprisonment and torture or the abuse of monks and nuns accused of political activism, the death of prisoners, and the threatened closure of monasteries.
The lack of independent access to prisoners or to prisons makes it difficult to assess the extent and severity of abuses and the number of Tibetan prisoners; however, there were numerous reports of detentions and other punishments meted out during the year. A large number of monks and nuns remain detained or imprisoned. A number of such cases were cited by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture in his report to the 56th session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in the spring.
There are reports that those detained, including those who have been tried and those who have not, are frequently subjected to forced labor that is injurious to their health and, in some cases, life threatening. Forced labor is found in prisons, detention centers, reeducation-through-labor facilities, and at work sites where prisoners are used as work forces. Tibetans outside of detention settings at times engage in labor on public projects managed by local governments without remuneration in lieu of paying taxes in cash. Tibetans are reportedly discriminated against in employment in Chinese government manufacturing and other work sites. Other fundamental worker rights recognized by the International Labor Organization, including the right to organize and the right to bargain collectively, that are broadly denied in China are also denied in Tibet.
According to reports, the rate at which Tibetan political prisoners are dying in detention, or soon after their release, demonstrably as a result of abuse while in detention, is increasing. According to the Tibet Information Network (TIN), female political prisoners, particularly those held at Lhasa's Drapchi prison, are at the greatest risk: since 1987, 1 in 27 died while in prison or soon after being released. Drapchi's male political prisoners died at a rate of about 1 in 33 since 1987. Overall TIN reports a death rate of 1 in 50 for Tibetan political prisoners as of year's end.
There are many credible reports that prisoners are tortured and mistreated. Authorities use electric shocks, suspension in painful positions, and other forms of torture or abuse. Several sources reported the mistreatment and beatings of nuns in prison, including 24-year-old Ngawang Sangdrol, who was imprisoned at age 13, released 9 months later and resentenced at age 15; her prison sentence was extended for a third time in late 1998 to a total of 21 years for her involvement in demonstrations, most recently during May 1998. Ngawang Sangdrol reportedly has been beaten severely on multiple occasions because of repeated participation in protests at Drapchi prison; her health is poor and deteriorating, and she is not receiving adequate medical care, according to credible reports. There were credible reports that guards beat political prisoners at Drapchi prison after the protests in May 1998; some were beaten severely, including monk Thubten Kalsang and nun Phuntsog Nyidrol (who reportedly tried to shield Ngawang Sangdrol from beatings). In at least one cell block, prisoners reportedly were confined to their cells for 14 months after the incidents in May 1998. As a result of the May 1998 protests, 10 prisoners also had their sentences extended for periods of 18 months to 6 years. There are credible reports from a number of prisons that prisoners who resisted the political reeducation imposed by prison authorities, particularly demands to denounce the Dalai Lama and accept Gyaltsen Norbu, the boy recognized by the Government as the Panchen Lama, also were beaten. According to credible reports, punishments meted out to uncooperative prisoner leaders have resulted in hunger strikes among female prisoners on at least two occasions at Drapchi. Officials reportedly have resorted to lengthening periods of solitary confinement to isolate demonstrators. Authorities significantly increased prison capacity in Lhasa through the construction of additional cell blocks at Utritru prison and expansions at Drapchi prison.
In February 1999 TIN and the foreign press reported increased use of military-style drills and exercises (often in either very hot or very cold weather) at Lhasa's Drapchi prison. Prison officials reportedly force prisoners to run barefoot, to stand motionless for extended periods, and to march for extended periods while shouting patriotic slogans. Prisoners who fall behind or who cannot remain still are beaten severely. Prisoners also were treated badly in other prisons.
There were reported deaths and suicides of Tibetan prisoners. According to credible reports, Tashi Tsering, who attempted to raise the outlawed Tibetan flag with explosives tied around his waist during the National Minority Games in August, 1999, committed suicide in prison in February. Sonam Rinchen, a farmer, died in prison in January. He had been arrested for unfurling a Tibetan flag during a protest in 1992 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. According to TIN, Shol Dawa, a 64-year-old political activist, died in Drapchi prison on November 19; the circumstances of his death were not known, but he was said to be suffering from a kidney ailment, was in poor health, and had been subjected to mistreatment and beatings on several occasions in the last few years. He was reportedly serving a 9-year sentence for trying to compile a list of names of political prisoners to send out of Tibet and was convicted of "espionage." Shol Dawa had been imprisoned a few times, starting in 1981. In October TIN published detailed information about the deaths of nine prisoners after the May 1998 protests at Drapchi prison. In June 1998, five nuns reportedly committed suicide together after weeks of severe mistreatment (including being forced to stand motionless in the hot sun on a daily basis over a period of several days, with cups of water on their heads and pieces of paper under their arms) following their participation in the prison protests. The nuns, all in their twenties, had been imprisoned for taking part in peaceful protests. All were near the end of their terms. At least three monks and a criminal prisoner also died in Drapchi during 1998.
According to credible reports, Chadrel Rinpoche, who was accused of betraying state secrets while helping the Dalai Lama choose the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, has been held in a secret compound of a Sichuan prison where he is separated from other prisoners, denied all outside contacts, and restricted to his cell since his 1997 sentence to 6 years' imprisonment after a trial that was closed to the public. In April the Government told a visiting foreign delegation that he is "fine physically" but gave no further details.
Authorities reported that Ngawang Choephel, a Tibetan ethnomusicologist sentenced in 1996 to 18 years in prison on charges of espionage, was moved from the high security Powo Tramo prison in the TAR to another facility near Chengdu in Sichuan Province so that he could receive medical treatment. In August his mother, Sonam Deckyi, was allowed two 1-hour visits with her son in that Sichuan facility. She reported that he is very thin and that he has complained about pains in his torso. Also in August, he was said to be suffering from a variety of ailments, including digestive, urinary, kidney, and liver problems.
While there was limited political violence in Tibet during the year, an explosion occurred in Lhasa on October 26. Some have suggested that the explosion, which occurred outside of the offices of the government department that controls neighborhood activities and grassroots organizations, was politically motivated; however, whether the explosion was politically motivated has not been determined, and the blast may well have been a result of construction activity.
Legal safeguards for ethnic Tibetans detained or imprisoned are the same as those in the rest of China and are inadequate in design and implementation. According to TIN the length of the average sentence of Tibetan political prisoners is lengthening. For those currently incarcerated, the average sentence is 8 years, 8 months. Since 1987 the average sentence imposed on all political prisoners is 4 years, 9 months.
A majority of judges are ethnic Tibetans, but most have little or no legal training. Authorities are working to address this problem through increased legal education opportunities. Trials are brief and closed. Courts handle approximately 20 cases involving crimes against state security each year, for which maximum prison sentences are 15 years for each count, not to exceed 20 years in total. Such cases mainly concern actions in support of Tibetan independence; such activities do not have to be violent to be illegal. A TIN report put the number of political prisoners in Tibet at 500 as of the end of 1999. Reportedly 80 percent of female detainees are nuns, and approximately 66 percent of male prisoners are monks. Officials from the Justice and Prison Administration Bureaus told a foreign delegation in April that of the 2,200 prisoners currently serving sentences in the TAR (76 percent of whom were ethnic Tibetan, and 20 percent ethnic Han), 110 were incarcerated for "endangering state security," including approximately 30 nuns and 70 monks.
Refugee and other accounts published by NGO's report on the use of forced labor in prisons and other detention facilities in Tibet. Prisoners, usually working under production quotas, are forced to work in agriculture and lumbering, where the work is described as demanding, and accidents are frequent. Typically, forced labor in detention is without remuneration. Chinese law mandates that prisoners can be required to work up to 12 hours per day, with one rest day every 2 weeks (Article 53 of the Statute of Reform Through Labor). However, some refugees report that work requirements are more onerous that those set forth in the law. At Drapchi prison, male prisoners work in vegetable fields and in factories at the prison facilities. Female prisoners clean toilets and also are involved in tailoring, cleaning, or spinning and sorting wool to be used in the manufacture of carpets and sweaters. According to Human Rights Watch, some Tibetan prisoners are required to work beyond their terms of imprisonment. Prisoners in pretrial detention also are forced to work.
Promotion of family planning remains an important goal for the authorities in Tibet, but family planning policies permit most ethnic Tibetans, as well as other minority groups, to have more children than Han Chinese (who are subject to the same limits as citizens in other areas of the country--generally one child for urban couples and two for some rural couples). Urban Tibetans are permitted to have two children, while those in rural areas often have three or more. In practice Tibetans working for the Government, especially Communist Party members, are pressured to limit themselves to one child.
The Government tightly controls official visits, and delegation members usually have very few opportunities to meet local persons not previously approved by the local authorities. Foreigners, including international NGO personnel and foreign residents, were subject to travel restrictions during several periods over the summer, and many foreign groups reported increased restrictions on movements during the year. The Government also placed restrictions on the movement of Tibetans during sensitive anniversaries and events and increased control over border areas. In February up to 54 persons were detained by Chinese authorities as they tried to leave China and cross without proper travel documents into Nepal. Some were sentenced to prison terms of 2 to 3 years. Scores of ethnic Tibetans studying in India were similarly detained in the spring after entering China from Nepal, according to credible reports.
Some foreign NGO's reported restrictions on their activities and, in some cases, threats of expulsion. One foreign NGO was shut down during the year, and its foreign staff expelled.
Many staff members and teachers of the Gyatso Children's Home, a Lhasa orphanage that was closed by officials in September 1999, remained in detention, according to reliable reports. Authorities allege that the home's personnel were engaged in corrupt activity and were linked to persons who carried out "acts of violence." Several of the more than 60 Tibetan children who lived at the home were left by officials to live on the streets. Others were sent to live with relatives or placed in local orphanages where conditions reportedly were extremely poor.
Freedom of Religion
The Government maintains tight controls on religious practices and places of worship. While it allows a number of forms of religious activity in Tibet, the Government does not tolerate religious manifestations that advocate Tibetan independence or any expression of separatism, which it describes as "splittism." The Government remains suspicious of Tibetan Buddhism in general because of its links to the Dalai Lama, and this suspicion also applies to Tibetan Buddhist religious activities or adherents who do not overtly demonstrate their patriotism for the State. The Government's record of respect for religious freedom deteriorated during the year as authorities imposed new, severe restrictions on many traditional religious practices and public manifestations of belief in the TAR's urban areas during the spring and summer. However, by autumn there were signs that authorities no longer were enforcing the new restrictions, and tensions abated somewhat. The Government harshly criticized the Dalai Lama's political activities and leadership of a government-in-exile. The official press continued to criticize vehemently the "Dalai clique" and, in an attempt to discredit the Dali Lama and undermine the credibility of his religious authority, repeatedly described him as a separatist who was determined to split China. Both central government and local officials often insist that dialog with the Dalai Lama is essentially impossible and claim that his actions belie his repeated public assurances that he does not advocate independence for Tibet. Nonetheless the Government asserts that it is willing to hold talks with the Dalai Lama as long as he ceases his activities to divide the country and recognizes that Tibet is an inseparable part of China and that Taiwan is a province of China.
The Government continued its "patriotic education" campaign aimed at enforcing compliance with government regulations and either cowing or weeding out monks and nuns who refuse to adopt the Party line and remain sympathetic to the Dalai Lama. The "patriotic education" campaign also is intended to increase the Government's control over the Tibetan Buddhist establishment. The "patriotic reeducation" of monks and nuns, which began in 1996 in Lhasa area monasteries and in subsequent years was intensified and extended throughout Tibet and to monasteries outside of the TAR, continued but at a lower level of intensity. A new round of political education classes in monasteries began at the end of 1999 in Lhasa and in some smaller monasteries in more remote parts of the TAR. However, the current pattern of classes several times per week or per month seems less frequent than previously.
Official "work teams" remain in some monasteries and periodically visit others. Topics for such required classes include relations between Tibetans and Han Chinese, Tibet's historical status as a part of China, and the role of the Dalai Lama in attempting to "split" the country. According to regulations posted at the entrances of many monasteries, monks are required to be "patriotic," and authorities require monks to: Sign a declaration agreeing to reject independence for Tibet; reject Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the boy recognized by the Dalai Lama as the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama; reject and denounce the Dalai Lama; recognize the unity of China and Tibet; and not listen to the Voice of America. According to some reports, monks who refused these terms were expelled from their monasteries and were not permitted to return home to work; others have been detained. Others were forced to leave their monasteries after failing to pass exams on these topics or being found "politically unqualified," and still others left "voluntarily" rather than denounce the Dalai Lama. Resistance to the campaigns has been intense, and the Government's efforts are resented deeply by monks, nuns, and lay Buddhists. Although there has been some reduction of patriotic education activities throughout the region as the objectives of increasing control over the monasteries and reducing the numbers of monks and nuns were achieved, religious activities in many monasteries and nunneries were disrupted severely, and monks and nuns have fled to India to escape the campaigns. Approximately 3,000 Tibetans enter Nepal each year to escape conditions in Tibet, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees; many of these refugees claim that they left because of the "patriotic reeducation" campaigns. The ban on the public display of photographs of the Dalai Lama continued, and such pictures were not readily available except illegally in many parts of the TAR.
Chinese authorities closely associate Buddhist monasteries with proindependence activism in Tibet. The Government has moved to curb the proliferation of monasteries, which it charges are a drain on local resources and a conduit for political infiltration by the Tibetan exile community. Chinese officials state that Tibet has more than 46,300 Buddhist monks and nuns and approximately 1,787 monasteries, temples, and religious sites. These numbers apply only to the TAR; thousands of monks and nuns live in other Tibetan areas of China, including parts of Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, and Qinghai Provinces. Officials have used these same figures for several years, although there are credible reports that the numbers of monks and nuns have dropped significantly at many sites in the TAR, especially since the beginning of the "patriotic education" campaign. The Government states that there are no limits on the number of monks in major monasteries and that each monastery's democratic management committee decides on its own how many monks the monastery can support. However, these committees are government controlled; and in practice the Government generally imposes strict limits on the number of monks in major monasteries. Some monasteries reportedly have been required to decrease the number of monks associated with them. The Government has the right to disapprove any individual's application to take up religious orders, although it does not always exercise this right. According to a TIN report, in the area around Lhasa, the numbers of monks and nuns in monasteries and nunneries fell during the summer, as part of a drive to restrict religious observance; 30 monks were expelled from the Jokhang temple in July. At year's end, 120 monks, the official quota, remained at Jokhang. Although by regulation monks are prohibited from joining a monastery prior to the age of 18, many younger boys continue the tradition of entering monastic life. However, many young novices, who traditionally served as attendants to older monks while receiving a basic monastic education and awaiting formal ordination, have been expelled from monasteries in recent years for being underage; the fact that these novices were not regular members of the monasteries has allowed authorities to deny that there has been a significant decline in the numbers of monks.
Most Tibetans practice Buddhism to some degree. This holds true for many ethnic Tibetan government officials and Communist Party members. Some 1,000 religious figures hold positions in local people's congresses and committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. However, the Government continues to insist that party members and government employees adhere to the Party's code of atheism. A 3-year drive to promote atheism and science, first announced in January 1999, originally aimed at government workers, continued and was extended to more government offices and to schools. The drive was launched to promote economic progress, strengthen the struggle against separatism, and stem "the Dalai clique's reactionary infiltration." Authorities threatened to terminate the employment of government employees whose children are studying in India (where the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile is located) if they did not bring the children back to Tibet, and authorities searched the homes of government workers for religious objects or pictures of the Dalai Lama.
During the spring and summer, authorities in Lhasa and other areas imposed new, severe restrictions on religious activities, prohibiting government and Communist Party officials from going into monasteries, visiting the Jokhang temple, having altars in their homes, participating in religious activities during the Tibetan New Year, or placing new prayer flags on their roofs (a traditional practice during the Tibetan New Year). There were also credible reports that some government employees were forbidden to make donations to monks and nuns in Lhasa. In addition some government workers and Party members were told that they must withdraw their children from monasteries, nunneries, and exile schools in India and were threatened with the expulsion of their children from schools if the workers and Party members participated in forbidden religious practices. In some areas, private citizens also were prohibited from engaging in traditional New Year's activities such as placing prayer flags on the top of Bumpari (a mountain near Lhasa), burning incense, and making the traditional "lingkor" (pilgrimage circuit around the sacred sites of Lhasa) during the June festival of Sagadawa, the most important religious holiday in Tibetan Buddhism. A number of men in street clothes reportedly lined the lingkor route and attempted to film persons walking the traditional circuit. Government employees allegedly were threatened with dismissal if they made the lingkor. During spring and summer, some Tibet University students reportedly also were forbidden to visit monasteries or to have religious objects in their rooms. The homes of private citizens in Lhasa reportedly were searched for religious paintings ("thangkas"). However, enforcement of these restrictions reportedly relaxed slightly later in the year. According to TIN, in July 1999, new restrictions were imposed by the authorities to prevent celebration of the Dalai Lama's birthday; in July these restrictions reportedly were enforced more stringently than in 1999. Reports indicate that Tibetans were forbidden to hold traditional incense-burning ceremonies anywhere in Lhasa, and that some places of worship were closed on the Dalai Lama's birthday.
The Government continues to oversee the daily operations of major religious sites. The Government, which does not contribute to monasteries' regular operating funds, retains management control of the monasteries through the government-controlled democratic management committees and the local religious affairs bureaus. During 1999 the TAR Religious Affairs Bureau confirmed that its officers are members of the Communist Party, and that Party members are required to be atheists; however, it was not possible to confirm that members of the local religious affairs bureaus are atheists. Regulations restrict leadership of democratic management committees to "patriotic and devoted" monks and nuns and specify that the Government must approve all members of the committees. At some monasteries, government officials also sit on the committees. Despite these government efforts to control the Buddhist clergy and monasteries, antigovernment sentiment remains strong.
In January the Karmapa, the highest ranking lama of Tibetan Buddhism's Karma Kargyu school, fled from Tibet to India after he reportedly had been denied access to Kargyu teachers or permission to study with them in India. Soon after officials closed Tsurphu monastery, the home of the Karmapa, to visitors. Many other persons, including lay persons, were questioned in connection with the Karmapa's flight. There were reports that several high ranking TAR officials were called to Beijing after the Karmapa left Tsurphu to account for their actions. According to TIN, authorities replaced monks on the monastic management committee at Tsurphu after the Karmapa's flight, while other monks were admonished to improve their "political attitudes" or face further "patriotic education" sessions. Other officials and monks at the monastery reportedly were under investigation by the authorities. On December 6, foreign officials were allowed to visit the Tsurphu monastery, where approximately 325 monks were said to be in residence. There were few other visitors at the time, even though December usually is a popular time for pilgrims to visit. According to reports, no new monks have been permitted to enter Tsurphu monastery since the Karmapa left; however, religious activity continued at the monastery. Officials reportedly are stationed at the monastery; according to some Western visitors, the atmosphere there is still tense, and monks are reluctant to talk to foreigners.
The dramatic departure of the Karmapa added to tensions and increased the authorities' efforts to control monastic activity in the TAR. TIN reported that the Reting Monastery near Lhasa was closed to visitors in May after the arrest of eight monks for protesting the authorities' selection of 2-year-old Sonam Phuntsog in January as the seventh reincarnation of the Reting Rinpoche. During the summer, another young lama, the 7-year-old Pawo Rinpoche, reportedly was moved to Lhasa from Nenang monastery and was kept under house arrest. He is said to have returned to Nenang Monastery during the fall, where he remains under house arrest, with heavy security. He reportedly has been denied access to his religious tutors. The Pawo Rinpoche was recognized by the Karmapa and is one of the senior Karma Kargyu lamas remaining in Tibet. In December foreign officials were denied permission to visit Nenang Monastery.
TIN reported that the Taglung Drag Monastery in Lhasa municipality was threatened with closure and its monks with expulsion if they refused to denounce the Dalai Lama after monks from the monastery shouted proindependence slogans in two separate incidents in March and August 1999. "Patriotic education" activities reportedly were increased, and 16 of 24 monks reportedly left the monastery in September 1999 rather than denounce the Dalai Lama.
The flight of the Karmapa also has made the authorities pay more attention to illegal border crossings and tighten security on the borders with India and Nepal. As a result, greater numbers of Tibetans have been arrested trying to leave the TAR. According to credible reports, in May as many as 50 Tibetan students returning to Tibet from India were arrested at the Nepal-China border.
The Government approved the selection of 2-year-old Sonam Phuntsog on January 16 as the seventh reincarnation of the Reting Rinpoche. A Tibetan government official stated that officials supervising religion should ensure that the boy "loves the Communist Party of China, the Socialist country, and Tibetan Buddhism" and that he help to "preserve the unity of the Chinese nation." The Dalai Lama, who by tradition would approve the selection of important religious figures such as the Reting Rinpoche, did not recognize this choice; many of the monks at Reting Monastery reportedly did not accept the child as the Reting Rinpoche.
The Panchen Lama is Tibetan Buddhism's second most prominent figure, after the Dalai Lama. The Government continued to insist that Gyaltsen Norbu, the boy it recognizes and enthroned in 1995, is the Panchen Lama's 11th reincarnation. The authorities tightly control all aspects of his life, and he has appeared publicly in Beijing and the TAR only on rare occasions. His public appearances were marked by a heavy security presence. At all other times, the authorities strictly limit access to the boy. Meanwhile repeated requests for access to Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the boy recognized by the Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama, by high-level foreign government and private delegations, including the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, to confirm his well-being and whereabouts have been denied. In October Chinese officials showed foreign officials two photographs purportedly depicting the boy. Government officials have claimed that the boy is being held for his own protection and that he lives in Tibet and attends classes as a "normal schoolboy." The authorities also maintain that both boys are being well cared for and are receiving a good education. The vast majority of Tibetan Buddhists recognize Gendun Choekyi Nyima as the Panchen Lama. Tibetan monks have claimed that they were forced to sign statements pledging allegiance to the boy the Government selected as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. The Communist Party also urged its members to support the "official" Panchen Lama, and government authorities at both the regional and city levels had pictures of the boy printed for use in public and private religious displays.
The ban on the public display of photographs of the Dalai Lama continued, and such pictures were not readily available except through illegal means. Some monasteries and many individuals displayed them privately. In the spring, Lhasa area neighborhood committees began sending teams to the homes of ordinary citizens to confiscate books about and pictures of the Dalai Lama. Similar restrictions are in effect in Tibetan areas outside the TAR; although a few shops still quietly sell the Dalai Lama's photograph, the vast majority of monasteries no longer display his photo. The Government banned pictures of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the boy recognized by the Dalai Lama to be the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. Portraits of Gyaltsen Norbu, the boy recognized by the Government to be the Panchen Lama, were on prominent display in some monasteries, as were sets of rules governing religious activity.
The Government claims that since the end of the Cultural Revolution, it has contributed sums in excess of $40 million (300 to 400 million RMB) toward the restoration of tens of thousands of Buddhist sites, many of which were destroyed before and during that period, in part to promote the development of tourism in Tibet. However, at most sites, restoration efforts are funded privately.
There were reports of some Falun Gong practitioners among the Han minority in Tibet. In addition an official press report said that military authorities had become concerned over the practice by some soldiers of Zhong Gong, a qigong-based spiritual movement, prompting propaganda efforts aimed at eliminating the practice.
In June 1998, the European Union issued a report based on the trip of its ambassadorial delegation to Tibet in May 1998. The report was highly critical of the Government's control of religious freedom and stated that "the delegation was in no doubt that the authorities in the TAR exercise extremely tight control over the principal elements of Tibetan religion and culture."
Economic Development and Protection of Cultural Heritage
Tibet is roughly the size of Western Europe, having an area of approximately 1.2 million square kilometers. It has the smallest population of China's administrative regions with approximately 2.4 million inhabitants.
Tibetans, as one of China's 55 minority ethnic groups, receive preferential treatment in marriage and family planning policies, and, to a lesser extent, in university admissions and government employment. According to official government statistics, 74 percent of all government employees in Tibet are ethnic Tibetans. Nonetheless, many positions of real power are held by ethnic Han Chinese, and most key decisions in Tibet are made by ethnic Han. Although government regulations stipulate that government and legal documents are to be in Tibetan, in practice written communications by officials and government documents very frequently only are in Chinese. In the area of private sector employment, discrimination against Tibetans is widespread.
The Central Government and other provinces of China heavily subsidize the Tibetan economy, which has grown by an average annual rate of over 10 percent for the last decade. Over 90 percent of Tibet's budget income comes from outside sources. Tibet also benefits from a wide variety of favorable economic and tax policies. However, these policies have attracted growing numbers of ethnic Han and Hui (Muslim) immigrants from other parts of China, who are competing with--and in some cases displacing--Tibetan enterprises and labor. Government development policies have helped raise the material living standards of many ethnic Tibetans, particularly by providing better transportation and communications facilities, but many of the benefits of development and the expanding commercial sector accrue primarily to Han Chinese. For example, in many areas of Lhasa, almost all small businesses are run by Han. Rapid economic growth, the expanding tourism industry, and the introduction of more modern cultural influences also have disrupted traditional living patterns and customs and threatened traditional Tibetan culture.
The Dalai Lama, Tibetan experts, and others have expressed concern that development projects and other central Government policies adopted at a 1994 national work conference on Tibet and still in effect encourage a massive influx of Han Chinese into Tibet, which has the effect of overwhelming Tibet's traditional culture and diluting ethnic Tibetan demographic dominance. In recent years, freer movement of persons throughout China, government-sponsored development, and the prospect of economic opportunity in Tibet have led to a substantial increase in the non-Tibetan population (including China's Muslim Hui minority as well as Han Chinese) in Lhasa and other urban areas. An increased number of immigrants from China's large transient population seek to take advantage of these new economic opportunities. Most of these migrants profess to be temporary residents, but small businesses run by ethnic Han and Hui citizens (mostly restaurants and retail shops) are becoming more numerous in almost all Tibetan towns and cities. Discrimination in employment reportedly is rampant; ethnic Han are hired preferentially for many jobs and receive greater pay for the same work. Ethnic Tibetans reportedly are fired discriminatorily from some jobs. In addition many jobs require proficiency in Chinese (which gives Han an advantage). Connections also reportedly work to the advantage of the ethnic Han (who tend to be in the higher ranking positions), and it is more difficult for Tibetans to get permits and loans to open businesses than it is for ethnic Han.
In Lhasa, the Chinese cultural presence is obvious and widespread. Buildings are of Chinese architectural style, the Chinese language is widely spoken, and Chinese characters are used in most commercial and official communications. Lhasa had a population of 139,683 in 1998. Some observers have estimated that at least half and perhaps more of Lhasa's residents are Han Chinese; elsewhere in the TAR, the Han percentage of the population is significantly lower. In rural areas, the Han presence is often negligible. Chinese officials assert that 95 percent of Tibet's officially registered population is Tibetan, with Han and other ethnic groups making up the remaining 5 percent. This figure does not include the large number of "temporary" Han residents, including military and paramilitary troops and their dependents, many of whom have lived in Tibet for years.
There are reports that malnutrition among Tibetan children is widespread in many areas of the TAR. This is particularly true of rural areas and has resulted in high rates of stunted growth among children. Nutritional deficiency ailments, such as goiter (from a lack of iodine), night blindness (from a lack of Vitamin A), and rickets are said to be relatively common among children in some areas.
Illiteracy and semiliteracy levels are high. According to official government statistics, 42 percent of persons in the TAR are illiterate or semiliterate. Illiteracy and semiliteracy rates are as high as 90 percent in some areas. Chinese officials over the past few years have downgraded the use of Tibetan in education and in 1997 announced that they would begin teaching Chinese to Tibetan children starting in the first grade. The Government stated that this step was taken in order to make Tibetan children more competitive with their Han counterparts, and provide more educational and employment opportunities in the long run. Primary schools at the village level follow a Tibetan curriculum, but these schools usually have only two or three grades.
Approximately 83 percent of eligible children attend primary school, according to official statistics, but most pupils end their formal education after graduating from village schools. According to local education officials, Tibetan is the main language of instruction in 60 percent of middle schools, especially in more remote areas, although there are special classes offering instruction in Chinese. NGO's maintain that this figure is high. Most, but not all, of the students in the Chinese classes are ethnic Han. Most of those who attend regional high schools continue to receive some of their education in Tibetan, but knowledge of Chinese is essential as most classes are in Chinese. Tibetan curriculum high schools exist in a few areas, primarily in Tibetan areas outside the TAR. Since the mid-1980's, the Government has allocated funds to enable Tibetan secondary students to study in schools elsewhere in China. According to government figures, there are 13,000 Tibetan students currently studying in some 100 schools in different parts of China. Knowledge of Chinese is usually necessary to receive a higher education, although some minority colleges allow for study of some subjects in Tibetan.
Tibet University, which has 3,000 students, was established to train Tibetan teachers for the local educational system. Ethnic Tibetans resent the disproportionate Han representation in the student body and faculty. Tibetans, officially said to constitute approximately 95 percent of the region's population, make up approximately 67 percent of Tibet University's student body and only 50 percent of the faculty. Although Tibetans are given admission preference, Han Chinese students frequently gain admission because they score higher on admission exams due to stronger Chinese-language skills and educational backgrounds. Authorities reportedly require professors, particularly those from Tibet University's Tibetan Language Department, which is viewed as a potential source of dissent, to attend political education sessions and limit course studies and materials in an effort to prevent "separatist" political and religious activity on campus. Many ancient or religious texts are banned from the curriculum for political reasons. The Tibetan Language Department, which was closed to new students in the fall of 1997, was reopened in 1998 after its curriculum had been purged of religious and "separatist" materials. According to TIN, 70 Han students were admitted to the Tibetan Language Department to prepare them to work as administrators in Tibet and Tibetan areas outside the TAR. This is the first time the university has enrolled such a group, and there are reports of tensions between Han students and ethnic Tibetans on campus.
Prostitution is a growing problem in Tibet, as it is elsewhere in the country, according to experts working in the region. Hundreds of brothels operate openly in Lhasa; up to 10,000 commercial sex workers may be employed in Lhasa alone. Much of the prostitution occurs at sites owned by the Party, the Government, or the military. Most prostitutes in Tibet are ethnic Han women, mainly from Sichuan. However, a substantial number of ethnic Tibetans, mainly young girls from rural or nomadic areas, also work as prostitutes. The incidence of HIV/AIDS among prostitutes in Tibet is unknown but is believed to be relatively high.
During the year, there were reports that TAR authorities were pressuring employers of ethnic Tibetans who were raised or educated in India to dismiss such employees, especially in the tourism industry. Lhasa tour agencies have been forced to dismiss ethnic Tibetan tour guides educated in India and Nepal. These guides were required to seek employment with the government's Tibet Tourism Bureau (TTB). Prior to gaining employment with the TTB, applicants must pass an examination on tourism and politics. Many, if not most, Tibetan tour guides educated abroad reportedly fail this exam. Tourist hotels and restaurants have been "encouraged" to dismiss ethnic Tibetan employees educated abroad, as well.
In October 1999, the official news agency Xinhua reported that the Tibet Autonomous Regional Television opened a Tibetan-language satellite television channel. The channel broadcasts in Tibetan for 10 hours each day, and reaches areas in Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu, and Yunnan Provinces as well. There also are two bilingual channels, on which Tibetan language programs make up 15 percent of the total. According to an NGO report, radio broadcasts by the Oslo-based Voice of Tibet were blocked starting in January. The signals of the Tibetan language services of VOA and RFA suffer from the same jamming of their frequencies by Chinese authorities as the signals of their Chinese language services. However, Tibetans are able to listen to the broadcasts at least some of the time.
The Internet has been open to the public since April 1999. At year's end, Lhasa had several Internet cafes, and estimates put the number of Internet users at several thousand.
Despite the designation of dozens of buildings in the old section of Lhasa as protected cultural heritage sites, there were credible reports during the year that some traditional buildings were destroyed. However, most of the protected sites have been preserved.
China's economic development policies, supported in Tibet by central government subsidies, are modernizing parts of Tibetan society and changing traditional Tibetan ways of life. Although the Government has made efforts in recent years to restore some of the physical structures and other aspects of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan culture damaged or destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, repressive social and political controls continue to limit the fundamental freedoms of ethnic Tibetans and risk undermining Tibet's unique cultural, religious, and linguistic heritage.
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