reportage Under a Chinese cloud
China has invested heavily in Tibet’s infrastructure and intensified the economic exploitation of an area rich in natural resources, including vast timber forests. Tibet contains huge deposits of coal, ores, tin, oil, salt and precious metals, and has, significantly, one of the largest deposits of uranium in the world. At the same time, the Chinese government has initiated a highly aggressive policy of neo-colonial settlement. Tibetans now form an ethnic minority in their own country. They are outnumbered by Chinese soldiers, entrepreneurs, ‘volunteer’ immigrants and many unofficial settlers to whom the authorities turn a blind eye. Most Tibetans welcome modern conveniences brought by the Chinese such as roads, electricity and television, but complain that such development has benefited primarily the immigrant population. Many young Tibetans face unemployment while the Chinese settlers enjoy relative economic prosperity.
Spring 1997 | Manuel Bauer (Lookat) and related links | Archive | Back | Next | 8 of 12