Tibet’s capital is under heavy security more than six months after riots tore through the city, with armed police stationed at every main tourist spot and patrolling through the heart of Lhasa.
The police chief and one of the region’s vice governors were sacked last week. No reason has been given.
Senior officials say the situation in Tibet is now “stable” and “normal.” Yet the intensive paramilitary police presence suggests they remain concerned about further outbreaks of violence. Next year is particularly sensitive as it marks the 50th anniversary of the failed uprising against Chinese rule that led to the Dalai Lama’s flight into exile.
Chinese authorities say 23 people died in the March 14 violence. Exile groups, however, claim that hundreds of Tibetans were killed in the ensuing crackdown in Lhasa and other parts of China. Their allegations are impossible to verify given constraints on reporting.
TENSE
The Guardian was the first British newspaper allowed to travel in Tibet since March. Lhasa’s narrow streets now bustle with shoppers, pilgrims and small groups of foreign tourists. But one resident said the atmosphere remained tense and religious activity had mostly gone underground. Paramilitary police armed with guns, batons and riot shields are stationed throughout the center.
Officials also said the economy was damaged by the violence, with growth of 7.4 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year. The average annual growth rate was 12.7 percent over the previous five years.
“The March 14 incident had a very negative impact on economic and social development,” said Hu Xinsheng (胡新生), a deputy director at Tibet’s development and reform commission.
The effect on the region’s tourism industry has been particularly stark, not least because Tibet was closed to foreign tourists for three months.
“March 14 had a very negative impact on images of Tibet, which had been of safety and beauty,” said Yu Yungui, a deputy director at the tourism bureau. “You have seen policemen at some scenic spots. That’s just a temporary arrangement.”
Last year more than 4 million people visited Tibet, spending almost 5 billion yuan (US$731 million). This year tourism chiefs were hoping for as many as 5 million, but now only half that number is expected.
The government has vowed to invest even larger sums in the region than before. But many blame rapid economic development for fueling this year’s conflict. While living standards have risen overall, many Tibetans believe the greatest benefits have been reaped by migrants from China — particularly since the arrival of the railway in 2006. Tibetans fear the changes are eroding their traditional culture.
CURIOUS MIXTURE
Lhasa today is a curious mixture of ethnicities and eras. Street vendors sell chunks of hand-churned yak butter from barrows, while not far away gleaming storefronts advertise Nike. Tibetan and Mandarin can be heard in the streets.
The authorities reject the idea that social, economic or cultural causes played any part in March’s unrest, although one senior official said that unemployed urban youths appeared to have been drawn into the riots.
“It was an incident made by a small number of lawless people and perpetrated and organized by the Dalai clique, which wants to destroy the national unity of Tibet,” Yu said.
The Dalai Lama denies any link to violence and says he seeks only autonomy for Tibet.
Free time was included in the Guardian’s schedule, which was arranged by Tibet’s foreign affairs office. Few people in the street were willing to speak to the Guardian, owing to an extensive security apparatus that includes CCTV and informants.
A Han man asked if the paper disliked Chinese people. But he went on to say that British people could say what they thought, while it was dangerous to do so in Lhasa.
Asked if that was because of the March violence, he said: “Even if it snows, you still don’t say it’s snowing.”
TURNAROUND: The Liberal Party had trailed the Conservatives by a wide margin, but that was before Trump threatened to make Canada the US’ 51st state Canada’s ruling Liberals, who a few weeks ago looked certain to lose an election this year, are mounting a major comeback amid the threat of US tariffs and are tied with their rival Conservatives, according to three new polls. An Ipsos survey released late on Tuesday showed that the left-leaning Liberals have 38 percent public support and the official opposition center-right Conservatives have 36 percent. The Liberals have overturned a 26-point deficit in six weeks, and run advertisements comparing the Conservative leader to Trump. The Conservative strategy had long been to attack unpopular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but last month he
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because