The Secret Tibet (The Forbidden world)

By Wing-Gar Cheng

July 28 (Bloomberg) -- China's Tibet Autonomous Region vowed to place the protection of its glaciers, wetlands and grasslands ahead of the development of industries such as tourism and manufacturing in its economic planning.

Tibet will reject investment from industries such as mining, should they result in the erosion of land or pollution of natural reserves, Huang Yutian, head of the Lhasa economic and development zone, told reporters yesterday in the Tibetan capital.

The development of Tibet is part of the government's 5.77 trillion yuan ($720 billion) investment in western China to boost the poorest regions, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The spending also is aimed at reducing dissent among ethnic Tibetans, many of whom resent Beijing's approach in quashing dissidents, analysts said.

``We support the development of Tibet's industries, but not at the expense of environmental erosion,'' Huang said. ``For now, we don't have any serious cases of environmental pollution. We don't use coal. We rely on clean energy resources, solar and hydropower.''

The local government will also limit tourism because Tibet's ecology couldn't sustain increased human activities, Zhang Tianhua, deputy director of the local environment protection bureau, said yesterday. The local government is targeting 3 million tourists this year, he said. Visitor numbers were 2.6 million in 2006.

Tibetan Tourism

Tourists arriving in Tibet will exceed 3 million next year on increased interest in China as Beijing hosts the Olympic Games, Ta Ji, vice mayor of Lhasa, said yesterday. A 33 billion yuan railway link between Tibet and neighboring Qinghai province, which started operating a year ago, has brought increased numbers of visitors to the region, Ta said. Four trains come to Lhasa daily, each carrying about 700 people.

The autonomous region is able to support tourism activities for 3 million people, Zhang said.

Tibet, under China's authority since the 1750s, had varying degrees of autonomy until the Chinese Communist Party arrived in 1950, prompting a failed revolt in 1959, after which the Tibetan ruler, the Dalai Lama, fled to India. The Dalai Lama has since called for Tibetan self-rule.

Of Tibet's 2.8 million permanent residents, 92 percent are ethnic Tibetans and 8 percent are Han or other minorities, Zhang said. Han Chinese is the largest of China's 50-plus ethnic groups, comprising more than 90 percent of the nation's 1.3 billion people.

Improve Roads

China will invest 77.8 billion yuan to improve roads, buildings and railways in Tibet in the coming five years, Xiangba Pingcuo, head of the local government, said in Beijing last month. China is spending up to 30 billion yuan to build roads in Tibet, including those leading up to Mount Everest's base camp, to promote tourism, Xiangba said.

Tibet's government has put on hold for now a plan to pave an existing dirt road linking Lhasa and Nepal, the environmental protection bureau's Zhang said yesterday, without giving a specific reason. The local government will instead work on minor repairs, he said.

``It's pretty much like fixing a leak in the roof of your house,'' Zhang said. ``We'll be improving the condition of the road, which is sand and stone, not paving it with tar.''

The road will be the main path athletes will take to carry the Olympic flame to Mount Everest as the torch relay travels around the world and China, Zhang said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Wing-Gar Cheng in Beijing at wgcheng@bloomberg.net .