Re: Tibetans fear $3.2 billion railroad is being built at their expense

"Harbinger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> Now, I know those mad china-haters want. Scrap the railroad to link tibet,
> modern medicine, bring the life expectancy down to 45 years, let  the Tibet
> be the serfs  to Dalai Lama. An illiterate, ignorant, anachronistic and
> impoverished Tibet would be ideal training ground for them to practise
> "human rights", "freedom" and "compassion"
you certainly have mastered the CCP propaganda line regarding Tibet.
> 
> "Thomas J Wheat" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Tibetans fear $3.2 billion railroad is being built at their expense
> > Los Angeles Times
> > http://www.charleston.net/stories/110703/wor_07tibet.shtml
> > LHASA, TIBET--Beijing's plan to pacify this restive Himalayan province
> > involves a $3.2 billion railroad that will connect the rest of China
> > to the frozen Tibetan plateau known as the roof of the world.
> >
> > The railroad, billed as the world's highest and due to be completed in
> > 2007, represents the linchpin of China's ambitious "Go West" campaign
> > to develop and repopulate its impoverished hinterland.
> >
> > But Tibetans opposed to Chinese control say the railroad's
> > construction, which began last year, has so far confirmed their worst
> > fears: that the train, although it may usher in rapid progress, will
> > transform Tibet's desolate nomadic culture into a land of
> > inequalities.
> >
> > "We went to inquire about railroad jobs but they said it's all been
> > taken," said Tenzin, a 22-year-old Tibetan farmer from Gansu, formerly
> > part of Tibet, but now a Chinese province. "We've been here four
> > months and we can't find anything. We're willing to be waiters,
> > security guards, tour guides, anything. But no one wants us."
> >
> > The Chinese seem to have an extra edge. That's because education and
> > the ability to speak Mandarin Chinese are the basic criteria for most
> > jobs.
> >
> > Tibetans have fought for preservation of their culture since China
> > annexed their homeland in 1951. International attention has been drawn
> > to their independence movement by the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual
> > leader driven from here in 1959 when the Chinese crushed a failed
> > uprising.
> >
> > The Dalai Lama has repeatedly spoken out against what he calls a
> > cultural genocide by Chinese occupiers in Tibet. Beijing considers the
> > Nobel laureate a separatist bent on breaking up the nation. Chinese
> > authorities have banned his portrait here.
> >
> > But many Tibetans secretly display his image in their homes and pray
> > to him.
> >
> > Beijing has tried to squelch the independence movement by pumping in
> > cash. It poured as much as $1.6 billion into the Tibetan economy last
> > year alone, which officials say represented the largest investment in
> > any province.
> >
> > "Tibet's stability is China's stability. Tibet's development is
> > China's development," said Xiangba Pingcuo, Tibet's governor.
> >
> > Beijing says the railroad is the economic salvation Tibet needs.
> >
> > "Tibet is the only province without a rail link. The people of Tibet
> > want development. The railroad is the hope of everybody here," said
> > Tajie, the deputy mayor of Lhasa.
> >
> > The Chinese who live here feel they would be the main beneficiaries.
> >
> > "They're probably building the railroad for us," said Chen Yajun, 32,
> > a taxi driver from central China's Sichuan province. "It'll be easier
> > and cheaper to go home."
> >
> > Some of the train's first passengers will probably be its Chinese
> > construction workers. Of the 38,000 hired for the job, only 6,000 are
> > Tibetans. The rest were trucked in from inland provinces. Semi-skilled
> > employees make as much as 11 times more money than manual laborers.
> >
> > None of the 2,700 workers who operate heavy equipment or hold
> > supervisory jobs is Tibetan, according to Huang Difu, an official in
> > charge of the project.
> >
> > Among the biggest losers of this lopsided gold rush are Tibetans
> > hoping for a share of the riches transforming their city.
> >
> > "I feel sad for Tibet," said Jonu, a 19-year-old Tibetan who came to
> > pray at the Johkang temple. "So many Chinese are coming."
> >
> > Lhasa already has the look and feel of a Chinese city, with
> > Chinese-style buildings and Chinese billboards proliferating across
> > town. More than half the 200,000 residents here are believed to be
> > Chinese. Even the main boulevard in front of the Dalai Lama's holy
> > Potala Palace is named Beijing Road.
> >
> > Even Chinese tourists, who come here expecting to see exotic Tibetan
> > faces and snowcapped mountains, shake their heads in disbelief when
> > they see the new Lhasa.
> >
> > "The tour guide told us about 80 percent of the people living here now
> > are Chinese and most of them are from Sichuan," said Liu Fuyou, 50, a
> > tourist from the coastal city of Tianjin wearing a straw cowboy hat.
> > "This is no longer Lhasa city, Tibet province. This is Lhasa city,
> > Sichuan province!"
> >
> > As the Chinese thrive, raking in cash, the Tibetans seem to flounder.
> > At the Lhasa night market, all but one of the vendors are Chinese.
> >
> > "Four years ago about 30 percent of us were Tibetan. Now we are the
> > only one left," said Ciren Zhuoma, 37, sitting in front of her small
> > shop selling Pepsi T-shirts and Budweiser baseball caps. Her voice is
> > barely audible above the piercing sound of live Chinese opera nearby.