NO MORE "IRON RICE BOWL" FOR TIBETAN GRADUATES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENGDU 001253

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM AND S/STC
DEPT ALSO FOR DRL/IRF AND TIBET COORDINATOR
BANGKOK FOR USAID/MSTIEVATER

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/13/2026
TAGS: SOCI PHUM PGOV SCUL CH
SUBJECT: NO MORE "IRON RICE BOWL" FOR TIBETAN GRADUATES

REF: A) 05 BEIJING 2560; B) 04 CHENGDU 597; C) 04 CHENGDU 576

CHENGDU 00001253 001.2 OF 003


CLASSIFIED BY: James A. Boughner, Consul General, United States
Consulate, Chengdu.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (SBU) Summary: The Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) recently
announced it would be the last region in China to eliminate the
"iron rice bowl" system of guaranteed lifetime employment in
governmental organs and state enterprises. The announcement, as
well as the results of recent civil service exams in the TAR in
which very few ethnic Tibetans were offered positions, ignited
tensions among several hundred Tibetan graduates in Lhasa and
mirrored protests that took place in Qinghai Province in 2004
and 2005. The TAR Government, through job fairs and improved
personnel training, expects ethnic Tibetans to adapt to the
needs of the local job market. Recent Tibetan graduates
expressed dismay at the fierce competition with non-Tibetan
students and the inability to secure employment in the absence
of strong Mandarin Chinese skills and government connections.
Tibetan students' perception that government policies encourage
the movement of Chinese-speaking non-Tibetan graduates to
Tibetan areas, thus increasing competition, fuels resentment and
possible unrest. End Summary.

Background
--------------

2. (U) According to China's Ministry of Education, 4.13 million
students graduated from universities in inland China in 2006,
three quarters of a million more than in 2005. The number of
college graduates in 2007 will be close to five million, and it
is predicted that approximately 1.24 million of those graduates
will not have immediate job offers. The Tibet Daily reported
that approximately 6000 students from the Tibetan Autonomous
Region (TAR) graduated from colleges and other higher
educational institution in China in 2005. In 2006, there were
approximately 7500 Tibetan graduates.


3. (U) China's "Iron Rice Bowl," the system of guaranteed
lifetime employment in governmental organs and state
enterprises, has gradually been phased out over the last six
years. Tibetan areas outside of the Tibetan Autonomous Region
(TAR) still assigned jobs to Tibetan students until the late
1990s. Now, the TAR is the last area in China to discontinue
such employment benefits for Tibetan graduates.


4. (U) Due to relatively high salaries and hardship incentives,
the TAR and Tibetan areas of China have become new targets for
Chinese job seekers. Some official Chinese policies also
support the movement of job seekers to the TAR. The Ministry of
Education and Communist Youth League in 2003 implemented a
national program called "College Graduates Aid the West Plan"
(daxuesheng zhiyuang xibu jihua). According to that program's
official website vweb.cycnet.com, the TAR received 346 college
graduates from Beijing, Shanghai, Sichuan and Yunnan from 2003
to 2005 to work in the TAR for "short term assignments."
Eighty-two of those graduates decided to remain in the TAR.
There are currently 161 graduates working in the TAR, and 50 of
them have decided to remain permanently in the TAR.


5. (U) For the past three years the international press has
reported on demonstrations led by young Tibetan job hunters
protesting the assignment of jobs and limited opportunities for
Tibetan graduates. Three relatively large protests took place
in 2004, 2005 and 2006, in Golok Prefecture and Xining in
Qinghai Province, and Lhasa in the TAR, respectively.

Tibetan Students in Lhasa Protest
Award of Jobs to Han Chinese
--------------

6. (U) According to a November 8 report from Radio Free Asia
(RFA),young Tibetans in Lhasa staged a rare public protest at
the end of October over alleged discrimination by Chinese
authorities in hiring for civil service jobs. RFA reported that
hundreds of Tibetan graduates who had completed their studies in
vocational institutions and universities in China protested the
results of a civil service examination conducted on September 30
by the TAR Government. One thousand Tibetan and Chinese
candidates sat for the exam, aimed at filling 100 open
positions, and jobs were reportedly offered to 98 Han Chinese
and two Tibetan applicants. RFA also reported that Chinese
authorities threatened to fire any government employees
participating in the protest, to deny jobs to involved students,
and to arrest community members. No violence or arrests were
reported.


7. (C) Following the report, a government employee and a worker

CHENGDU 00001253 002.2 OF 003


in a government-run enterprise in Lhasa separately confirmed to
the Consulate that there were approximately 200 Tibetan
graduates protesting in Lhasa, and that all governmental
agencies were officially informed to be on the alert. One
contact said for unknown reasons, the protest ended abruptly.
The contact also indicated that Tibetan students in Shigatse and
Chamdo Prefectures were also planning to protest, but suddenly
decided not to carry through with their plans. A worker in a
government-run enterprise told the Consulate that because the
TAR has stopped assigning jobs to Tibetan graduates, they must
now compete with Chinese students who have connections with
officials. He complained, "the winners are always Chinese
students."

2004 and 2005 Protests in Qinghai
--------------

8. (U) RFA reported similar protests in Qinghai Province in
2004 and 2005 (Reftels A, B and C). In October 2004, more than
200 young people, mostly Tibetan students, reportedly protested
outside the Golok Prefecture Government office building for more
than two weeks. The prefecture government responded to the
students by saying, "It is difficult to resolve this issue
because there are not enough jobs for all the protesters." In
July 2005, approximately 70 young Tibetans from Xunhua Salar
Autonomous County reportedly protested in front of the Qinghai
Provincial Government office in Xining, accusing authorities of
favoritism and discrimination in filling a limited number of
available jobs. According to the report, police arrested and
beat some Tibetan students.


9. (C) Recently, the Consulate contacted a middle school
teacher from Xunhua Salar Autonomous County who confirmed the
2005 protest and said it was "a useless endeavor, because it was
becoming more and more difficult for Tibetans to find jobs." A
government official in Golok Prefecture, commenting on the 2004
protest, said Tibetan students demanded equal job distribution
and an end to hiring of students from outside the prefecture. A
teacher from Qinghai Minority University commented to us that,
"having difficulties in finding a job is not news anymore for us
-- our students have been suffering since the late 1990s."

TAR Government: Changes Needed in Tibet Job Market
-------------- --------------

10. (SBU) Following the announcement of the end to guaranteed
government jobs for students in Tibet, China's Xinhua News
Agency on November 27, said "a university degree is no longer a
passport to a steady job in Tibet, and that the move will
ultimately improve personnel training in Tibet and adapt it to
the needs of the local job market. In the report, an official
from the TAR Personnel Department said the government promotes
"market guidance, government coordination, school
recommendation, and employer and student mutual selection," and
encourages graduates to attend job fairs. The TAR staged its
first ever recruitment fair for college students in November in
Lhasa, with 53 companies offering more than 700 openings for
sales representatives, secretaries, IT engineers, tour guides
and hotel staff.

Tibetan Graduates: Difficult Job Prospects
--------------

11. (C) The Consulate conducted phone interviews with several
recent Tibetan graduates in the TAR and other Tibetan areas to
assess their outlooks on the job market. A graduate from Ngaba
(Ch: Aba) Prefecture in Sichuan Province who has a Master's
degree in Tibetan language said that what he studied in school
has no market in today's society. He added he would like to
work for the government, but that his Chinese was not very good
and he didn't have good connections with any government
officials. A Tibetan graduate of China's Central University for
Nationalities currently living in Lhasa told the Consulate that
in the past, Tibetan students liked to come back to Tibet after
graduation to assigned jobs, but now they worry about
competition with job hunters from outside of the TAR, and "most
lose to their competitors." She added that there were 200 posts
available in Lhasa for business planners, computer engineers,
secretaries and many other professions, but none of them

SIPDIS
required Tibetan language. "One must have very good Chinese and
other advanced skills, so most Tibetans lose," she lamented


12. (C) A recent Tibetan graduate of Tibet University admitted
many Tibetan students were not ready to adapt to the changes.
He emphasized that job seekers in Tibetan areas must have both
strong Chinese language skills and close connections, and if
they hope to work for private companies, professional knowledge.
A Tibetan graduate of Qinghai Minority University said all
civil service exams are in Chinese and "most of us cannot
pass... We are still looking for jobs two to three years after
graduation. We feel sorry for our parents and embarrassed when

CHENGDU 00001253 003.2 OF 003


we see our neighbors back home."


13. (C) Comment: Frustration with a competitive job market for
recent college graduates is not a phenomenon unique to Tibetan
areas. What is unique about the unrest in Tibetan areas in
recent years is students' perception that government policies
support and encourage the movement of Chinese-speaking
non-Tibetan graduates to Tibetan areas, adding to competition
for jobs for ethnic Tibetans. They may view the government's
"Go West" policy as in direct conflict with the "Tibetan
Autonomous Policy" that stipulates governmental agencies should
employ ethnic minorities first in hiring civil servants, and
support the development of the region's minorities for other
skilled professions. The TAR Government likely quashed the
recent protests for fear that such public indignation among
students would ignite more widespread social unrest.
BOUGHNER