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