CONVERSATIONS IN NORTHERN TIBET

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENGDU 000157 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/CM AND G/STC DEPT ALSO FOR DRL/IRF AND TIBET COORDINATOR E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/25/2032 TAGS: PHUM ECON PGOV EAID SOCI CH SUBJECT: CONVERSATIONS IN NORTHERN TIBET CHENGDU 00000157 001.2 OF 003 CLASSIFIED BY: John Hill, Acting Consul General, United States Consulate, Chengdu. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Consulate Chengdu recently accompanied the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on a project monitoring trip to some of the highest and most remote areas of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR). The TAR Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) said it valued U.S. NGO projects in the TAR, as well as their quality personnel, but hoped "small-scale" NGO projects would not overshadow or take credit away from the work the central government is doing in the TAR. Traveling for over 40 hours and 1,200 miles on unpaved, bumpy and dusty tracts of plateau, CG and Congenoff had almost unlimited time to dialogue with TAR FAO "companions," local NGO representatives, and their local government counterparts. In multiple separate conversations, our traveling companions discussed political, economic, environmental, health, infrastructure, and social issues in Nagchu Prefecture, one of the poorest areas of Tibet. Public and National Security Bureau officials assigned to accompany us were nonchalant and appeared to care little about the content of our discussions or field visits. End Summary. The "Roof of the World" -------------- ¶2. (SBU) From June 11-18, CG, Congenoff and Political LES accompanied two USAID program officers on a grueling journey to some of the highest and most remote areas of the Tibetan Plateau. Departing the relative comforts of Lhasa, situated at 12,500 ft. above sea level, our group of five four-wheel-drive sports utility vehicles traveled northeast for four hours on paved roads to Dangxiong (Tibetan: Damshung) County in Nagchu (Tibetan: Naqu) Prefecture. The next 18 hours of the trip through Nagchu were accomplished on unpaved, bumpy, and dusty tracts of plateau. ¶3. (SBU) Nagchu is a prefecture with a population of 340,000 mostly nomadic people and 6.8 million livestock. According to official reports, the per capita annual income was 2,489 RMB (USD 328) in 2006, although some local people and development workers believe the statistic has been exaggerated. Setting a pace of approximately 16-19 miles per hour, after six hours we stopped for the night in Bangge County (population 32,300) at 16,400 ft. above sea level. On day two of the journey, we traveled 186 miles over the course of ten hours to arrive in Nyima County (population 34,300) at an elevation of 15,400 ft. Ours was the first official U.S. delegation ever to visit this remote county on the edge of the Chang Tang, the highest and second largest protected area in the world. Two days later, after visiting half a dozen USAID-funded NGO projects, we retraced our steps, traveling 600 miles over the course of two days and 20 hours on the "road." ¶4. (C) Lengthy travel time in Nagchu Prefecture allowed us the opportunity to dialogue extensively with our Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) "companions," local NGO representatives implementing projects on the plateau, and their local government counterparts. Over the course of six days, they offered opinions directly to CG and Congenoff, as well as to Political LES using Tibetan language. TAR Government on NGO Projects -------------- ¶5. (C) Prior to departing for Nagchu, we met with TAR FAO Vice Director Liu Yaohua. At the request of the USAID-funded NGO The Bridge Fund (TBF),CG thanked the TAR FAO for supporting TBF's projects in the TAR, and encouraged the FAO to facilitate the renewal of TBF's contract with its local government partner, the TAR Forestry Bureau. Without commenting on the contract issue, Liu said the TAR Government values the NGO projects. He said that while the projects have achieved very positive results and are welcomed by local people, they play only a "supplementary role" to the development work carried out by the government. Liu and other local government interlocutors in Nagchu all hammered on the theme of giving the Chinese Government credit for its work and investment in Tibet, and that this work should not be overshadowed by the small scale projects being carried out by international NGOs. Liu also repeated messages we have heard in the past about the government's desire for increased financial transparency and greater investment from the U.S. NGOs. He concluded on a positive note, saying the FAO was very happy with the quality and methodology of U.S. NGO personnel. Politics -------------- ¶6. (C) The FAO Consular Section official assigned to accompany us on our trip was a young disgruntled ethnic Tibetan who has CHENGDU 00000157 002.2 OF 003 worked for the FAO without being promoted for seven years (Septel). Even though Chinese Government officials are required to adhere to a code of atheism, our handler was clearly an active Buddhist who prayed fervently throughout the whole trip whenever we passed a significant religious landmark. Our driver, also an FAO employee, blessed our vehicles prior to each leg of the journey. In the course of our first day on the road, we passed two Han Chinese hikers who appeared a bit overwhelmed by their surroundings. Our FAO handler remarked in Tibetan to the driver, "forget about them, they are Han." ¶7. (C) During a visit to a construction skills training project in Bangge County, we visited a two-room house built by Tibetan trainees. When asked how many people might live in such a house, an NGO representative responded that a family with five children might inhabit it, commenting that "in this part of the world, people don't pay any attention to family planning rules." In a separate conversation in the county town, CG observed several Hui Muslim-run businesses and asked the county Party Secretary how many Hui people had migrated to the area. He SIPDIS counted quickly on one hand, and said "three." Economics -------------- ¶8. (SBU) In many areas of the Tibetan plateau, caterpillar fungus harvesting season is in full swing, with students being kept home from school to assist in collection of the fungus which is currently selling for upwards of 80,000 RMB (USD 10,500) per kilogram. However, when asked about the significance of the fungus to Bangge County's economy, one of the NGO representatives said caterpillar fungus was irrelevant to the economy, because it does not grow at such high altitudes. It grows best at elevations between 2,300 and 3,800 meters. ¶9. (C) Nyima County, a full two-day drive from Lhasa, feels like it is located at the end of the earth. It is an "artificial" town which has been built up, paved and lighted (with solar power) through corporate sponsorship over the last few years. Sinopec is the primarily corporate sponsor of the town. Privately, the NGO representative described the Sinopec investments as "image projects with no follow up." When asked about energy supplies to the region, the prefecture FAO official said petroleum comes to the TAR by pipeline, primarily from Golmud in Qinghai and from Xinjiang. It is then trucked throughout the plateau. During the trip, we observed large tanker trucks with white sacks underneath them. We were later told the tanker trucks arrive full of petroleum and leave sitting on top of bags of white borax, a cash commodity found in the region. Since gold mining was outlawed in Nyima County in 2006, borax is one of the only legally mined substances. (Note: White borax, also called sodium borate, is a mineral and salt of boric acid. It is used in detergents, cosmetics and enamel glazes. It is also used as a buffer solution in biochemistry, a fire retardant, an anti-fungal compound for fiberglass and an insecticide. In the 1960s, Mao Zedong used borax to repay debts to the USSR. End Note). In a separate conversation, the NGO representative told CG the Muslim population had dropped dramatically in the region after gold mining was made illegal. Environment -------------- ¶10. (C) The Chang Tang Nature Preserve is home to numerous endangered species including wild yak, snow leopards, blue sheep and black-necked cranes. During our travels, we were fortunate to see large numbers of endangered Tibetan antelope, gazelles and wild ass. The NGO representative said his organization was training both nature preserve and village wildlife patrollers in the Chang Tang, but that poaching of some species, particularly the Tibetan antelope, was difficult to combat. Many groups of animals have moved closer to the Nyima county town where they feel safer, due to vigilant village patrols that report poachers to authorities. However, far from town, poachers use motorcycles to round up and herd the antelope into fenced areas where they slaughter them. Government officials told CG that one wildlife patroller had been killed by poachers within the last several years. In a side comment, the NGO representative noted that underpasses built into the Qinghai-TAR Railway to allow wild animals to pass were ineffective. He said planners placed breadcrumbs on the pavement in the underpasses to entice animals to pass. This is ridiculous, he claimed, because these animals eat grass, not bread. The underpasses are just "great propaganda," but don't really work, he concluded. ¶11. (C) On the road from Bangge County to Nyima County, serious desertification was evident. Government officials raised such degradation of the plateau as an area ripe for international cooperation. They noted that due to global climate change, glaciers are melting and lakes are getting deeper, but there is CHENGDU 00000157 003.2 OF 003 less snow on the mountains. In their opinion, this contributes to dryer conditions resulting in increasing desertification. On the subject of grassland management, the NGO representative in a separate conversation complained to CG about the fencing policy. He said the government claimed nomadic resettlement and the related fencing policies were intended to protect delicate grassland from overgrazing. The NGO representative asserted the fencing policies actually have the opposite effect -- when nomads' herds are relegated to small, fenced-off portions of grassland, rather than being allowed to follow traditional migratory patterns, those small sections of grassland become degraded beyond recovery. Transportation Infrastructure -------------- ¶12. (C) During the long journey, the conversation turned to the issue of transportation infrastructure and potential visits by Chinese government officials to these remote areas. Local government officials admitted central and regional level officials did not make visits to these areas. When CG asked about air transportation and whether helicopters were used to facilitate such visits, the prefecture FAO official said there was no technical ability to bring helicopters to these altitudes. (Note: Our TAR FAO handler later told LES the airspace was tightly controlled by the military which does use helicopters in the region. We also note that the military sent helicopters to similar altitudes in Sichuan's Ganzi Prefecture in 2006 to look for two lost American climbers. End Note). Health -------------- ¶13. (C) The most significant health problem in the prefecture is high blood pressure because of bad diet, according to the NGO representative. General infections are the number one killer due to lack of prompt medical attention and appropriate medication. In general, tuberculosis is not a problem in these areas because of limited contact with Han Chinese, unlike in eastern Tibet, where TB is a significant problem. The representative predicted that sexually transmitted diseases would increase along the Qinghai-TAR Railroad. He added that alcoholism is a problem among young nomads in resettlement areas because they have nothing to do. Social Instability -------------- ¶14. (C) Continuing on the topic of nomadic resettlement, the NGO representative said there is significant out-migration of young Tibetans from Nagchu Prefecture to other areas of the TAR. In a separate conversation, another Lhasa-based NGO representative said many young Tibetans are migrating into Lhasa, but cannot find jobs due to lack of skills and language ability. This leads to social problems and disgruntled young nomads, the representative asserted. Comment -------------- ¶15. (C) Unlike previous trips to the TAR in which our Public Security Bureau (PSB) and National Security Bureau (NSB) companions filmed and photographed our every movement, this time our security friends were nonchalant and appeared to care little about the content of our discussions or field visits. Even the FAO officer assigned to accompany us was frequently seen snoozing in our official government meetings while his tape recorder rolled on. We speculate that this relative lack of attention was due to the fact the FAO had already thoroughly prepared by visiting our field sites in advance, and felt assured we would not cause any diplomatic incidents in our meetings with participants in NGO-funded school library projects, construction skills and village doctor trainings, and wildlife protection projects. HILL