PORTRAIT OF A "HELP TIBET CADRE"

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENGDU 000239

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM, INR, AND G

E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/27/2032
TAGS: PGOV PINR CH
SUBJECT: PORTRAIT OF A "HELP TIBET CADRE"

REF: CHENGDU 159

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




1. (C) Summary: A two-week road trip in remote western areas of
the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR),throughout which we were
closely accompanied by both Tibetan and Han Chinese officials,
gave the Consulate a rather unique opportunity to experience
firsthand the sometimes tense working dynamic at play between
the two groups. While the central government provides a
generous benefit package to encourage Han Chinese officials to
volunteer to work in the TAR and "assist" in its development,
cultural sensitivity does not always appear to be part of the
agenda. A newly-appointed Lhasa Foreign Affairs Office (FAO)
Deputy Director sent by Beijing told CG he believes it "highly
unlikely" China will ever allow the Dalai Lama to return. The
FAO Deputy Director's ethnic Tibetan assistants at times openly
vented about what they referred to as both the bullying behavior
and overall local ignorance of their boss and other "Help Tibet
Cadres." End Summary.

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Setting the Ground Rules
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2. (SBU) During a September 10-19 Congen visit to western
Tibet, the first official U.S. delegation permitted into the
region since 1949, CG, Congenoff, and Tibetan FSN spent many an
hour on the road with our FAO handlers driving in the
spectacular high-altitude terrain of the region. Throughout the
trip, CG and Congenoff were asked to share a vehicle with Lhasa
FAO Deputy Director Wu Yinjian. Wu told CG he wanted to make
sure personally our "safety" could be guaranteed. Wu had our
FSN ride with one of his own ethnic Tibetan assistants in a
separate vehicle. When driving through Ngari Prefecture, we
were also accompanied by another car carrying plainclothes
security and local FAO personnel.


3. (C) Maintaining control of the itinerary and route, however,
was probably the main reason for Wu's decision. Of the two
ethnic Tibetan drivers, Wu apparently chose the lesser
experienced one for our car, perhaps because he spoke better
Chinese than his colleague and (unlike the other driver) was a
Party member. Whatever the reason, Wu probably did not count on
the other driver and his ethnic Tibetan FAO assistant to so
openly vent their feelings in Tibetan about Han Chinese
officialdom in front of our FSN. We cautioned our FSN to be
wary of possible provocations and to be in listening mode only.
By the end of the long trip, however, having ourselves spent a
fair amount of quality time with Wu, it was easy to see how such
negative perceptions might develop.

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Wu's World View
--------------


4. (C) Approximately 35-years-of age and a graduate of Nanjing
University, Wu had just arrived in Lhasa from the Foreign
Ministry in Beijing about a month previously to begin a
three-year assignment as FAO Deputy Director. Wu referred to
himself as a "Yuanzang Ganbu" or "Help Tibet Cadre," part of a
program through which mostly Han Chinese from government bureaus
and state-owned enterprises in eastern China volunteer to work
for a given period of time in the TAR to pass along their
expertise on development and other issues. Following graduation
from university, Wu said he volunteered to do a three-year stint
in Xinjiang, although he did not describe his work there.
(Note: current TAR Party Secretary Zhang Qingli served a number
of years as deputy head of the Xinjiang Production and
Construction Corps. end note).


5. (C) Although Wu's previous Foreign Ministry assignments
include Hong Kong and Mumbai, his English appeared to be poor.
Wu observed his wife and five-year-old son have never been
allowed to join him at his postings and will remain in Beijing
while he serves in the TAR. Originally from Shandong, Wu noted
he does not like to live in Beijing and finds the people in the
capital to be "arrogant." As a future "dream assignment," Wu

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would like to serve at the new Chinese Consulate in Honolulu,
which he expects will be opened sometime "next year."


6. (C) Wu frequently reiterated (day after day) to CG he hoped
this first-ever allowed visit by U.S. diplomats to western Tibet
would help dispel "misunderstandings" that Americans have about
the region. Speaking privately to CG, Wu asserted he does not
think the Dalai Lama will be allowed to return as government
authorities have little reason to believe he would not engage in
"splittist activities." While a channel for dialogue will never
be shut to the Dalai Lama, the central government does not see
it likely to lead to anything concrete. Wu also appeared to be
somewhat fixated on the issue of Western organizations trying to
link Darfur to China's hosting of the Olympic Games and whether
it is a possible momentum could be generated for a boycott. On
one memorable occasion, Wu went on at length about how China
really has more respect for freedom of speech than the United
States.


7. (C) Particularly amusing incidents involving Wu included:

-- His throwing of an empty water bottle at the feet of a
Tibetan man at the Everest Base Camp. The man ran up to the
bottle thinking he was being given something and said "tsering"
or "thank you" in Tibetan. Realizing what Wu had thrown at him,
he then said in Chinese, "garbage?" Wu later explained to CG he
thought the Tibetans at the Base Camp would like to make a
little extra money from recycling. CG did not comment.

-- A comment made by Wu to a Han Chinese local government leader
during a banquet in Ali (about a four-day drive from Lhasa in
the far west of the TAR). The local official asked Wu how long
he would be assigned to Lhasa. Wu responded, "three years, like
any other foreign assignment." His answer resulted in guffaws
and laughter from the ethnic Tibetan officials at the table. CG
could also not refrain from just a little good-natured ribbing
of the red-faced Wu.

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Tibetan Venting
--------------


8. (C) Behind his back and in a language he does not
understand, Wu's ethnic Tibetan colleagues derided
implementation of the "Help Tibet Cadre" program, characterizing
it as a way to help Han Chinese officials study problems in the
TAR without doing anything substantial for Tibetans in return.
Recruitment incentives for the program are generous -- a
doubling of salary; preferential school and job placement for
one's child; three months paid vacation annually and an
additional 25 days allowed for transit time; free phone calls to
one's family back home, etc. Given the relative comfortable
living conditions of Lhasa, however, special connections are
needed if one is to be able to land a slot there. Such Han
Chinese officials are derisively referred to by Tibetans as
"chong cao," or "caterpillar fungus," an expensive ingredient
used in medicinal tonics that can only be harvested in certain
high-altitude regions, because they cost a lot of money and can
only be found at work during warm summer months.


9. (C) Like FAO Deputy Director Wu, participants in the program
are often put in positions of supervision or leadership, despite
the fact they have little knowledge of the region. Wu's Tibetan
assistants frequently grumbled about how he would forthrightly
try to set out our route on a map without having any idea of how
topography and road conditions would impact on driving time.
Some even speculated the itinerary was designed to avoid
sensitive military areas and noted our entire program would have
likely been approved in Beijing. What particularly appeared to
grate on one of the ethnic Tibetan FAO officials was when Wu,
who barely has any experience in the TAR, would try to speak
authoritatively on Tibetan culture and society during our
official meetings in front of people who were born and raised
there. The official commented he hoped to be able sometime to
get revenge on Wu, perhaps, by reporting Wu's comment in Ali
that he considers Lhasa to be a "foreign assignment?"


10. (C) Wu's Tibetan aides were also not happy he kept them up
late at night playing cards and drinking -- not a good thing for
drivers at high altitude -- and derided him for, "like other Han
Chinese officials," being fixated on "girls and gambling."

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Apparently, the only time Wu tried to call it an early night
during the trip was when one of the drivers was beating him at
cards causing Wu to lose his temper. When Wu was winning, no
one was allowed to go to bed right away. His Tibetan assistants
complained such card playing sessions are a way by which
government officials try to extort money from their
subordinates. CG declined Wu's repeated invitation to play.

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Comments
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11. (C) Some venting of course can always be put down to general
office griping and jealousies. Not all Han Chinese officials in
the TAR either act like or are seen by their local Tibetan
colleagues as acting like Wu. For example, Lhasa FAO Director
Ju Jianhua (reftel) appears to be respected, has taken the
trouble to learn Tibetan, is interested in Tibetan culture, and
has lived in the TAR for over two decades. Ju is even
relatively liked by many foreign NGO representatives for being a
man of reason who wants to be helpful and will try to deliver on
commitments. It does not take many "Help Tibet Cadres" like Wu,
however, placed in positions of authority and with little
understanding or concern of local sensitivities, for quite bad
perceptions to develop and become cemented in people's minds --
especially in light of continued strict controls on political
and religious freedoms in the TAR dictated by Beijing.
BOUGHNER