Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08CHENGDU17
2008-02-11 01:59:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Chengdu
Cable title:  

EAP DAS CHRISTENSEN VISIT TO CHENGDU: LOCAL SCHOLAR ON

Tags:  PGOV PHUM SOCI CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4269
RR RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHCN #0017/01 0420159
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 110159Z FEB 08
FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2722
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 3300
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000017 

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DEPT FOR EAP/CM AND G;
BANGKOK FOR USAID - STIEVATER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/11/2033
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI CH
SUBJECT: EAP DAS CHRISTENSEN VISIT TO CHENGDU: LOCAL SCHOLAR ON
CHALLENGES FACING TIBETAN AREAS

REF: A) 07 CHENGDU 239 B) 07 CHENGDU 231

CHENGDU 00000017 001.2 OF 002


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



C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000017

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM AND G;
BANGKOK FOR USAID - STIEVATER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/11/2033
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI CH
SUBJECT: EAP DAS CHRISTENSEN VISIT TO CHENGDU: LOCAL SCHOLAR ON
CHALLENGES FACING TIBETAN AREAS

REF: A) 07 CHENGDU 239 B) 07 CHENGDU 231

CHENGDU 00000017 001.2 OF 002


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




1. (C) Summary: During a recent meeting in Chengdu with EAP DAS
Christensen, noted Sichuan-Tibetan scholar Tsering Dhudrup
frankly shared his concerns on the economic and political
challenges faced by ethnic Tibetans in China. He complained
that assistance funds directed by the central government to
"Help Tibet" often end up being of more benefit to Han Chinese
and warned the new Qinghai-Tibet railway will likely have a
negative impact on Tibetan culture. Central government
authorities have directed the political crackdown that has
occurred in western Sichuan's Ganzi Prefecture following summer
disturbances. Despite his criticisms of government policies,
Tsering Dhudrup styles himself a "loyal ethnic cadre" and has

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been able to publish his writings in China. End Summary.

-------------- --------------
--------------
"Help Tibet" Cadres Not Much Help, Most Aid Money Makes a Quick
U-Turn
-------------- --------------
--------------


2. (C) On January 20, East Asian Affairs Bureau Deputy Assistant
Secretary Thomas Christensen met with Tsering Dhudrup, a noted

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local scholar on Tibetan issues. CG, Congenoff, and Consulate
Tibetan FSN also participated in the meeting. Tsering Dhudrup
stressed that Tibetans need technical training and management
skills if they are to be able to compete with Chinese migrants
in traditionally ethnic Tibetan areas. Most if not all "Help
Tibet" cadres (see ref a) sent from inland China to the Tibetan
Autonomous Region (TAR) are originally low ranking government
officials. They get bumped up a grade and are given a handsome
supplement to their salary for working in the TAR. Such cadres
do not understand Tibetan language and customs. However, some
ethnic Tibetan officials think such cadres are of some use since

they can channel investment from their home areas. Relationships
developed with home province companies are reinforced by the
practice of tied aid so that firms providing the assistance get
the development contracts.


3. (C) Tsering Dhudrup estimated that 80% of government
assistance funds to Tibetan areas finds its way back to inland
China since there are few Tibetans who have the requisite
training in science and engineering needed to replace the Han
Chinese who carry out most development projects. Han Chinese
are in charge of all big construction projects in the region.
They often do not hire local ethnic Tibetan workers or pay them
only minimal wages. Ethnic Tibetans often lack requisite
technical skills and must settle for poorly paid manual labor.
Han migration into Tibetan areas is also rapidly increasing.
Most Han are migrant laborers, business people, cadres or
students. A traditional and cultural dislike of commerce as a
form of "exploitation," is partly responsible for the overall
lack of business acumen among many Tibetans.


4. (SBU) What Tibetan areas need most, Tsering Dhudrup
continued, are vocational schools to provide training in science
and education. More ethnic Tibetan scientists and engineers are
needed if development work is actually to be done by Tibetans.
Currently, there are very few Tibetans qualified in science and
engineering anywhere in China. Foreign assistance to Tibetan
areas that focuses on training ethnic Tibetans in science and
technology would be very helpful. Heavy industrial development
would not be good for Tibetan areas due to the fragile ecology
and environment. Developing ecotourism and protecting Tibetan
culture, however, would not only help Tibetans, but also be of
value to other peoples and nations.

--------------
The Train and Economic Development
--------------


5. (C) Although the Qinghai-Tibet railway is good for China as a
whole and can provide more material things to Tibetans in the
TAR, it will likely prove harmful to Tibetan culture as it helps
to strip away the traditional isolation that has protected
Tibet. Tsering Dhudrup referred to the new railway as creating
both "spiritual and cultural pollution." Although recently
asked to write an article lauding the coming of the railroad, he
refused. Eventually, he was permitted to write an article that
discussed both the downside of the coming of the railroad for
the preservation of Tibet's traditional culture as well as the

CHENGDU 00000017 002.2 OF 002


benefits of economic development.

--------------
Ganzi Prefecture Problems
--------------


6. (C) According to Tsering Dhudrup, Tibetan areas (the TAR plus
neighboring prefectures in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan --
where more than half of China's ethnic Tibetans live) have been
liberalizing economically, but politically remain closed and
backward. For example, most ethnic Tibetans view the calling
for a return of the Dalai Lama by a nomad in western Sichuan's
Ganzi Prefecture during a public gathering on August 1 (see ref
b) to have been a perfectly legitimate and understandable
action. Government authorities, however, overreacted and used
the "Litang August 1 Incident" as a pretext to intensify efforts
to crack down on local dissidents. According to Tsering
Dhudrup, current Ganzi Prefecture Party Secretary Liu Daoping is
himself a "reasonable man," but has no choice but to implement
policies dictated at a high level in Beijing. (Note: Tsering
Dhudrup, who currently lives in the Ganzi Prefecture capital of
Kangding, is known to have served as an adviser to Liu Daoping.
End note).

--------------
Background on Tsering Dhudrup
--------------


7. (SBU) Tsering Dhudrup's nominal position as a local party
cadre belies the influence his political and historical writings
may have sometimes had on government authorities. In 1995, the
Communist Party published a series of his essays (for
distribution only to Party members) in a Chinese/Tibetan
bilingual edition entitled "My Cherished Desire" (Chinese: Wo de
Xinyuan; Tibetan: bdag gi re smon). Writing as a "loyal ethnic
cadre" who sought to improve the Party's effectiveness in
Tibetan areas, Tsering Dhudrup offered trenchant criticisms that
echoed -- and foreshadowed -- overseas NGOs' concerns about
Chinese government policies.


8. (SBU) In "My Cherished Desire," Tsering Dhudrup attacked what
he referred to as "Han Chauvinism," questioned ethnic cadres'
understanding of and commitment to constitutional guarantees of
autonomy, advocated better selection and training of Tibetan
officials, decried the erosion of Tibetan language skills, and
called for the elevation of the traditional Tibetan region of
Kham (west Sichuan, east TAR, northwest Yunnan) to provincial
status. In his most influential essay, "Reasons for and
Responses to Instability in Tibetan Areas," written in 1986,
Tsering Dhudrup articulated his theory that a strategy of

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accelerated investment and targeted development could dampen
separatist enthusiasm among ordinary Tibetans. The Communist
Party's decision to publish this essay in the mid-1990s,
immediately before launching just such a policy, suggests that
Tsering Dhudrup's ideas may have had an impact on government

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policy.


9. (SBU) Tsering Dhudrup remains an influential figure among
ethnic Tibetan cadres. His recent, monumental Chinese-language
history of Tibet, Zangzu Tongshi -- Jixiang Baoping, reportedly
aroused the ire of officials in the neighboring Tibet Autonomous
Region for what was regarded as a less than politically correct
treatment of the years 1913-1959.


10. (U) This cable was cleared by DAS Christensen.
BOUGHNER