TIBET VICE GOVERNOR: SLAMS DALAI LAMA, DENIES POLITICAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 06 CHENGDU 000251

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/9/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ECON EINV EAGR SENV SOCI CH
SUBJECT: TIBET VICE GOVERNOR: SLAMS DALAI LAMA, DENIES POLITICAL
OPPRESSION, OUTLINES CHINESE GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO IMPROVE LIVING
STANDARDS

CHENGDU 00000251 001.2 OF 006


CLASSIFIED BY: David E. Brown, Consul General, U.S. Consulate
General Chengdu.
REASON: 1.4 (d)

1. (C) Summary: The Dalai Lama and his "clique" masterminded
the "March 14" incident as part of a bid to take back feudal
power in Tibet, Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) Vice Governor Wu
Yingjie told Consul General October 20. The many people praying
at temples in Lhasa testify to the government's protection of
religious freedom; during the current 11th Five-Year Program,
the TAR invested much money in restoring religious sites and
protecting Tibetan culture, he asserted. After the meeting, CG
presented to Wu a list of 10 prisoners of conscience in the TAR.




2. (SBU) Tax exemptions for farmers and herders, free medical
care, subsidized housing, education and vocational training, and
investments in protection of traditional Tibetan culture are
improving the lives of ethnic Tibetans, Wu said. Nearly all
rural Tibetans can read; however, one-quarter of Tibetans still
live without electric power. Tibetans are not economically
marginalized and discrimination based on ethnic background is
illegal, Wu asserted.




3. (SBU) As Tibet gets warmer and drier due to global climate
change, many glaciers are melting. The State Council decided to
invest USD 2 billion over 20 years in climate change mitigation
by protecting grasslands, forests, and marshland, and to develop
clean energy resources. Talk about extending the Qinghai-Lhasa
railroad to Nepal has no basis; it is "just a beautiful Nepali
dream." Wu had no comment on press reports about a proposed
Sichuan - Tibet railroad. End summary.



Vice Governor: Dalai Lama Engages in Politics With

Foreign Help; China Protects Tibetan Religion, Culture

-------------- --------------




4. (SBU) The "Dalai" uses his religious role for political
purposes, Vice Governor Wu asserted. The "March 14th Incident"
was masterminded by the Dalai in order to destroy the Beijing
Olympics. The Dalai just doesn't want to lose his power. In
the old days, five percent of the people controlled 95 percent
of the land. The Dalai wants to restore his feudal rule, but
the serfs have already been liberated. America freed all the
black slaves and people welcomed that, but China freed all the
Tibetan slaves under the "Dalai Clique," and some people are not
happy. "I don't know why," Wu protested.




5. (SBU) Some foreign countries also give money to the Dalai and
send high-level delegations to Dharamsala. For example, U.S.
Speaker of the House (Nancy) Pelosi and a (Note: White House
senior staff member. End note) special emissary both went to
Dharamsala to see the Dalai Lama. The Dalai is asking China to
withdraw its People's Liberation Army (PLA),and other
non-Tibetan people from the region, and is trying to create a
so-called "Greater Tibet" that would include ethnic Tibetan
areas of Sichuan, Qinghai, Yunnan and Gansu. No sovereign state
could accept such demands, which would divide the country, Wu
said.




6. (SBU) The government protects religious freedom and manages
religious affairs in accordance with the law, Wu asserted. You
can see hundreds of people visiting temples and praying every
day in Lhasa, he said. After the March 14th (2008) incident,
950 people were arrested and 80 of them were sentenced, Wu said.
Two hundred monks from outside of the TAR who were in the TAR
without legal documents were sent back to their home areas, but
no monks or nuns are missing. The government views the
monasteries as public units (gonggong danwei). Therefore, the
government provides the monasteries with free medical care,
drinking water, and electricity, and also builds and maintains
roads to the monasteries, he said.




7. (SBU) During the current, 11th FYP, the TAR has invested
considerable money in the protection of Tibetan culture, Wu
stated. For example, the government invested 380 million RMB in
repairs of the Potala Palace, and the Sakya, Norbulinka, and
Tashi Lhunpo Monasteries. The government has built many

CHENGDU 00000251 002.2 OF 006


hospitals of traditional Tibetan medicine in the region, and
protected about 100 kinds of Tibetan customs as part of the
PRC's "national intangible cultural heritage." People in the
TAR enjoy holidays for the major traditional Tibetan festivals,
he added.



Chengdu CG Presents List of Prisoners of Conscience

-------------- --------------


8. (C) In a private moment just after the meeting, Consul
General presented Vice Governor Wu with a list of 10
representative prisoners of conscience in Tibet. The Vice
Governor accepted the name list, but the accompanying TAR FAO
officer subsequently indicated his displeasure at the
presentation of this list during a protocol visit. The next
day, on October 21, Consul General attempted to present the same
name list, along with a brief outline of each case, to Justice
Bureau officials. While the officials angrily rejected the
list, and claimed that CG would have to work through AmEmbassy
Beijing to present the list to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the
accompanying, working-level TAR Foreign Affairs Officer (FAO)
later accepted the list. ConGen Chengdu PolOff prepared this
list with the help of the Congressional-Executive Commission on
China which maintains a database on prisoners of conscience in
Tibetan areas of China. This list is copied below in final
paragraph 23.



Rural TAR Gains During 11th Five Year Program

--------------


9. (SBU) During the 11th Five-Year Program (11th FYP),70
percent of TAR economic development funds have been invested in
rural areas, Wu said. Rural per capita income in the TAR, which
reached 3170 RMB (USD 465) in 2008 and is expected to climb
another 15% in 2009, has been growing rapidly. The TAR's per
capita GDP is expected to reach a moderate level in 2010 and to
reach the level of "xiaokang" (a basic standard of living) by

2010. [Note: by this standard the TAR will still lag behind the
PRC as a whole; according to a 2002 Xinhua news report at URL
tinyurl.com/xiaokang-xinhua, 90% of the PRC population met the
basic standard of living criteria in that year. End note.] The
TAR government has undertaken a series of policies to benefit
Tibetans, Wu explained, while acknowledging that more
improvements were needed:




10. (SBU) Education, Vocational Training; Support for Herders:

Tibetan language education is well developed in the TAR, Wu
asserted. Rural children receive free compulsory education.
The TAR offers free tuition, free food, and free accommodation
for students who need to reside at school. The TAR covers up to
1300 RMB (USD 190) in annual expenses for primary school
students and 1400 RMB (USD 206) for middle school students.
Many rural schools teach classes in both Tibetan and Chinese.
Some rural schools even teach English. With support from the
Ministry of Information Industry, new technology has been
developed to make the Tibetan language has become easier to use
on computers. (In response to another question, Wu said that
the TAR would like to teach courses in the natural sciences in
the Tibetan language at the university level. Note: This would
be difficult because of the lack of professors qualified to
teach these subjects in Tibetan. End note.)




11. (SBU) The TAR is teaching rural people how to get rich
through science and technology. Rural people are trained in
various skills and then are sent to urban areas to work. The
TAR also helps rural people to develop local industries. For
example, people are taught how to: grow vegetables; build farms
that raise Tibetan pigs and Tibetan chickens; sell agricultural
products; and run family-operated tourist hotels. Currently,
over 10,000 Tibetan households are running tourism-related
businesses.




12. (SBU) TAR farmers and herders also received tax exemptions,
and benefited from three long-term policies that will not
change:


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-- Households cultivate the land on their own;

-- Herders raise their own private herds themselves; and

-- Fixed grasslands grazing usage rights.




13. (SBU) Wu continued, before "liberation" only five percent of
Tibetan people went to go to school; now, 80% of them are
getting an education. (Note: PRC central government's
occupation of Tibet in 1951. End note.) Middle school
enrollment now includes 92 percent of children in that age
group, while high school includes 91 percent of the people in
the age group. Over 98 percent of rural youth and middle aged
people are literate -- that is, they are able to read the
Tibetan language edition of the Tibet Daily. The government
also sends many Tibetan students to inland China to study for
free. Generous stipends are provided to students from the TAR
who are accepted into a university in inland China.




14. (SBU) Health Care and Hospitals: Wu said that TAR rural
health care has been improving. In 2009, residents of rural
areas receive up to 140 RMB (USD 20) of medical care at no
charge, an increase from 100 RMB (USD 15) in 2008. Of this sum,
125 RMB (USD 18) out of 140 RMB (USD 20) -- 90 percent -- is
paid by the Chinese central government. This is a special
allocation for the TAR that is higher than the national
standard.




15. (SBU) The government has also built many rural hospitals and
clinics, enabling more rural women to give birth in hospitals.
With support from the government, many people have been
relocated away from places where endemic diseases are
widespread. [Note: For example, iodine deficiency disorders and
Kaschin-Beck disease, a degenerative bone disease caused by the
lack of selenium in the diet, has resulted in some
government-sponsored migrations of villages within Tibetan areas
of China to healthier areas. (See URL:
tinyurl.com/nejm-kbeck-tibet .) End Note.]




16. (SBU) Housing: The TAR government established a goal to
assist rural people in building or repairing their homes during
the 11th FYP. Over 80 percent of rural homes will be built or
rebuilt during this period. Out of the 300,000 households who
want help in rebuilding their homes, 170,000 households (870,000
people) have already rebuilt their homes.




17. (SBU) Infrastructure and Electrical Power: Formerly, Tibet's
infrastructure was very poor, there were few roads, and there
was only one small hydropower station in Lhasa, said Wu. Now,
however, rural transportation is well developed, although many
more roads need to be built since the TAR's 2.2 million rural
people are scattered over a vast area. The TAR has invested
billions of RMB in the construction of 50,000 km of paved roads.
The government is building roads to rural homes, and
infrastructure to bring them water and electricity. The
government has also promoted the use of rural energy systems, so
that many rural people now use solar power, wind power, small
hydropower stations, as well as diesel generators.




18. (SBU) Tibet needs to build more hydropower stations since
700,000 people in the TAR still live without electricity, Wu
acknowledged. (Note: This is roughly one-quarter of the
population. The TAR does not, however, publish
energy-efficiency data or electrical consumption data in major
national statistical publications like the China Statistical
Yearbook 2009. The dearth of statistical data on the TAR makes
it difficult to corroborate Wu's claims. Some press reports
have also suggested that the TAR seeks to develop hydropower for
export to other provinces, although the TAR lacks the long
distance power transmission lines to export power and is
fragmented into four power grids and several independent
county-level power grids. Long distance DC Lhasa-Qinghai power
transmission lines will be completed in 2010. End note.)



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Response on Economic Marginalization of

Tibetans and "Tibetans Need Not Apply" Shop Sign

-------------- ---


19. (SBU) In response to Chengdu CG's question about the
economic marginalization of ethnic Tibetans in the TAR, and
about a sign on a Lhasa shop seen by CG that only ethnic Han
would be hired for a particular job, Wu said that Tibetans are
not economically marginalized, and "I don't know why people say
such things." There are many programs to give special
assistance to Tibetans. There are many Tibetan businesspeople.
Businesspeople are free to hire Tibetans or ethnic Han Chinese.
It is impossible to develop such a rapidly growing economy
without the participation of ethnic Tibetans. In the TAR, 70
percent of the civil servants are ethnic minorities and only 30
percent are ethnic Han. [Note: At the top, the story is
different. Two-thirds (16) of the 24 senior TAR officials we
met in our meetings were ethnic Han. End note.]



Comment: Massive Welfare Support for Tibetans,

Little Awareness of Ethnic Discrimination

-------------- -


20. (C) When asked about the economic marginalization of ethnic
Tibetans, both Vice Governor Wu and the FAO denied this was
true, citing the considerable welfare support Tibetans receive
from the government as evidence that Tibetans were not being
economically marginalized. The question about the "No Tibetans
need not apply" sign surprised the vice governor, who did not
seem to be sensitive to the question of ethnic discrimination in
employment. He responded that an employer might want someone
who speaks Chinese and so would prefer a Han. One ethnic
Tibetan in Lhasa, when he heard this story, told us "They (the
Han) just don't get it."



Mitigating Harmful Effects of Climate Change on Tibetan Plateau

-------------- --------------


21. (SBU) The TAR government is doing its best to protect the
ecology and the environment in the region, but global warming is
melting many of the TAR's glaciers, Wu said. The climate is
getting drier, with little rain in the summer, and little snow
in the winter. Therefore, the State Council in March 2009
decided to invest 15 billion RMB (USD 2.19 billion) to protect
the TAR environment through 2030. This money will be used to
protect grasslands, forests, and marshland, and to develop clean
energy in the region.



Extension of Railway to Nepal is Just a Beautiful Nepali Dream

-------------- --------------


22. (SBU) In response to a question from CG, Vice Governor Wu
said that China plans to build a railway line from Lhasa to
Shigatse but there are no plans to build a railway line from
Lhasa to Nepal. That is just a "beautiful dream in Nepali
hearts," Wu said, since China and Nepal have a very close
relationship. Wu said that he could not confirm plans to build
a railroad from Chengdu to Lhasa. (Note: A report by the Second
Railway Institute that was posted briefly on the Institute's
entitled "Environmental Impact Statement (summary) a New Railway
Line Between Chengdu and Chaoyanghu, A Segment of the Sichuan to
Tibet Railway" (online at URL tinyurl.com/chengdu-lhasa-rr)
hints at railway concepts under consideration. According to
press reports, this route would be much more difficult and
expensive than the Qinghai-Tibet railroad; no final decision
seems to be have been made. End Note.)



Representative Prisoners of Conscience in the TAR

-------------- --------------


23. (SBU) BEGIN LIST



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Jigme Gyatso (Jinmei Jiacuo) (Detained 1996)


Jinmei Jiacuo, a former monk who operated a restaurant in Lhasa,
was detained in March 1996 and sentenced on November 23, 1996.
He is imprisoned in Qushui Prison where he is serving an 18-year
extended sentence for printing leaflets, distributing posters,
and later shouting pro-Dalai Lama slogans in prison. His
sentence will be complete in March 2014. Unofficial sources have
reported that he has suffered from jaundice, has difficulty
walking and bending, and was hospitalized for several weeks in

2006.



Bangri Chogtrul, or Jigme Tenzin (Jinmei Danzeng) (Detained
1999)

Jinmei Danzeng, a lama who lived as a householder, was detained
in August 1999 and convicted of inciting splittism and sentenced
to life imprisonment on September 26, 2000. He and his wife
managed a children's home in Lhasa. The Lhasa Intermediate
People's Court commuted his sentence from life imprisonment to a
fixed term of 19 years in July 2003, and then reduced his
sentence by one year in November 2005. He is serving his
sentence, which will be complete in July 2021, in Qushui Prison.
He suffers from heart disease and gallstones.



Choeying Khedrub (Quyin Kezhu) (Detained 2000)

Quyin Kezhu, a monk living in Suo (Sog) county in Naqu (Nagchu)
prefecture, was detained in March 2000 and sentenced to life
imprisonment for endangering state security on November 10,

2000. He and several other men set up a political group that
printed and distributed leaflets. He is serving his sentence in
Qushui Prison.



Drolma Kyab (Zhuomajia) (Detained 2005)


Zhuomajia, a school teacher in Lhasa, reportedly was detained in
March 2005 for drafting a Chinese-language commentary that
addressed topics including Tibetan sovereignty, democracy,
religion, and the Tibetan experience under communism. A second
draft addressed topics such as the location of Chinese military
bases in Tibetan areas. The Lhasa Intermediate People's Court
sentenced him on September 16, 2005, to 10 years and 6 months in
prison for espionage and illegally crossing the border. He is
serving his sentence in Qushui Prison.



Sonam Gyalpo (Suolang Jiebu) (Detained 2005)


Suolang Jiebu, a tailor in Lhasa, was one of several Tibetans
detained in August 2005, shortly before the 40th anniversary of
the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region on September 1,

1965. State security officials searched his Lhasa home and found
photos and videotapes of the Dalai Lama and printed matter. The
Lhasa Intermediate People's Court sentenced him on June 9, 2006,
to 12 years' imprisonment for espionage. He is serving his
sentence in Qushui Prison. He previously served a three-year
sentence for putting up political posters in September 1987.



Lodroe (Luozhui) (Detained March 2008)


Luozhui, a monk from Shiqu (Sershul) county, Ganzi (Kardze)
Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, who was
studying temporarily at Sera Monastery in Lhasa, joined other
monks visiting Sera to stage a political protest in Lhasa's
Barkor street on March 10, 2008. China Tibet News reported that
Lodroe held up a Tibetan national flag during the protest and
described the other monks as Luozhui's "followers." According to
an unofficial August 2009 report, in April 2009 a Lhasa court
sentenced Luozhui to 10 years' imprisonment and he is serving
his sentence in Qushui Prison.



Lobsang Ngodrub (Luosang Ouzhu) (Detained March 2008)

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Luosang Ouzhu, a monk from Shiqu (Sershul) county, Ganzi
(Kardze) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, who
was studying temporarily at Sera Monastery in Lhasa, joined
other monks visiting Sera to stage a political protest in
Lhasa's Barkor street on March 10, 2008. China Tibet News
reported that on March 24, 2008, 13 of the monks were formally
arrested on charges of "unlawful assembly." According to an
unofficial August 2009 report, Luosang Ouzhu was sentenced to
five years' imprisonment and is serving his sentence in Qushui
Prison.



Wangdu (Wangdui) (Detained March 2008)


Wangdui, an HIV/AIDS activist, was detained on March 14, 2008,
the day protests and rioting erupted in Lhasa. On October 27 the
Lhasa Intermediate People's Court sentenced Wangdui to life
imprisonment for "espionage," claiming that he established a
group including three other men to distribute material to incite
a "Tibetan people's uprising" and to collect "intelligence" that
touched on "the security and interests of the nation." Wangdui
previously served eight years in prison after detention on March
8, 1989, the day martial law took effect in Lhasa after three
days of protest and rioting. Prior to the 1989 detention Wangdu
was a monk at Lhasa's Jokhang Temple.



Yeshe Choedron (Yixi Quzhen) (Detained March 2008)


Yixi Quzhen, a retired medical doctor, was detained in Lhasa in
March 2008 following protests that began on March 10 and rioting
on March 14. On November 7, 2008, the Lhasa Intermediate
People's Court sentenced Yixi Quzhen to 15 years' imprisonment
for "espionage," claiming that she received "financial aid" from
"the Dalai Clique's `Security Department'" for providing
"intelligence and information harmful to the security and
interests of the state." According to an October 2009 report,
she is serving her sentence in a prison near Lhasa and has not
been permitted any family visits.



Tenzin Buchung (Danzeng Puqiong) (Detained March 2008)


Danzeng Puqiong, a Langthang Monastery monk studying at Samye
Monastery, joined a group of Samye monks and "hundreds" of other
Tibetans in a peaceful protest near government offices in Samye
township, located in Zhanang (Dranang) county, Shannan (Lhoka)
prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. The protesters shouted
slogans calling for the Dalai Lama's return to Tibet and respect
for human rights. Public security officials detained an unknown
number of persons, including at least five monks. In May or June
2008, the Shannan Intermediate People's Court sentenced Danzeng
Puqiong to 15 years in prison.

END LIST
BROWN