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TRIN-GYI-PHO-NYA: Tibet's Environment
& Development Digest
July 2005, Vol. 3, No. 3
About
Trin-Gyi-Pho-Nya
Index
of Past Issues
| Pilgrims, Parks and Pillars: Tourism
in Tibet By Thupten Norbu* For years, the Chinese government has been proclaiming that Tourism is a "pillar" industry, which will sustain the economic takeoff of Tibet. Tourism is an industry that could create wealth and renewed meanings for Tibetan culture or could be disastrous. The United Nations agency World Tourism Organization has presented two Master Plans for tourism to Tibet exclusively to the Chinese government, the first in 1990 (with little implementation) and the second in the period between 2000-2004. According to Xinhua, Tibet tourism plan will focus on establishing a world famous high plateau tourism destination for ecology and Tibetan culture. This year a bus service through the Friendship highway between Kathmandu, Nepal and Lhasa, Tibet has started. Gormo- Lhasa railway is not far from being completed and the Nathula pass that joins Sikkim, India and Tibet could open at any time. When it becomes easier to go to Tibet, this brings the question of whether Tourism industry will takeoff in Tibet. So far visitors remain modest, given the magnetic attraction to Tibetan culture and landscape. Unlike any of China's other proposed "pillar" industries such as urban construction, mining which are concentrated in urban centers and extractive enclaves, tourism is an industry that could potentially benefit Tibetans. Long before Lonely Planets, to name a few, Tibetan Lamas like Shabkar and wandering saints (Naljorpa) like Gotsangpa, and Maitripa wrote detailed and specific guides books to let pilgrims in advance know what to expect, and how to prepare their minds as well as the body for the arduous months on foot, yak or horseback, on the pilgrimage circuit. Even the yogi, Tangthong Gyalpo, the founder of Tibet's operatic tradition was also the father of development of Tibet, who built iron chain bridges, lasted for hundred years, out of compassion to ease the journey for the pilgrims. Tourism is an old Tibetan tradition sprouted from Buddhist belief of visiting sacred places to purify mind, soul and wash away sins. Recently a friend of mine who visited Tibet showed me pictures that capture the glimpse of Tibet, photo after photo revealed me that the "land of snow" is indeed a beautiful place, as he said, "you do not need to be a good photographer to take pictures in Tibet". Before Chinese came to Tibet, wild animals like wild ass (kyang), Tibetan antelope rolled freely with Tibetan nomads and domesticated animals; Tibet, curated landscape with care and compassion without fences was also a place where humans lived in close with nature for years. For those who are culturally attracted to Tibet, Potala Place in Lhasa, Mt Kailash, the world famous pilgrimage sites for both Buddhist and Hindus in the west upper Tibet; Nyenchen Tanglha and Namtso lake in central Tibet; Mt Tsari in southern Tibet; Machen Pomra and the whole Amnye Machen range, sacred to the legendary culture hero King Gesar in Amdo; Minya Konkar in Kham are just few of the most sacred places in Tibet. Since 1940s, there has been increasing threat to the wild life thus increasing number of protected areas have been created to counter such act, sometime restricting the nomads from using the areas which was in use once before. Many cultures sites especially monasteries were destroyed during the culture revolution and Tibetans communities have labored hard to rebuild those monasteries. These days Tibet is urbanizing rapidly, but with Chinese characters that sustain Chinese social discourse as one can witness in Lhasa. To make China's proclamation true, it is important that, China should start staffing protected areas by training and employing the local people. So far the precious places lack staff to monitor and conserve. The government must provide unconditional support and autonomy to rebuild and maintain Tibetan monasteries in Tibetan ways. Urban Planners must plan cities through Tibetans eyes with Tibetan characteristic to sustain Tibetan discourse. China should start conserving the lakes, landscapes and mountains that are culturally important to Tibetans, and a Tibet tourist industry must employ Tibetans in key roles, providing visitors with the encounter they seek, a living experience, embodied by Tibetans able to explain, beyond the surface, Tibetans way of life. [*Thupten Norbu, a student from the College of the Atlantic in Maine, USA, is currently studying Human Ecology of Tibet at Victoria University in Australia. Thupten interned with Tibet Justice Center's Environment and Development Program as a part of the Center's training program for Tibetans in environmental research and advocacy. He can be reached via e-mail at khoryoug@yahoo.com] - top of page -
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Deadly Bird Flu Comes to Tibet Avian influenza, or bird flu, is a naturally occurring virus among birds. Wild birds are carriers of the virus but usually do not become ill from it. But avian influenza is extremely contagious and can cause domesticated birds like chickens and ducks to become sick and die. The particular subtype of bird flu that is currently circulating, H5N1, is deadly. Outbreaks of the disease have occurred in poultry in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos and South Korea. More than 100 million birds in these countries have died from the disease or have been killed ("culled") in order to prevent its spread. In addition, there have been 108 cases of bird flu in humans and a total of 54 deaths. It is believed that humans become infected through contact with diseased birds and contaminated surfaces, including ingestion of raw or undercooked poultry. But much remains to be learned about specific modes of transmission. Flu viruses can change rapidly and there is growing concern that a human infection with a bird and a human flu at the same time can give rise to a new type of influenza to which people will have no natural immunity. Such a disease could be devastating to human beings, resulting in a worldwide pandemic. From 1918 to 1919, a different subtype of flu killed approximately 50 million people around the world. The WHO has expressed concern about the possibility of the spread of bird flu outside of the Amdo region and about the Chinese government's efforts to test migratory birds and people in the area. Approximately 100,000 birds from 189 different species congregate at Tso-Ngon each year. Despite those numbers, and more than 5,000 bird deaths from the disease, only 12 birds and 2 humans have been tested for avian influenza. In addition, little is known about the specific migratory patterns of the different species, making early warning of other areas of Tibet, China and Asia, a difficult prospect. WHO officials have insisted that China step up efforts to tag and test birds, and to make laboratory findings from analyzed samples available to international organizations. Because the birds will resume their migratory pattern in August or September, flying south and west, attempts at tagging, tracking and testing birds must begin immediately. China has also been the target of a recent WHO inquiry regarding its avian influenza prevention strategies. The Washington Post recently reported that the Chinese government condoned and encouraged the widespread use of the human antiviral medication, amantadine, in domestic poultry. The drug, which was fed to poultry, may have caused the H5N1 virus to adapt and become resistant to amantadine, rendering the medication useless to combat bird flu infection in humans. Researchers have already determined that the flu circulating in Vietnam and Thailand is resistant to amantadine. Chinese officials have cordoned off Tso-Ngon, limiting access to the public. According to Chinese news agencies, vaccination of birds in the area is underway, but no migratory birds have been culled due to their protected status. Another outbreak of avian influenza has been reported in Tacheng city, in Xinjiang province; however international agencies have not yet been granted permission to visit. Transmission of avian influenza occurs primarily though contact with infected poultry or other birds. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends avoiding contact, whenever possible, with poultry and any surfaces that may have been contaminated by them or their bodily secretions. The CDC also cautions against eating uncooked poultry or poultry products, including blood. All foods from poultry should be cooked thoroughly. As with all infectious diseases, the most important preventive measure anyone can take is washing hands and contaminated surfaces thoroughly with soap and water. These, and other public health measures, may be difficult to implement in areas of Tibet like Amdo in which the population is extremely spread out and may lack resources such as running water. For more information about avian influenza, see: World Health Organization http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/; Centers for Disease Control http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/; Flu in China-Flu Information Centre http://www.flu.org.cn/index.asp [*Minnie Wood is a graduate student at the University
of California San Francisco. She served as the Executive Director
of Tibet Justice Center from 2001-2004. Email: Minnie.Wood@ucsf.edu]
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Western Companies Under Fire for Derailing
Tibet Bombardier Inc. and Nortel executives were met by vocal Tibetans and their supporters at their annual general meetings held in Montreal and Toronto, respectively, in June. While protesters outside shouted and held placards reading "Hors du Tibet! - Out of Tibet," shareholders inside argued that the companies were in effect supporting China's occupation and cultural genocide of Tibet. Their concerns were splashed across Canada's daily newspapers the following day, with the companies' proclamation of their innocence ("We don't think it's our responsibility to settle the political differences between China and Tibet") simply serving to position themselves as case studies in corporate ethics - or lack thereof. Indeed, Bombardier's role in the railway projects contradicts the company's own Code of Ethics and the International Union of Public Transport (UITP) Charter on Sustainable Development, to which the company is a "full signatory". These breaches of 21st century-style corporate responsibility have been noted by Canada's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade who is calling for company officials and Foreign Affairs Minister to testify before the Committee in September this year. "The Canadian Government is financially committed to Bombardier Inc. through a series of significant loan guarantees. [yet] serious questions have been raised by groups concerned that the Communist Chinese regime will use the railway for mass population movements," stated the announcement by Stockwell Day, MP on behalf of the Committee. Images of the railway smuggled out of Tibet* depict the scale of the project and give evidence for the first time of the enforced population relocation in the Chinese "land grab" of the railway. Reports filtering in from refugees arriving in Nepal, tell of Chinese authorities failing to keep their promises to adequately compensate Tibetan farmers for carving the new rail line directly through their properties. Whether companies like Bombardier will recognize that their involvement in this Tibet project will have a direct and irreversible impact on Tibet's land and people, and leave a permanent scar on their corporate reputation, or they pull out of the project remains to be seen. Some believe it is doubtful, especially since the company last month signed a lucrative 20-year agreement with the Chinese Ministry of Railways, thereby positioning it as the "preferred supplier" for China's rapidly growing railways. Despite China's ability to allure western corporations by granting large contracts, Tibetans and their supporters are determined not to let Bombardier, Nortel, Powercorp and GE set a damaging precedent of powerful companies supporting China's political objectives of Gormo-Lhasa railway project. For more information on this campaign, go to: www.tibetnetwork.org/campaigns/railway/index.html. To view images of the construction of the railway, go to: www.savetibet.org/press. [*Susan Mizrahi is the Campaigns Coordinator for the International Campaign for Tibet. E-mail: susanm@savetibet.org] - top of page -
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Tibetan Fate in the Greater Mekong Sub-region
Regional political-economic rapprochement among Southeast Asian countries could be a welcome change for most stakeholders, but the process by which the leaders are making decisions about the future of the Mekong region is disturbing at best. The Kunming meeting, like the previous GMS summit meetings, did not include the expertise of civil society groups, let alone the voices of disenfranchised and indigenous peoples living along the river, most of whom have no knowledge that leaders with statist agendas are sculpting the future of their livelihoods. Two people's meetings were held before the summit, one in Thailand and one in Laos, focusing on controversial issues such as China's hydro-electric dams in the upper Mekong River and the blasting of reefs to allow navigation of larger commercial vessels. However, these issues were not on the summit's agenda, which was designed towards agreement-signing ceremonies regarding cross-border transportation, electric-power trade, information technology and animal epidemics. The central concerns and vision articulated by civil society leaders are thus a world apart from those of the state representatives of the GMS. "Economics is not the only concern. We also have to care for culture and the environment," said Niwat Roykaew, of Rak Chiang Khong, a Thai conservation group. The Mekong People's Council, comprising about a dozen independent organizations from Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and China, as well as local representatives, issued a call to the governments and foreign funders to suspend all GMS development projects "until the public views are included." They demanded that the Asian Development Bank "turn their assistance to small-scale, sustainable projects," clearly concerned about the social and ecological implications of the GMS large-scale development approach. One such project is the Mekong Power Grid, which allows the sale
of electricity from controversial large dams in China, Burma and
Laos to energy-hungry Thai and Vietnamese cities through the grid.
If unchecked, the bureaucratic and economic needs of this power
grid are bound to encourage construction of more dams upstream,
like the four proposed dams in Dechen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture-the
Liutongsiang, Jiabi, Wunenglong, and Tuoba projects-that are yet
to be formally approved by China. - top of page -
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| Truth from Facts By Carole Samdup** In a new and important book entitled, "State Growth and Social Exclusion in Tibet: Challenges of Recent Economic Growth", (University of Hawaii Press, available on amazon.com), development economist Andrew Martin Fischer debunks the myth that economic growth will automatically reduce poverty. Through a fascinating study of statistics and experiences in Tibet, based on a rigorous analysis of Chinese data, Fischer illustrates how poverty and exclusion are actually increasing with Tibet's growing economy. The book will be of keen interest for development agencies eager embrace China's "Go West" campaign as well as for advocates promoting genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people. Fischer is able to isolate the Tibetan experience within Chinese statistics, not because the statistics themselves are disaggregated along ethnic lines, but because of three primary observations: Tibetans account for 90% of the population in the Tibet Autonomous Region; 85% of Tibetans live in rural areas, and; the rural areas themselves are approximately 97.5% Tibetan. This means that rural surveys in the TAR can be assumed to describe the specific experience of Tibetans and also of most Tibetans in the TAR. It also means that they serve as a commentary on the true value of current Tibetan autonomy. Ever since his ground-breaking essay Poverty by Design: the Economics of Discrimination in Tibet (Canada Tibet Committee, 2002) Fischer has promoted the view that development policies in China's western regions are essentially exclusionary. He reaches his conclusion through the careful compilation of statistical data collected entirely from Chinese sources and analysed through a series of charts and graphs. Fischer's conclusions are informed by his own personal experiences in Tibet which included extensive interviews with farmers, nomads, urban entrepreneurs, government officials, teachers, students and scholars as well as with representatives of international non-governmental groups operating on the ground in Tibet. Fischer observes that strategies used to promote local participation and ownership within development processes in the rest of China, are simply ignored in Tibetan areas. To illustrate, he points to the overwhelming role of the state in Tibet's economy. He explains also how subsidies are used to advantage urban centres, where almost all Chinese migrants settle, at the expense of local Tibetans and Tibetan rural to urban migrants. Fischer points to declining incomes in rural areas while noting that the application of reform measures required under World Trade Organization rules have been skewed to disadvantage Tibetan farmers who are far less prepared for off-farm options. Fischer's compilation of data reveals that even as Tibetan incomes decrease and despite the overwhelming role of the state in Tibet's economy, provision of social services such as healthcare and education is far less in Tibet than in the rest of China. Fischer's conclusion that poverty among Tibetans is actually a "dynamic integral to the very process of modernization within Tibetan areas" is coupled with the observation that the nature of the development process itself is "essentially determined by the state". Given that the state in this case refers to the central government and not to the regional administration, this observation has implications for development agencies that negotiate their bilateral assistance programs for Tibet primarily in Beijing. Although suggestions for alternate approaches could have been more specific (and one hopes they will be the topic of his next book) Fischer does offer broad recommendations for the promotion of Tibetan interests through development assistance. First, he suggests massive expansion of social services, primarily education and health care, to replace large-scale infrastructure construction as the driver of subsidized growth. Secondly, he emphasizes the "Tibetan-ization" of development in Tibetan regions. Beyond simply involving Tibetans at the individual project level, this would require the prioritization of Tibetans within decision-making processes at the programming level as well as strategies to encourage Tibetan ownership of assets and businesses, and preferential treatment in contracting and employment policies. This book is a singularly valuable resource for advocates seeking to influence development policy and promote increased autonomy in Tibet. Written in a style at once accessible to the general public while also rigorous in methodology, State Growth and Social Exclusion in Tibet is a must-read and without doubt, a piece of work that will encourage new directions in research about Tibet. [*Carole Samdup is a program officer at Montreal-based Rights & Democracy and a founding member of the Canada Tibet Committee. She can be contacted via e-mail at csamdup@ichrdd.ca] - top of page -
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| Dynasty Gold Corp, another Canadian mining
company wants Tibet's gold (Source: http://www.dynastygoldcorp.com/i/pdf/TechReport-RedValley_Sep04.pdf) In the last two years, there have been reports of foreign-based mining companies announcing plans to mine gold in Tibet. Earlier this year, the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama expressed concerns over these plans and urged two specific Canadian companies -- Continental Minerals Corporation and Inter-Citic -- to reconsider their involvement "on moral and environmental grounds as World Bank, BP Amoco and SinoGold did after a careful study of the current reality inside Tibet" (http://tibet.net/flash/2005/0105/20C0105.html). There has been no reported response from the Canadian companies. Apparently, another Canadian company, Dynasty Gold Corp., had also entered into such a "joint venture." Dynasty Gold Corp.'s "Red Valley Project" is a 100 square kilometer area in the picturesque mountains of the northern Amdo region of "Dola" (in Tibetan) or Qilian county of Tsonub Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai Province. Another 1,000 square kilometer area may also be prospected. Dynasty will own 70% of the joint venture company, Qinghai Terrawest Gold Mining Company Limited, after investing 3 million dollars into the project. The partnering company, Qinghai Geological Institute, will own the remaining 30%. The expanding global "free trade" economy has enabled Canadian mining companies to enter developing countries such as China, Colombia, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where human rights and environmental protection standards are poor or non-existent. On July 13, 2005, the Canadian Parliament formally expressed concerns to the government "that Canada does not yet have laws to ensure that the activities of Canadian mining companies in developing countries conform to human rights standards, including the rights of workers and indigenous peoples." The government of Canada has not yet responded to the parliament's concerns, so many Canadian and international civil society groups have begun lobbying the government of Canada to adopt the recommendations made in the Parliament's report (http://miningwatch.ca/documents/FAAE_Rpt14-e.pdf).
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| Eight dams proposed in Kongpo Gyamda area (Source: PTI, June 15; www.tibetinfor.net; www.ctibet.org) Officials in the Tibet Autonomous Region are waiting for central government's approval of a 700 million yuan project to build eight dams on an important tributary of Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra), in Kongpo-Gyamda (Ch: Gongbudajiang) county in Nyingtri (Ch: Linzhi) prefecture. According to the prefectural Communist Party Secretary, construction will start "immediately" once they receive the green signal. According to Kevin Li, a consultant for the International Rivers Network, "the proposed dams are planned on "Ba River" ("Ba-he" in Chinese). Among the proposed dams, two - Xueka (Zhokha in Tibetan) and Laohuzui - are currently undergoing feasibility study and site selection process." According to official Chinese sources, the water resources of Nyingtri prefecture account for 70 percent of that of the Tibet Autonomous Region, making it "one of the rich-waterpower regions in China." "The hydropower station at the U-turn of the Yarlung Zangbo River [Brahmaputra in India] with an installed capacity of 60,000 MW, three times as much as the Three Gorges Project, has been listed by the United Nations as being one of the 10 super projects in the 21st century." Official Chinese sources also indicate that the electricity generated from these proposed dams in Nyingtri prefecture will eventually be connected to the main power grid of Central Tibet, around 2010, to support the Central Tibet's "comprehensive economic development," including the Gormo-Lhasa Railway and "the construction of the north Tibet oil field." - top of page -
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| UN Wetland Convention recognizes Kyaring
Tso and Ngoring Tso (Source: People's Daily, May 16.) At a UN Wetland Convention held in Beijing on May 15, the Secretariat of the UN Wetland Convention "officially recognized" the wetland surrounding Amdo region's Ngoring Tso and Kyaring Tso ("Eling" and "Zhaling" in Chinese), situated in the "nuclear area" of the newly established Sanjiangyuan - Three Rivers Headwaters -- nature reserve, as "an international wetland of importance." However, this international recognition may be become a smokescreen for mining, dam construction and forceful relocation of local Tibetans out of the "nature reserve park." "China persists in calling this arid region 'China's Number One Water Tower' although it is actually one of the more arid parts of the Tibetan Plateau, which itself is one of the driest regions of China," said Gabriel Lafitte, a lecturer on Human Ecology of Tibet at Victoria University. http://www.tibetjustice.org/tringyiphonya/num10.html#1
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| "A birthday gift to Kundun" (Source: www.phayul.com) Tibetans for a Vegetarian Society (T4VS), "the first Tibetan vegetarian and vegan group registered as a non-profit charitable trust" in India appealed people to become vegetarian or vegan on the occasion of the Dalai Lama's birthday. "T4VS feels this is the most befitting gift and the most honorable tribute to Kundun," writes Tenzin Kunga Luding, founder and Managing Trustee of T4VS. "Nearly 400 people from far away places like Greece, Iceland, France, USA, Sweden, Egypt, besides Indians and Tibetans" have pledged to join the "global campaign" to make their birthday gift to the beloved leader. "I am happy to learn from the media that even His Holiness wanted people to celebrate his birthday by being more altruistic." In Mcleod Ganj, Dharamsala, the exile seat of the Dalai Lama, the group members made direct appeals to the public, collected signatures on pledge cards, showed special documentary films through a local cable television network and organized a "Jham Ning-je" musical concert to further their message. Tibetan musical artists like Tenzin Woeser, Pemsi, Pempa Tsering, Karag Pempa, Dhondup Tashi, Jayang, Tsomo and Tsewang Lhakyi were joined by many volunteer singers in the show. - top of page -
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| Tibetan graduates in Amdo protest for jobs (Source: Radio Free Asia, July 15) Some 70 Tibetans, including many college graduates from Xunhua Salar Autonomous County, the birthplace of the previous Panchen Lama, launched a protest on July 11 in front of the Qinghai Provincial Government office in Xining, "accusing authorities of favoritism and discrimination in filling the few jobs available." Eight of the protestors are reported missing. "They included a youth identified as Dukar Kyab from Karing, whom police were said to have identified as a ringleader and beaten badly. No further information was immediately available." "According to an unconfirmed eyewitness account, police arrested and beat up eight Tibetan youths on July 13." "Sources in the region said Tibetans believe young Tibetan graduates are disproportionately represented among the unemployed in Xunhua Salar Autonomous County, mostly since 2000. Of 100 government positions opening this year, only 17 went to Tibetans, while ethnic Salars and Han Chinese filled the rest-many of them having completed only a high school education, the sources said. The Tibetan college students have accused authorities of discrimination and nepotism in hiring, and they say most local officials are Salars or Han Chinese."
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| Re-opening of Leh-Demchok-Lhasa road? (Source: Hindu, June 13. Courtesy: World Tibet Network News) According to news reports, the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wishes to bring up the re-opening of the Leh-Demchok-Tibet road with Chinese leaders in his forthcoming visit to China (and the Kargil-Skardu road with Pakistan). The Leh-Demchok-Tibet road, through Aksai Chin, has been closed due to border tensions, after the military occupation of Tibet by China, especially after the 1962 war between India and China. The opening of this road might help strengthen cross-border trade (legal as well as clandestine, such as trade in endangered species products) and benefit thousands of pilgrims who visit Mount Kailash/Lake Manasarovar in Tibet every year. Currently, "Chinese goods flood Ladakhi markets" despite closed borders and pilgrims take a much longer route to Tibet via Uttaranchal.
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| Railway from Lhasa to India? (Source: www.rediff.com, June 13) Officials of the Tibet Autonomous Region have expressed their "interest to extend the Qinghai-Tibet rail link to India and Nepal." Lobsang Gyaltsen, Vice Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region told a delegation of Indian reporters that they "are willing to promote the railway link between the region with South Asian countries, including Nepal and India." These officials were perhaps quite oblivious to the fact that the world's highest mountain range - the Himalayas - divides Tibet from India.
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| Orchid Capital's plans to mine Tibet's
gold and copper "under attack" (Source:The Sunday Times, Perth, Western Australia, June 19) The Australia
Tibet Council and London-based Free Tibet Campaign called on Orchid
Capital which will list on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM)
in London this month, to abandon its gold and copper projects until
China ceded control of the region's resources to native Tibetans.
The project includes "exploration in the immediate vicinity of sacred
Yamdrok Tso Lake for gold and the Qu Long and Jia Ma copper finds."
According to Australia Tibet Council spokesman Liam Phelan, the
international coalition of Tibetan rights groups are not anti-mining.
"Our view is [that] Tibetan people have the right to decide if and
how their resources are used. The difficulty is that given the Tibet-China
situation hasn't been resolved, Tibetan people aren't in a position
to make decisions freely." An Orchid spokeswoman told Sunday Times
that "Orchid is keenly aware the exploration and possible development
of Tibet's resources is a sensitive issue and we take this very
seriously." - top of page -
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| Tibetans in Amdo clash with Chinese
security forces over Yartsa-gumbu tax (Source: Radio Free Asia, June 6) According to Radio Free Asia reports, “thousands of Tibetans in China’s Qinghai Province have clashed violently with security forces in a protest over alleged graft by officials” in remote Dzato (Zado in Chinese) county of Yushu Prefecture. Several hundred security forces from outside the area are reported to have been brought in “to guard county government offices after a violent clash in which shots were fired and some county government offices were burned.” “The clash erupted after Dzato County officials levied a “tax” of 1,500 yuan (U.S. $181) per person in neighboring Tibetan areas before allowing them to visit the area to collect a medicinal fungus known as yartsa gunbu in Tibetan (in Chinese, chong cao, and in Latin, Cordyceps sinensis).” “A number of Tibetans who had traveled to Yushu Prefecture to collect yartsa gunbu but were barred from doing so demanded their money back” according to RFA sources. “Officials refused and instead summoned security forces who beat members of the crowd, striking some with electric prods.” “Yushu Prefecture comprises 300,000 people, 98 percent of whom are ethnic Tibetans. Its territory is vast, comprising about 260,000 square kms. Dzato County is one of China’s poorest areas, without paved roads or electricity.
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