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TRIN-GYI-PHO-NYA: Tibet's Environment & Development
Digest
Issue 5, March 3, 2004
I. OP-ED: Mobizing Against China’s Dam Plans
II. OP-ED: Environment Eclipsed By Politics
III. English translation of a smuggled tape from Tibet urging the UN to
protect Potala Palace
IV. News-in-Brief
V. Job Announcement for Tibetans
I. OP-ED: Mobilizing Against China's Dam Plans
Doris Shen*
Over 80 people's groups in Thailand and Burma are speaking out against China's plans for large dams on the Nu (or Salween) River. The groups say that the dams will bring devastating effects for people downstream, and called on China to consult with downstream communities who depend on the river for fishing and farming.
Increased criticisms of the plans for the Nu are not only coming from the outside. Within China, academics, journalists and activists from China's burgeoning NGO sector are also expressing concerns about the social and environmental impacts of the dam cascade.
The Nu River, or Gyalmo Ngulchu for upstream Tibetan people, becomes the Salween as it flows into Burma and along the Thailand border. Releases of "sediment-hungry" water from upstream dams could erode riverbanks downstream, destroying dry season riverbank vegetable gardens and destabilizing housing structures. Changes in the sediment load and water flow will carry harmful impacts to fisheries.
"There are many Thai-Karen communities living along the river and its tributaries. These communities have been living there for generations," said Chinarong Sretthachau, Director of the South East Asia Rivers Network (SEARIN), based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. "Their lives depend on the richness of the lush ecosystem and natural resources of the Salween river basin."
With the emergence of a new Chinese leadership that claims to be committed to more openness, public participation, environmental protection, and reducing social inequalities, Chinese civil society is experiencing a marked increase in political freedom. This new freedom is permitting increasing public criticism of China's dam-building plans, in particular of the proposed dams in the southwest. The recent indefinite suspension of a dam by the governor of Sichuan Province following public awareness campaigns about the dam's impacts to a cultural heritage site is a striking sign of the new atmosphere within the country.
Journalists, researchers, and NGO activists from across the country recently came together to discuss the impacts of hydropower projects. Hosted by the Centre for Environment and Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), participants in the Beijing meeting were mainly concerned about the dams in the southwest but also discussed resettlement and environmental impacts of dams more generally, international trends in dam building, and the broader environmental impacts of the "Go West" development drive.
China is relying heavily on hydropower to meet its soaring demand for electricity. Officials plan to triple installed hydroelectric capacity to 270,000 MW by 2020.
"This situation calls for reform of regulations governing these projects and the mechanism for implementing those regulations," said Li Dun, a professor with the Centre for Study of Contemporary China at Qinghua University. "Evaluation of project impacts should be done by independent experts and their names should be made public. Construction plans should be subject to public scrutiny, and officials who make decisions that prove to be wrong should be held accountable," Professor Li suggested.
[*Doris Shen runs the China Program at the Internatational Rivers Network
based in Berkeley, California. She can be contacted via e-mail at doris@irn.org]
II. OP-ED: Environment Eclipsed By Politics
Gabriel Lafitte*
As soon as environmentalists take an interest in Tibet, they are immediately pressured to take sides. Environmental NGOs in the rich countries must choose to work in China, by Chinese rules, or to forego all opportunity of doing anything practical and grounded inside China if they choose to associate with Tibetans free to speak, in exile. Environmental NGOs have flourished in recent years in China, and it would be cynical to dismiss them as tools of the Chinese government, though many are offshoots of official institutions and all must operate within strict limits. However many of these Chinese NGOs work in Tibet, helping stop poaching of rare species by immigrant hunters, and in conserving watersheds and wetlands. They do work where the Chinese government has failed to do.
China's all-embracing definition of what is political means that Tibetans cannot organise their own NGOs, for fear of being labeled political and splittist, even if their sole objective is to replant trees on eroding hillslopes. So far the only NGOs able to work in Tibet are founded by Chinese in distant cities, who come to Tibet, but have limited connection with Tibetans.
One way of dealing with the hyper-politicisation of Tibet is to turn environmental issues into strictly technical scientific questions. This is the strategy favoured by international NGOs operating in Tibet such as The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund. This enables them to get official permission to work in remote areas of the Tibetan Plateau, and do scientific research, and come up with comprehensive integrated plans for biodiversity conservation and biome protection. But the scientific technical language tends to exclude Tibetans from active participation, not just because the language is technical but also because ecology as a discipline tends to consider humans, including populations who have shaped the land for thousands of years, as extra to the ecosystem. Yet again, Tibetans miss out, or are even seen as part of the problem.
Instead of including Tibetans, as owners and managers of reforestation, wildlife rangers, bearers of indigenous knowledge, the locals are all too often sidelined, or blamed as hunters invading the nature reserve with trucks and rifles, stealing firewood from a forest from which they have been fenced out. This sets up an unhealthy antagonism between human and environmental needs, which is quite unnecessary given the Tibetan desire to repair what has been lost in recent decades, as species diversity declined under immigrant predation.
China has discovered it cannot forever take both Tibetan trees and Tibetan water as if they were an unending free public good, a cost free form of natural capital there for the taking. China has switched to conservation of watersheds crucial to downstream water supply. This switch promises to reforest and conserve much of Kham and Amdo, in eastern Tibet, that had been increasingly stripped for timber and mineral extraction. Now that reforestation is official policy, and international NGOs are involved, there is opportunity for Tibetans to regain a direct role in rehabilitation of degraded landscapes. Yet all too often China's method of achieving reforestation or protection excludes Tibetans. China calls one of its remediation policies 'mountain closure', which means fencing regenerating hillslopes against nomadic use, excluding pastoralists from pasture and from involvement in land management. When seedlings are planted and steep slopes reseeded, all too often Tibetans are excluded from employment as careers. Instead much sowing is done by dropping seeds from the air, a wasteful and ineffective, literally top-down approach.
The international NGOs now generating biosphere conservation plans for major parts of Tibet have an important opportunity to quietly overcome this exclusion of Tibetans, and educate Chinese officials in the lessons learned in the past 30 years in social forestry and community participation. Exclusion is self-defeating. The only argument for ongoing exclusion of Tibetans from regenerating Tibet is political. Perhaps we will soon be able to look at environmental and sustainable Tibetan livelihood issues in their own right, not as a purely political issue.
[*Gabriel Lafitte teaches at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia.
He can be contacted via e-mail at glafitte@techinfo.com.au]
III. Excerpts from the English translation of a smuggled tape
from Tibet urging the UN to protect Potala Palace from mishandled renovation
(Source: Voice of America, Tibetan Language Service, Feb.3, 2003)
We are sending this information from Tibet. In light of the studies we have done, we request the Voice of America to broadcast this brief information about the Potala Palace to the United Nations cultural preservation agency, to Chinese officials, to Tibet, and to everyone, for if we speak in Tibet, we cannot make our point.
It is not good to be ignorant of this information, because the Chinese are using the Potala Palace—which is under the protection of the United Nations world heritage list—as a plaything. That is to say, during its first renovation the Chinese authorities destroyed a section, about ten meters in diameter, of the three-dimensional mandala that was constructed by the Seventh Dalai Lama. And now it is beyond repair. In addition, the Chinese authorities say to everyone and to the world that they have spent around a hundred million yuan on the restoration of the Potala Palace. They have really given this money to hoodwink the Tibetans. Even then, during the so-called renovation work, they avoid giving renovation work to Tibetan master craftsmen. Instead, almost all of the work is given to Chinese.
The renovation work carried out by the Chinese is totally different from the work carried out by the Tibetans. The reason is that the Potala Palace, which was built using only earth and stone, has a long history of thirteen hundred years, and during the time it was built there was no cement. Now, during the renovation they use cement, so that they can finish the job quickly.
All the work with the painting of the Potala Palace frescos and the pounding and flattening of its floors has been given to Chinese, but the Chinese don’t know anything about how to do the work. The reason is that our Tibetan arka [a composite material of pulverized marble and oil, used for making floors] has unique characteristics. We can see still point to arka floors that are more than thirteen hundred years old. The Chinese say that the Tibetan method of making their aggregate mixture is not correct and instead they use a mixture of cement, soil and hair to make the floor, which is worthless.
The traditional Tibetan method of erecting walls involves putting small pieces of tamarisk wood between the walls and the roof. On the Yugyal Jok (gYu rgyal lcog) and Sharchen Jok (shar chen lcog) [two of the three rooms raised above the rest of the Potala structure], the Chinese are replacing the wood with cement and iron. The workers find it impossible to appeal to the United Nations to stop this from being done. Cement has a history of only one hundred years and it will cause great hardship to the renovation. By taking out all the tamarisk wood from the wall, there is every possibility that all the materials will be damaged and become useless.
At present, even if there is a slight chance of a wall coming down, we have the means and required expertise to renovate it immediately. If cement and iron is used then it will make future renovation work impossible. This is an important issue. Therefore it would be good, if possible, for the renovation of the Potala Palace to be carried out by Tibetan carpenters and masons only, without even a single Chinese being involved. If that is not possible, then at least the work should be carried out under the supervision and direction of Tibetan experts. At present, the Chinese don’t take advice. For example, with wood, they soak very high quality dry wood in pesticide in a place in Lhasa called Drip. When we compare the quality of the wood that has been treated with pesticide to the dry wood we see that the treated wood is very inferior. For instance, if we throw the treated wood on the floor, it breaks into pieces immediately. Basically, the treatment method is incorrect.
Similarly, the roof of the room in the Potala Palace that houses the Eighth and Ninth Dalai Lamas’ tombs has been completely removed. Although it is said that a new roof will be put on jointly by China and the Lhasa renovation office, in reality only the Chinese have any actual authority. But even when the Chinese carry out the renovation, they will not follow standard techniques, which will cause further damage to the structure. They are doing this only to earn money, because there is no way they are capable of doing the renovation.
Whatever work is initiated and carried out for the benefit of the Tibetan people, we request that it be done only after consulting with the Tibetan people.
In Tibet, there is no way to look forward because our leaders think only in terms of losing their jobs and titles. If a Tibetan speaks out, he or she is criticized by saying that a nationalist or a separatist is raising his or her voice, so there is no place where we can speak. To put it in brief, the Chinese are playing with the Potala Palace, illustrated by the fact that when the Chinese talk of putting in a pounded floor, they use a mixture of soil, cement, hair, and, sometimes, glue.
[…] since all the authorities are Chinese, we Tibetans do not have any say.
The planned duration for the renovation of the Potala is three years. Already two years has elapsed and only one year is remaining. Since there are no beams or rafters left, once again they had to go to Kongpo to cut some timber. The Tibetan elder generation used to tell us that, in the olden days, the lumber for the Potala renovations had to be dried for eleven or twelve years before it was ready to be used. Now, they cut the tree and immediately dry it by using electric drying machines. This process causes cracks in the wood and ultimately the wood gets ripped apart.
UNESCO has declared the Potala Palace to be an important world heritage site, the UN must now lend its support in real terms.
NEWS IN BRIEF (Prepared by Dolkar Tenzing*)
1. Dechen Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, The Biggest Copper Center in China?
According to Yunnan Xinhua News, January 3, 2004, Dechen (Diqing in Chinese) "will become the biggest copper field in China." Located between the Sichuan and Yunnan valleys, Dechen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture has rich non-ferrous metals especially copper, zinc and lead. Exploratory research at the Prefecture's Yangla reserve is reported to have found more than 600,000 tons of copper. Transference of mining rights to Yunnan Copper Group in June 2003 have marked the beginning of exploitation of the Yanla mines, according to the same report. Pulang, another major copper field in Dechen TAP, is reported to have more than 2,000,000 tons of copper. Yunnan Copper Group's Zhou Shaoliu has stated that the two reserves (Yangla and Pulang) possess "millions of tons of copper" and are expected to produce 1,500,000 tons of refined copper annually, making Dechen Tibet Autonomous Prefecture "the biggest source of copper in China."
Warning readers from taking official Chinese news at face value, Gabriel Lafitte, an independent Tibet analyst, said that the "the tonnages announced by China remain quite unproven to be in any way commercial. The recent announcement by SinoGold that they are pulling out of Jinkang gold deposit confirms that there is always a big gap between government boasts of total tonnages in deposits, and a commercial, viable mining enterprise. The figures in tonnages announced by Chinese government are often driven by corporate puffery."
2. Chinese Students and International Activists Voice Concern Over Plans
to Develop Gyalmo Ngulchu
(Source: www.chinariver.org)
Students from ten universities in Chongqi Povince organized a signature petition against the construction of 13 dams on Gyalmo Ngulchu (Salween River, Nu Jiang in Chinese), which was approved by China’s State Department and Reform Committee in August 2003 (See Issue 2 of Trin-gyi-pho-nya). Urging the government not to make policy decisions based on economic benefits alone, Tan Qiuping, leader of the Environmental Committee of the Sichuan Foreign Language Department, requested that the government consider the opinions of environmental experts and the public before beginning the projects. Qiuping argues that poverty alleviation of the people of Nu Jiang could be done by means other than generating electricity from the river. In November 2003, 62 people, including scientists, writers, journalists, singers and movie stars, signed a petition against the project (see Issue 4 of Trin-gyi-pho-nya).
Plans to develop Gyalmo Ngulchu are also criticized by groups like the Thailand based South East Asia Rivers Network (SEARIN) and the US based International Rivers Network. Aviva Imhof of the International Rivers Network warned that the "construction of the dam would subject residents living in the project area to further systematic human rights violations."
3. Hunter Dickinson to Mine Copper in Tibet
(Source: http://www.hdgold.com/kmk/Home.asp)
Canada based Hunter Dickinson Inc. (HDI) has acquired a 60% interest in China NetTV Holdings Inc.’s (CNTVHI) Shethongmon (Xietongmen in Chinese) Gold-Copper deposit, situated approximately 240 kilometers southwest of Lhasa and located between the Gangtisi Mountains and Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) River. According to the “Property Option Agreement” signed by the two companies, “Continental will pay a total of US$2,000,000 and incur expenditures totaling US$5,000,000 over a 24-month period in order to earn 50% interest in the Property from China NetTV holdings Inc.” “Continental has the right to acquire a further 10% interest in the Property by incurring a further US$3,000,000 in expenditures. Upon Continental earning its interest, further work would proceed under a joint venture arrangement between the companies.”
4. Sino Gold Pulls Out of Tibet
(Source: Australia Tibet Council; Business Report, South Africa, February
1, 2004)
Australia based Sino Gold Limited has announced that the company has cancelled its plans to mine gold in Tibet. This decision marks a victory for an international coalition of Tibetan rights advocates, led by the Australia Tibet Council, that have been trying to stop Sino Gold from mining Tibet’s gold. Welcoming Sino Gold’s decision, Paul Bourke of Australia Tibet Council said, “We're pleased that Sino Gold has chosen to do the right thing." "Tibet's gold and other resources rightfully belong to the Tibetan people. We believe it is irresponsible to extract non renewable resources while Tibetans are unable to exercise their internationally recognised human rights, including deciding how their resources should be used."
Although Sino Gold said its decision was economic, based on the low quality of gold ore at the site, it is clear that pressure from activist groups played an important role. South Africa based Gold Fields, a partner company of Sino Golds, had brought up the “Tibetan issue” at an internal executive meeting between the companies even though Gold Fields was not directly involved in Jinkhang, Tibet. Gold Fields has a 10 percent stake in Sino Gold and a 50-50 joint venture with Sino to acquire and explore gold properties in Shandong Province, China's richest gold producing region. “With solid prospects outside (Tibet), this one project had to be weighed against the potential damage that staying in Tibet could do to all shareholders' corporate reputations,” said Business Report.
5. Lhasa Beer Join Hands With Carlsberg
(Direct quote from Tibet News Digest - 13 February 2004)
“In a press statement released on 10 February 2004, Carlsberg, the Danish brewers, announced that it and the Danish Industrialization Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) is to acquire 50% of the share capital of Lhasa Brewery in the TAR. The acquisition makes Carlsberg the market leader in the TAR's fast growing beer market. In a speech in Lhasa, Sven Riskærs, the managing director of IFU, who initiated the deal, said, ‘I believe that this could be the beginning of successful investment co-operation between Danish and local enterprises in the Tibet Autonomous Region.’ As Lhasa Brewery is free from debt, had a turnover of approximately $20 million in 2003 (€16 million, £11 million) and has approximately 45% of the market, it makes it one of the most profitable breweries in the region. According to a report by Agence France Presse (AFP), the current owner of the brewery, Tibet Galaxy Science & Technology Development Co. Ltd. and Wilton Pacific will first set up a 50-50 brewery venture, capitalized at $29.6 million ( €23 million, £15.6 million). Carlsberg will then purchase Wilton's stake in the venture, which is expected to have annual production capacity of 150 000 tons.”
6. Four Dams Proposed for Upper Yangtze River
(Source: Beijing Youth Daily, February 12, 2004)
As a part of the "West to East Energy Transfer Project" (xi dian dong song), four new hydropower stations have been proposed for construction along the Jinsha River, an upstream stretch of the Yangtze River. All four dams are located on the border between Yunnan Province and Sichuan Province, between the cities of Panzhihua and Yibing, located along the southeastern borders of traditional Tibet.
The 12,600 mw Xiluodu and 6,000 mw Xiangjiaba dams were already approved by the State Council, in October 2002. Approvals for the 7,400 mw Wudongde and 12,500 mw Baihetan are still pending. Preliminary site preparation construction will commence at Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba this year, while pre-feasibility studies will be carried out at Wudongde and Baihetan. The Central Government plans to use income from the Three Gorges project to build the new dams. The entire four-dam project is supposed to be completed by 2017.
7. Campaign to Make Tibetan Antelope the 2008 Olympic Mascot
(Source: ChinaTibet Network. February 9, 2004)
Qinghai Kekexili Nature Reserve Park, located in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, announced that they submitted the Tibetan Antelope as a candidate for the mascot of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Other candidates include the Panda, Huanan Tiger and the Monkey King, the legendary monkey who assisted a Chinese monk in bringing Buddhism to China from India. The campaign to make the Tibetan Antelope the 2008 Olympic mascot has been conceived to raise awareness about the endangered species that is hunted for its fine wool, shatoosh. The announcement drew much attention among environmental groups as well as the Olympic Committee.
The manager of Kekexili Nature Reserve said that the Tibetan Antelope possesses the spirit of the Olympic Games. The Tibetan Antelope signifies strength and endurance by living in a very harsh environment, at an altitude between 4700-5000 meters. The Tibetan Antelope is also known for its speed as it can run upto 70-110 kilometers per hour. The Tibetan Antelope also symbolizes peace, as it has a gentle nature and does not harm other animals.
8. Tso-Ngonpo (Qinghai Lake) Splits into Several Lakes
(Source: Xinhua, February 24, 2004)
Tso-Ngon, the largest lake on the Tibetan Plateau, has split into one large lake and several smaller ones according to a satellite photograph. “Xu Weixin, an engineer from the Qinghai Provincial Remote Sensing Center, attributed the separation of Qinghai Lake to shrinkage of the water surface as a result of a lowered water level and desertification in the region.” Tso-Ngon covers more than 4,000 square kilometers in area. According to the same report, the water level of Tso-Ngon “has lowered by 3.7 meters in the past three decades and its water surface shrank by 312 square kilometers.” “In the 1960s, 108 freshwater rivers emptied into it. However, 85 percent of the rivers around the lake have dried up now, including the Buh River, the lake's largest tributary.”
9. Kentucky Fried Chicken In Tibet
(Directly quoted from TIN News Digest, 16 January 2004)
China Daily reports that KFC, the US fast-food chain, a subsidiary of Yum Brands Inc with 1,000 outlets throughout China, has received permission from the government to enter Tibet, Samuel Su, Yum's greater China chief told reporters on 15 January. Su said Yum planned to open hundreds of KFC outlets in the country in 2004 and expand the Taco Bell franchise outside the commercial hub of Shanghai. "Our experience has shown that when we get into cities, the people are so excited that KFC has finally arrived that we attract very large crowds," he said.
10. 22 More Dams on the Gyarong Ngulchu
(Source: www.spddr.com, February 26, 2004)
With Pubugou currently under construction and Gongzui and Tongjiezi completed, reports indicate there are currently 22 more dams -- with a total installed capacity of 23,400 mw -- planned to be constructed on the mainstream of the Gyarong Ngulchu (Daduhe river). The State Power Dadu River Development Co. plans to complete 15 of the dams between 2001 and 2020. The company announced that four major banks in China -- China Construction Bank, Industry and Commerce Bank of China, China Development Bank and Bank of China have expressed their long-term financial support of the projects.
[Dolkar Tenzing is an intern with Tibet Justice Center's Environment
and Development Program]
V. JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR TIBETANS (Source: www.phayul.com)
1. Tibetan Centre for Conflict Resolution requires a professional accountant and invites applications from qualified Tibetans. Applicants should have a minimum degree of B.Com from a recognised university.
General Requirements:
The applicant must have an up-dated Green Book and RC.
No objection letter from your employer if currently employed.
An attested copy of the required documents along with a CV should be attached
with the application.
Application should be submitted before 31st March 2004 to the given address.
Application received after the date stated would not be heeded.
Salary: Rs. 5000/ and other benefits.
Send your application package to:
The Director
Tibetan Centre for Conflict Resolution
Nangsi House, Gangchen Kyishong,
Dharamsala- 176215
Distt. Kangra H.P. INDIA
Telephone: 01892- 226627
E-mail: tccroffice@yahoo.com
2. The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) invites application from bonafide Tibetans for three vacant posts in the Centre: Two Researchers and one General Assistant. As a contract, the selected candidates will be required to serve the Centre for a minimum period of three years.
TCHRD is a registered non-governmental organisation (NGO) established in January 1996 with the primary objective of monitoring, researching and documenting human rights situation in Tibet. The Centre also works toward global awareness of human rights situation in Tibet, educating Tibetans in exile on human rights concepts and democratic values and working with other human rights organisations around the world towards common goal of universal freedom and peace.
Applicants for all the three positions should possess and furnish copies
of the following documents along with the application:
Degree Certificates
Registration Certificate up to date
Green Book up to date
One page resume or bio data
Medical fitness certificate from any registered medical practitioner
No objection certificate from present employer if employed
General Conditions:
Late and incomplete application will not be entertained
Application Deadline: 15 March 2004
Documents must be attested by gazetted CTA staff holding the post of Joint
Secretary or above or concerned settlement/welfare officer
Provide clear forwarding address with available email/phone
At the time of interview, the candidates must produce their original mark
sheet/degree certificate
The Centre shall reserve the right to reject any application without citing
any reasons. Short-listed and prospective candidates will be intimated
by email latest by 25 March 2004. Mode of selection will be written tests
(both English and Tibetan) and interview.
ENGLISH RESEARCHER
Job Description: The selected candidates will be required to understand
and carry out works related to human rights and democracy at the Centre.
They will join the Research team of the Centre and will research and write
reports on human rights situation in Tibet. The candidates will also be
required to take up multiple tasks as and when necessary.
Salary: Gross total Rs. 7276/ per month inclusive of House Rent.
Essential Qualifications:
Minimum B.A. or equivalent degree with 50% marks (Special weitage will
be given to candidates with English major)
Preferred Skills:
Good command over written and spoken English
Experience in research, translation and report writing
Experience or knowledge in human rights field or subject
Working knowledge of Tibetan language
Good computer skills
GENERAL ASSISTANT
Job Description: This full-time position will be in-charge of the Reception
Desk, handle the official email account of the Centre, support the Education
and Campaign sections, provide general clerical support to the Executive
Director, attend to Director's emails/letters and manage appointments
of the Director in his/her absence.
Salary: Gross total Rs. 6648/- per month inclusive of House Rent.
Essential Qualifications:
Minimum B.A. or equivalent degree with 50% marks
Preferred Skills:
Good command over written and spoken English
Good working knowledge of Tibetan and Hindi languages
Good computer skills
Ability to work under extreme pressure and at short notices
Address your application to:
"Confidential"
The Executive Director
Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy
Gangchen Kyishong, Dharamsala - 176215 (HP), INDIA
Telefax: 01892 223363/225874
Email: tsewangl@tchrd.org
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