Tracking the Steel Dragon [antikvár]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY T ihe world's highest railroad across the Tibetan plateau to Lhasa (completed in July 2006) is the most high-profile symbol of Beijing's ambitious plans to develop the western regions of the People's Republic of China (PRC). As an indispensable element of Beijing's 'transportation revolution', the aim of its construction is to expand the influence and consohdate the control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which regards this as crucial to China's successful rise in the 2 rst century. This report documents the immediate impact of the railroad from Golmud in Qinghai to Lhasa in the context of China's strategic and economic objectives and shows that Beijing's policies on the plateau are: . Leading to a 'second invasion' of Tibet by accelerating the influx of Chinese people; • Causing the further exclusion of Tibetans from economic activity — which even Chinese analysts beheve risks provoking the very despair and opposition feared by the Chinese state in its quest for 'political stability'; • Damaging Tibet's fragile high-altitude environment, with disturbing imphcations for millions of people in the entire Asian region; • Threatening the extinction of one of the last examples of sustainable pastoralism on earth; • Heightening military readiness on the Tibetan plateau through the expansion of Chinese influence and construction of civil and military transport links, causing concern in neighboring India linked to disputed territory issues in the border areas between the two Asian giants; • Causing concern for the survival of Tibet's culture and rehgion, which is integral to Tibetan identity and important not only to Tibet, but also to China and the wider world. This report presents an alternative. It argues that only a re-orientation of economic strategy towards local integration — in effect, 'Tibetanizing' development — and the participation of Tibetans in decision-making in their economy could reverse the trend of marginalization and estrangement, and ultimately benefit the entire Asian region. l! I I