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Foreigners' Focus on Tibet Changes
2005-09-01 00:00

The largest JV in Tibet, set up by Lhasa Beer Co., Ltd. and Carlsberg was recently established. Media from Denmark will arrive in Lhasa soon for an in-depth report. Great societal and economic progress can be seen everywhere in Tibet, and foreigners' focus on Tibet is changing too, said Basang, an official with the Foreign Affairs Office of the Tibet Autonomous Region who is responsible for receiving foreign guests.

Born in Tibet, 42-year-old Basang has been engaged in receiving foreign political figures, diplomats and reporters for 19 years. She was conferred the honorary title of one of the "Ten Outstanding Young Foreign Affairs Workers of China" recently.

According to Basang, in the 1990's foreign delegations came to Tibet with an explicit purpose: to visit temples and prisons where they communicated with "political criminals"and "political dissidents"in an attempt to seek viewpoints and materials to support their "Tibetan human rights"and "Tibetan sovereignty"agendas. "Nowadays more and more foreigners prefer to visit ordinary peoples' homes to see whether the central government and inland provinces' assistance has really improved the living and working conditions of the Tibetan people. The state's key projects, cooperative medical service for farmers and herdsmen and compulsory education for adolescents, have become the focus of their attention," Basang said.

Last autumn a delegation made up of aides to members of the US House of Representatives made its way to a remote village in Langkazi County after changing the planned itinerary a few times. Upon arrival they were very much amazed and touched because they found a "real Tibet", where the herdsman had built beautiful houses, installed solar energy stoves, and even made butter with washing machines. Some foreigners still pay visits to temples or jails with old impressions, but they finally end up being touched by the objective reality in Tibet, Basang said.

In 2004 Basang received a delegation consisting of US Congressmen's aides. The members claimed to "express support for Tibet to gain freedom", but after they saw with their own eyes the satisfaction that the religious believers enjoyed in religious places, they realized that the reality in Tibet was not the same as what they had heard or imagined. At last they had to acknowledge that much of the information that the Dalai Group had provided to the US Congress could not withstand examination. One member of the delegation, David Dorrman, said that what he saw in Tibet was quite different from what he had been told before. He said it should be acknowledged that China attaches much importance to the principle of rule by law as its economy has grown rapidly and the legal system has improved.

Foreigners' shift of focus can be attributed to the continuous economic growth and great improvement of the people's livelihood in Tibet. "Tibet has nothing to hold back or to hide from any country or anyone at present. Tibetans' confidence is stronger than ever. Even if there are some problems, this is a normal phenomenon in the cause of progress,"Basang said.

The number of political figures, diplomats, congressmen, officials from international organizations and journalists from different countries that the Tibet Foreign Affairs Office receives has been increasing each year. The Office has tried its best to satisfy foreign guests' requirements so that they are able to evaluate today's Tibet with their own eyes objectively. The Tibetan economy has maintained an annual growth rate of 12 percent for four consecutive years since 2001. Last year the GDP of 21.15 bln RMB set a new high.

Basang said, "As an autonomous region of China, Tibet is vigorously erecting a new image to the outside world. We believe the international community will pay more attention to Tibet's progress, and more and more foreign businessmen will come to invest and seek cooperation in Tibet."

By People's Daily Online

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