Inside Tibet: The Growth and Development of Colonial Power

Inside Tibet: The Growth and Development of Colonial Power

Inside Tibet, the Occupying Colonial Power is growing and expanding her influence obliterating the Identity of Tibet, the Land and, People.

Rudranarasimham Rebbapragada

SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE

Inside Tibet: foreign journalists meet local people

Princess Wencheng

Prince Wencheng is a Tang Dynasty (618-907AD) Chinese princess who travelled thousands of miles to ancient Tibet to marry the great Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo. It was an amicable political affiliation of two great regional powers at the time. The story later became an important component of Tibetan folklore.

World stage: a performance of Princess Wencheng entertains guests at the Forum on the Development of Tibet Credit: Wang Jing / China Daily

• Liang Kaiyan, China Daily

18 July 2019 • 9:00am

Ahead of the 2019 Forum on the Development of Tibet, 69 foreign guests from 37 countries and regions were invited to visit the cities of Nyingchi and Lhasa and hold talks with citizens

Fast and dynamic development in the Tibet autonomous region has impressed a group of recent foreign visitors.

Ahead of the 2019 Forum on the Development of Tibet, which opened in mid-June in Lhasa, 69 foreign guests from 37 countries and regions including the United Kingdom, Italy and Argentina were invited by the State Council Information Office and the government of the Tibet autonomous region to visit the cities of Nyingchi and Lhasa and hold talks with people from various walks of life.

The four-day tour helped the reporters learn about Tibet’s development in fields including environmental protection, social development and culture.

Italian journalist Rita Fatiguso, of II Sole 24 Ore, has been to Tibet three times. A lot has happened in the nine years since she first came, she said.

Tibet is in a challenging geographical environment, but the Chinese government has invested heavily to make changes

People have become more affluent, not just in the abundance of food, but in their social lives as well, she said.

Tibet is in a challenging geographical environment, but the Chinese government has invested heavily to make changes. Great progress has been made as a result of huge input into infrastructure, she said.

In Nyingchi, a city in the Southeast part of Tibet, the delegation visited a local primary school and the villages of Xiga Monba and Tashigang. “I used to think Tibetan villages were all simple rural villages, but the villages we visited have more houses and facilities, and are totally different from what I had imagined,” said Zied Moumni, a French professor at Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi’an, Shaanxi province.

“When I see the modern facilities and the local traditions, the word that comes to me is harmony,” Moumni said.

With the advantages of ecology — the city has the largest forest coverage in Tibet — Nyingchi has also developed its tourism industry with the Lunang International Tourism Town and the Lunang Maker Space, a platform also engaged in selling local specialties and creative cultural products.

Tourists coming from Europe want to see beautiful nature, said Liz McLeod, creative director of Meridian Line Films in the UK.

“I think that I understand that the local government is trying to make a very comprehensive plan to make sure tourism is developed in the way that is in harmony with nature and doesn’t damage the environment,” McLeod said.

“To me, that is incredibly important, not just because the natural environment is essential for human survival, but also because Tibet is one of the places in the world where the natural environment is still in a good condition.”

In Lhasa, the delegation visited the Hospital of Traditional Tibetan Medicine, the Potala Palace, the Jokhang Temple and Barkor Street, as well as other places.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

This article was originally produced and published by China Daily. View the original article at chinadaily.com.cn