Tibetan exiles slam China railway project

In this story: 'Tibetans have no say' Revived project RELATED STORIES, SITES

NEW DELHI, India -- The Tibetan government-in-exile has attacked Beijing's plan to build a railway to Lhasa, saying it would threaten the fragile ecosystem of their homeland and invite a big wave of Chinese settlers.

China recently approved a controversial proposal to extend the rail track from Golmud in the northwestern Chinese province of Qinghai to the Tibetan capital, more than 1,100 km (690 miles) away.

"The proposed Lhasa-Golmud railway line will mean that more Chinese settlers will swamp Tibet and Tibet's untapped natural resources will find their way to China," spokesman Kalon T.C. Tethong said in a statement from Dharamsala in India, seat of the government-in-exile.

He alleged that the multi-billion project was a ploy to "sinicize" a region that China's troops occupied in 1950, just as Inner Mongolia and Manchuria were "totally swamped by Chinese settlers."

China argued the proposed railway will provide an economic lifeline to Tibet, where per capita income is only half the national average despite more than 50 years of Chinese rule.

'Tibetans have no say'

Tibetan activists have long accused Beijing of trying to settle as many Chinese as possible in their homeland.

"We are not against development per se. But we strongly protest development projects over which the Tibetan people have no say and which contribute to undermining their ability to maintain their distinct cultural identity," Tethong said, as quoted by Reuters news agency.

He also said the railway was a strategy to cement Chinese rule over the Tibetan plateau and warned that it could affect the security of the neighboring countries because China would be able to move troops and supplies rapidly across the region.

He warned that the railway will require extensive tunnel and bridge systems, threatening the delicate high altitude ecosystems with erosion, siltation and pollution.

"There is a mention in the Chinese leadership's statement saying that environmental concerns have to be observed, but that's just a whitewash," the Associated Press reported Tethong as saying. "No serious environmental impact studies have been made."

Revived project

The project was first mooted during the 1950s, but was shelved in 1987 due to technical problems of construction on the inhospitable Tibetan terrain.

The idea was revived at the Chinese National People's Congress last March and listed in the central budget for the 10th Five Year Plan, with work set to start in June.

The exiled administration also said that the project cost would be higher than 19.4 billion yuan ($2.34 billion), which was calculated in 1995.

They said that price fails to take into account indirect costs such as expropriation of pastoral and agricultural land from local authorities.

Thousands of Tibetans followed their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to India after a failed uprising in 1959.

The Dalai Lama, considered the highest authority in Tibetan Buddhism, has maintained a government in exile in India since 1960.

Separately, about 200 Tibetans staged a protest in New Delhi on Tuesday, shouting anti-China slogans and wearing T-shirts which read: "Say no to the 2008 Olympics in China."

A statement from the Tibetan Women's Association, alleging human rights violations by China, called on people not to support a bid by Beijing to host the 2008 Olympics.

The Dalai Lama also said China should only be allowed to stage the Olympics if the event would advance the cause of human rights.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.

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