Natural conditions in Tibet are extremely harsh. On
the Tibetan Plateau the air is thin and temperature low,
with air pressure and oxygen levels measuring less than
two-thirds of those at lower-altitude plains. The duration
of time that the temperature is above ten degrees centigrade
is less than half that in Heilongjiang province--china's
most northern province. Arable land accounts for only 0.2 to
0.3 percent of the whole of Tibet. In an effort to change
the backwardness of Tibet and bring prosperity to all
nationalities the Central Government has adopted favourable
policies with respect to Tibet and people
throughout China have donated manpower, materials financial
and technical aid to Tibet.
In the past 40
years the Central Government has channelled 20 billion yuan
RMB into Tibet as financial subsidies and capital
construction investment. In recent years the amount has been
no less than one billion yuan per annum the highest per
capita amount of all provinces and municipalities. In
addition to providing financial aid, the Central Government
has adopted a low-tax policy with regard to Tibet. There is
an unlimited amount of credit available to Tibet. Investors
enjoy favourable interest rates while the local government
is allowed to keep all the revenue it earns in foreign
currency. Tibet is among the few districts in the world
where no agricultural tax is collected.
Before
the 1950s Tibet had no industry except for a 92 '-kilowatt
hydropower station in Lhasa, a small armaments factory and
a small mint whose staff members scarcely
numbered 1 00. Today Tibet boasts a dozen or so modern
industries including power, mining chemical industry,
engineering and textiles. There are more than 300 modern
industrial enterprises. Tibet's mineral industry is famous
as China's biggest chromium iron reserves is found in
Luobusa in Qusum County and China's biggest geothermal
experimental base is located on the Yangbajain grassland.
Manufactured goods in traditional Tibetan styles are
produced in better quality materials with the international
market in mind. Tibetan carpet leather handicrafts and
objects for religious use have already appeared on the
international market.
Infrastructures
construction has begun to shorten the distance between Tibet
and China's interior, as narrow paths and rattan bridges are
becoming relics of the past. Modern cars travelling along
the highways have replaced the old transport systems which
mainly depended on humans and animals. Dozens of national
and international air routes and the five highways
connecting Tibet with Sichuan, Qinghai, XinJiang, Yunnan and
Nepal have fundamentally changed the former isolation of
Tibet. A transport network within Tibet has also been
established. Meanwhile the development of telecommunications
has allowed Tibet to become an information society. Tibet
now has 41 satellite receiving stations and half of the
counties are equipped with programme-con- trolled
telephones. It has over 720 broadcasting television and
satellite receiving stations. Towns and cities can generally
receive at least five television channels. The Tibetan
television station is connected to a satellite which covers
the whole country so its programmes can be seen in the rest
of China and other countries. The transformation and
expansion of urban Lhasa is eye-catching. Residential
housing has already reached one million square metres and
the earth roads of the past have been replaced by
granite-surfaced or cement roads.
From 1951 to
the present, the population of Tibetans in Tibet has enjoyed
its fastest growth in the past 1,000 years. When China
conducted its first national census in 1953. the local
Tibetan government headed by the Dalai Lama declared that
Tibet had a population of one million. The second national
census conducted in 1964 showed that Tibet had a population
of 1.251 million of which 1.209 million were Tibetans,
accounting for 94.4 percent of the total. Tibet's population
had risen to 2.196 million by 1990 according to the fourth
national census, of whom 2,096 million or about 95.46
percent were of Tibetan nationality. The average life
expectancy rose from 35.5 years old in the 1950s to 65 years
old. Between 1982 and 1990 the natural growth rate
of the population of Tibetans in Tibet was 17.34
per thousand, 2.64 per thousand higher than the average
national figure. The farming and pastoral areas of Tibet are
the only districts in China where the family planning policy
is not implemented. There every woman has 4.2 children on
aver- age. Improvement in medical care and hygiene have
played an important role in the population increase. There
are now 1 ,070 medical establishments in Tibet, with 5,042
beds and, 9,683 professional medical workers. Thus there
are two hospital beds and 1 .25 doctors for every
thousand people. It is common knowledge that people in
northern European countries enjoy free medical care, but
this policy has lasted for more than 40 years in Tibet.The
poor and the handicapped enjoy even more favourable
treatment.
In old Tibet education was
extremely backward and was controlled by the monasteries.
The number of children going to school was no more than
3,000 at its highest. Thus less than two percent of children
of school age were able to go to school. Education developed
very quickly after the peaceful liberation of Tibet. In 1994
there were over 3,000 schools of all kinds with 230,000
students which means that 63.2 percent of children of school
age were attending school. In an attempt to preserve Tibetan
culture and ancient traditions children in Tibet, whether
Tibetan or Han Chinese, are required to learn the Tibetan
language. Education in Tibet from primary school to
university level is free. Primary school students in remote
outlying areas enjoy the benefits of a special policy making
the government cover the costs of their accommodation, food
and clothing. Some of the more developed provinces in the
interior help to share the expense of Tibet's education
system. Indeed Tibetan schools or classes have been
established in 26 provinces and cities in the interior where
children learn the Tibetan language, mathematics, physics,
chemistry, history, Chinese and English. Tibet is
represented in cultural performances, sporting competitions
and art exhibitions at national level and in some of these
fields Tibetans display first-rate achievements.
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