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RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 3173

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENGDU 000239 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM, INR, AND G 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  9/27/2032 
TAGS: PGOV PINR CH
SUBJECT: PORTRAIT OF A "HELP TIBET CADRE" 
 
REF: CHENGDU 159 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: James A. Boughner, Consul General, U.S. Consulate 
General, Chengdu. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  A two-week road trip in remote western areas of 
the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), throughout which we were 
closely accompanied by both Tibetan and Han Chinese officials, 
gave the Consulate a rather unique opportunity to experience 
firsthand the sometimes tense working dynamic at play between 
the two groups.  While the central government provides a 
generous benefit package to encourage Han Chinese officials to 
volunteer to work in the TAR and "assist" in its development, 
cultural sensitivity does not always appear to be part of the 
agenda.  A newly-appointed Lhasa Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) 
Deputy Director sent by Beijing told CG he believes it "highly 
unlikely" China will ever allow the Dalai Lama to return.  The 
FAO Deputy Director's ethnic Tibetan assistants at times openly 
vented about what they referred to as both the bullying behavior 
and overall local ignorance of their boss and other "Help Tibet 
Cadres."  End Summary. 
 
------------------------------------- 
Setting the Ground Rules 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU)  During a September 10-19 Congen visit to western 
Tibet, the first official U.S. delegation permitted into the 
region since 1949, CG, Congenoff, and Tibetan FSN spent many an 
hour on the road with our FAO handlers driving in the 
spectacular high-altitude terrain of the region.  Throughout the 
trip, CG and Congenoff were asked to share a vehicle with Lhasa 
FAO Deputy Director Wu Yinjian.  Wu told CG he wanted to make 
sure personally our "safety" could be guaranteed.  Wu had our 
FSN ride with one of his own ethnic Tibetan assistants in a 
separate vehicle.  When driving through Ngari Prefecture, we 
were also accompanied by another car carrying plainclothes 
security and local FAO personnel. 
 
¶3. (C) Maintaining control of the itinerary and route, however, 
was probably the main reason for Wu's decision.  Of the two 
ethnic Tibetan drivers, Wu apparently chose the lesser 
experienced one for our car, perhaps because he spoke better 
Chinese than his colleague and (unlike the other driver) was a 
Party member.  Whatever the reason, Wu probably did not count on 
the other driver and his ethnic Tibetan FAO assistant to so 
openly vent their feelings in Tibetan about Han Chinese 
officialdom in front of our FSN.  We cautioned our FSN to be 
wary of possible provocations and to be in listening mode only. 
By the end of the long trip, however, having ourselves spent a 
fair amount of quality time with Wu, it was easy to see how such 
negative perceptions might develop. 
 
------------------------- 
Wu's World View 
------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Approximately 35-years-of age and a graduate of Nanjing 
University, Wu had just arrived in Lhasa from the Foreign 
Ministry in Beijing about a month previously to begin a 
three-year assignment as FAO Deputy Director.  Wu referred to 
himself as a "Yuanzang Ganbu" or "Help Tibet Cadre," part of a 
program through which mostly Han Chinese from government bureaus 
and state-owned enterprises in eastern China volunteer to work 
for a given period of time in the TAR to pass along their 
expertise on development and other issues.  Following graduation 
from university, Wu said he volunteered to do a three-year stint 
in Xinjiang, although he did not describe his work there. 
(Note: current TAR Party Secretary Zhang Qingli served a number 
of years as deputy head of the Xinjiang Production and 
Construction Corps.  end note). 
 
¶5. (C) Although Wu's previous Foreign Ministry assignments 
include Hong Kong and Mumbai, his English appeared to be poor. 
Wu observed his wife and five-year-old son have never been 
allowed to join him at his postings and will remain in Beijing 
while he serves in the TAR.  Originally from Shandong, Wu noted 
he does not like to live in Beijing and finds the people in the 
capital to be "arrogant."  As a future "dream assignment," Wu 
 
CHENGDU 00000239  002 OF 003 
 
 
would like to serve at the new Chinese Consulate in Honolulu, 
which he expects will be opened sometime "next year." 
 
¶6. (C) Wu frequently reiterated (day after day) to CG he hoped 
this first-ever allowed visit by U.S. diplomats to western Tibet 
would help dispel "misunderstandings" that Americans have about 
the region.  Speaking privately to CG, Wu asserted he does not 
think the Dalai Lama will be allowed to return as government 
authorities have little reason to believe he would not engage in 
"splittist activities."  While a channel for dialogue will never 
be shut to the Dalai Lama, the central government does not see 
it likely to lead to anything concrete.  Wu also appeared to be 
somewhat fixated on the issue of Western organizations trying to 
link Darfur to China's hosting of the Olympic Games and whether 
it is a possible momentum could be generated for a boycott.  On 
one memorable occasion, Wu went on at length about how China 
really has more respect for freedom of speech than the United 
States. 
 
¶7. (C) Particularly amusing incidents involving Wu included: 
 
-- His throwing of an empty water bottle at the feet of a 
Tibetan man at the Everest Base Camp.  The man ran up to the 
bottle thinking he was being given something and said "tsering" 
or "thank you" in Tibetan.  Realizing what Wu had thrown at him, 
he then said in Chinese, "garbage?"  Wu later explained to CG he 
thought the Tibetans at the Base Camp would like to make a 
little extra money from recycling.  CG did not comment. 
 
-- A comment made by Wu to a Han Chinese local government leader 
during a banquet in Ali (about a four-day drive from Lhasa in 
the far west of the TAR).  The local official asked Wu how long 
he would be assigned to Lhasa.  Wu responded, "three years, like 
any other foreign assignment."  His answer resulted in guffaws 
and laughter from the ethnic Tibetan officials at the table.  CG 
could also not refrain from just a little good-natured ribbing 
of the red-faced Wu. 
 
---------------------- 
Tibetan Venting 
---------------------- 
 
¶8. (C)  Behind his back and in a language he does not 
understand, Wu's ethnic Tibetan colleagues derided 
implementation of the "Help Tibet Cadre" program, characterizing 
it as a way to help Han Chinese officials study problems in the 
TAR without doing anything substantial for Tibetans in return. 
Recruitment incentives for the program are generous -- a 
doubling of salary; preferential school and job placement for 
one's child; three months paid vacation annually and an 
additional 25 days allowed for transit time; free phone calls to 
one's family back home, etc.  Given the relative comfortable 
living conditions of Lhasa, however, special connections are 
needed if one is to be able to land a slot there.  Such Han 
Chinese officials are derisively referred to by Tibetans as 
"chong cao," or "caterpillar fungus," an expensive ingredient 
used in medicinal tonics that can only be harvested in certain 
high-altitude regions, because they cost a lot of money and can 
only be found at work during warm summer months. 
 
¶9. (C) Like FAO Deputy Director Wu, participants in the program 
are often put in positions of supervision or leadership, despite 
the fact they have little knowledge of the region.  Wu's Tibetan 
assistants frequently grumbled about how he would forthrightly 
try to set out our route on a map without having any idea of how 
topography and road conditions would impact on driving time. 
Some even speculated the itinerary was designed to avoid 
sensitive military areas and noted our entire program would have 
likely been approved in Beijing.  What particularly appeared to 
grate on one of the ethnic Tibetan FAO officials was when Wu, 
who barely has any experience in the TAR, would try to speak 
authoritatively on Tibetan culture and society during our 
official meetings in front of people who were born and raised 
there.  The official commented he hoped to be able sometime to 
get revenge on Wu, perhaps, by reporting Wu's comment in Ali 
that he considers Lhasa to be a "foreign assignment?" 
 
¶10. (C) Wu's Tibetan aides were also not happy he kept them up 
late at night playing cards and drinking -- not a good thing for 
drivers at high altitude -- and derided him for, "like other Han 
Chinese officials," being fixated on "girls and gambling." 
 
CHENGDU 00000239  003 OF 003 
 
 
Apparently, the only time Wu tried to call it an early night 
during the trip was when one of the drivers was beating him at 
cards causing Wu to lose his temper.  When Wu was winning, no 
one was allowed to go to bed right away.  His Tibetan assistants 
complained such card playing sessions are a way by which 
government officials try to extort money from their 
subordinates.  CG declined Wu's repeated invitation to play. 
 
---------------- 
Comments 
---------------- 
 
¶11. (C) Some venting of course can always be put down to general 
office griping and jealousies.  Not all Han Chinese officials in 
the TAR either act like or are seen by their local Tibetan 
colleagues as acting like Wu.  For example, Lhasa FAO Director 
Ju Jianhua (reftel) appears to be respected, has taken the 
trouble to learn Tibetan, is interested in Tibetan culture, and 
has lived in the TAR for over two decades.  Ju is even 
relatively liked by many foreign NGO representatives for being a 
man of reason who wants to be helpful and will try to deliver on 
commitments.  It does not take many "Help Tibet Cadres" like Wu, 
however, placed in positions of authority and with little 
understanding or concern of local sensitivities, for quite bad 
perceptions to develop and become cemented in people's minds -- 
especially in light of continued strict controls on political 
and religious freedoms in the TAR dictated by Beijing. 
BOUGHNER