VZCZCXRO6180
RR RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHCN #0297/01 3540223
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 200223Z DEC 07
FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2700
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 0054
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 3269

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENGDU 000297 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, G/SCT, AND DRL 
NSC FOR CHRISTINA COLLINS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  12/20/2032 
TAGS: PGOV ECON ELAB PHUM SOCI CH
SUBJECT: A PRC SCHOLAR LOOKS AT LHASA'S FLOATING POPULATION 
 
 
CHENGDU 00000297  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: John Hill, Consul General, Chengdu, Department of 
State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  The July 2006 opening of the Qinghai-Tibet 
railway greatly boosted access to the Tibetan Autonomous Region 
(TAR) for both tourists and migrant workers, accelerating 
economic growth and ethnic Han immigration to the TAR.  Sichuan 
University Tibetology Department PhD student Bao Dong's November 
2007 issue of "Tibetan Studies" marshals tourism, public 
security and family planning data and estimates to provide an 
interesting open-source picture of the size and dynamics of 
Lhasa's floating population.  According to Bao, the increase in 
visitors has improved Lhasa's economy and cultural situation, 
and has nurtured a feeling of "national unity," although it has 
also brought an increase in crime and environmental degradation. 
 See the summary translation of the article by Congen Chengdu 
below.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (C) The following is Congenoff's summary translation of an 
article by Sichuan University Tibetology PhD student Bao Dong 
that appeared in the November 2007 issue of "Tibetan Studies," 
titled "Analysis of Lhasa's Floating Population After the 
Opening of the Qinghai-Tibet Railroad." 
 
BEGIN SUMMARY TRANSLATION 
 
With Opening of Railroad, Lhasa's Floating Population Increases 
Rapidly 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
---------------------------- 
¶3. (SBU) As the historical, cultural and economic center of the 
TAR, Lhasa draws large numbers of tourists, pilgrims and migrant 
workers.  Since the Qinghai-Tibet railway opened, the increasing 
movements of population from the Chinese interior into the TAR 
has been of great concern not only to the Chinese government and 
the Communist Party but has also attracted foreign attention as 
well.  After the railroad opened, President Hu Jintao directed 
that more attention be paid to research and management of 
Tibet's floating population.  The TAR has called several 
conferences on the floating population.  This article examines 
issues related to the floating population of Lhasa since the 
opening of the Qinghai-Tibet railroad. 
 
How Many Are Coming, and Who Are They? 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
¶4.  (SBU) Over the five months following its opening on July 1, 
2006, the Qinghai-Tibet railroad transported over 600,000 
passenger-trips.  Most of the train trips were departures from 
the TAR, since the train started in the middle of the May - 
November floating population high season.  Air traffic to 
Lhasa's Gongar Airport jumped as well from 885,000 in 2005 to 
1.04 million passenger-trips in 2006. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) According to the Lhasa Family Planning Office, before 
the railroad came to Lhasa, Lhasa's "floating population" 
(Congen note: persons there without local household 
registrations or hukous) was 70,000 to 80,000 in the 
December-April off season and about 170,000 in the May - 
November high season.  After the railroad began operation, 
Lhasa's floating population annually peaks at over 200,000 
(Congen note:  Lhasa's floating population includes Tibetans 
from rural areas of the TAR, so the number of non-ethnic Tibetan 
floaters during the off season is likely less than 80,000.  End 
note.)  Short-term travelers, business travelers and visiting 
government workers who stay 4 - 8 days along with Tibetan 
Buddhist religious pilgrims at over 2 million person-trips were 
the biggest component of Lhasa's floating population.  Tourists 
typically come during the May-to-November high season, while 
pilgrims from the TAR, non-TAR ethnic Tibetan areas, Nepal and 
elsewhere typically come during the summer when there are many 
religious holidays and festivals. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Most of the TAR's floating population is between the 
ages of 20 and 50 years old. Older people find living on the 
high plateau physically too taxing.  However, the rapid increase 
of discretionary income in China over the past decade, and the 
much lower transportation costs made possible by the train, has 
made a family trip to Tibet within the reach of many average 
urban Chinese. 
 
For Bao, Positive Effects 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Bao Dong lists the following positive effects of the 
 
CHENGDU 00000297  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
increased floating population on Lhasa: 
 
-- The floating population has turned tourism and the service 
sector generally into pillars of Lhasa's economy.  In 2006, the 
Lhasa City government encouraged Lhasa peasants to get jobs in 
the tourist industry.  About 5200 farmers employed in tourism 
earned 61 million RMB (USD 8.1 million) or 3.6% of Lhasa's 
tourism income.  Demand from the floating population has boosted 
sales and prices of local Tibetan products such as chongcao 
(caterpillar fungus) used in Chinese traditional medicine. 
 
-- The floating population includes many educated or talented 
people who bring in science, technology and advanced management 
methods, and furnishes a competitive supply of potential hires 
for Lhasa employers. 
 
-- Person-to-person contacts between ethnic Han people from the 
interior and ethnic Tibetans builds relationships that 
strengthen unity among China's peoples.  This also reduces the 
feeling among the Han that Tibetans are exotic. 
 
-- The floating population is changing the thinking of Lhasa's 
people.  More Lhasa people are studying not just Chinese but 
other foreign languages.  Some monks at the Jhokang speak 
several foreign languages.  The increase in the floating 
population also brings changes in ideas about family life. 
Lhasa people used to think the more children the better; now 
more and more think of having fewer children so they can take 
better care of them. 
 
-- Sanitation in Lhasa has improved considerably since the 1990s 
when one saw human waste on the street. 
 
And Negatives: 
------------------ 
 
¶8. (SBU)  -- Lhasa now has traffic jams, something formerly 
unfamiliar to Lhasa people.  The many cars coming from outside 
have made Lhasa traffic even more disorderly than before, 
including an increase in the numbers of cars without plates and 
unlicensed drivers. 
 
-- The rapid increase in Lhasa's floating population has harmed 
Lhasa's environment.  Many of Lhasa's more crowded places, and 
especially big construction sites, are very dirty and have 
become breeding places for disease. 
 
-- Noise, air, and water pollution have all increased with 
congestion.  In the center of Lhasa, one often sees beggars and 
people sleeping out in the open. 
 
-- Some members of the floating population from rural areas 
aren't used to city life, and spit and leave human waste in the 
street.  This not only harms the tourist industry but also harms 
the image of China in the eyes of foreign friends. 
 
-- Lhasa has a fragile high plateau environment.  If it is 
damaged by the floating population, it will be very hard to 
restore. 
 
-- As in other large Chinese cities, auto emissions and garbage 
produced by the floating population is several times higher than 
that of residents. 
 
-- The crime rate has risen steadily along with the increase in 
the floating population.  According to the Lhasa Public Security 
Bureau, the number of crimes and the cleverness of the criminals 
have increased considerably since Lhasa's link to the 
Qinghai-Tibet railway opened on July 1, 2006.  Several incidents 
of theft of railway equipment since the railroad opened were all 
done by members of the floating population.  The Lhasa Public 
Security Bureau is concerned about growing links between Lhasa 
criminals and criminals in the Chinese interior and overseas. 
 
-- Since the railroad has brought more tourists and pilgrim to 
Lhasa, visiting the Potala Palace has become much more 
difficult.  Overloading of the Potala Palace will damage it and 
shorten its life.  Tickets to get in are in short supply and are 
often scalped for several times the 100 RMB (USD 13.30) original 
price.  The treasures of the Potala Palace are likely to become 
the target of criminals hiding within the floating population. 
 
Bao's Suggestions 
--------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Bao Dong makes suggestions for management of Lhasa's 
floating population as follows: 
 
CHENGDU 00000297  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
-- The floating population contributes to Lhasa's development, 
but it needs to be managed so that its pluses and minuses can be 
more clearly understood. 
 
-- The efficiencies of computer networks need to be used to 
improve the management of Lhasa's population management, taxes, 
administration, planning, public health, etc.  This will make it 
much easier for public security and other offices to exchange 
information to avoid stove-piping. 
 
-- Laws and regulations on Lhasa's floating population need to 
be drawn from the experience of Chinese cities in the interior. 
The Party and government should do more research on how the 
opening of the Qinghai-Tibet railway is changing the composition 
of Lhasa's floating population. 
 
-- Lhasa has an important role to play as a center for tourism 
and pilgrimage as well, in addition to its importance in the 
defense of China's southwestern frontiers. 
 
-- Therefore the size of the floating population that does not 
contribute to Lhasa's development should be controlled.  Most of 
these fall in the category of drifters who "have no legal 
documentation, no legitimate job, and no legitimate residence," 
criminals, pimps and prostitutes, drug dealers and thieves, as 
well as people from abroad who have ulterior motives and want to 
engage in splittist activities.  Only if the floating population 
is properly controlled can the floating population contribute 
optimally to Lhasa's development and its negative effects on 
Lhasa minimized or eliminated. 
 
END SUMMARY TRANSLATION 
 
Comment 
------------ 
 
¶10.  (C) With inmigration into the TAR a highly sensitive topic, 
Chinese officials are rarely willing to discuss the situation 
frankly.  However, PRC academic journals, many now easily 
available through the massive multi-million article PRC full 
text CNKI academic database, offer much more information, frank 
analysis, and a fair idea of some of the analysis and 
recommendations being presented to China's leadership.  Although 
Bao Dong's "Pluses and Minuses" appear to emphasize the economic 
and public security effects of the changes in Lhasa's floating 
population, the article also provides a relatively detailed look 
at the situation and a framework for analyzing the effects of 
inmigration in Lhasa and other cities in the TAR. 
 
¶9. (C) Note: The CNKI database is accessible not only online at 
cnki.net but also to USG users anonymously through the Special 
Collections Library at Wright-Patterson AFB.  See opensource.gov 
for details. 
HILL