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FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2722
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 3300

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000017 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM AND G; 
BANGKOK FOR USAID - STIEVATER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  2/11/2033 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI CH
SUBJECT: EAP DAS CHRISTENSEN VISIT TO CHENGDU:  LOCAL SCHOLAR ON 
CHALLENGES FACING TIBETAN AREAS 
 
REF: A) 07 CHENGDU 239      B) 07 CHENGDU 231 
 
CHENGDU 00000017  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: James A. Boughner, Consul General, U.S. Consulate 
General, Chengdu. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: During a recent meeting in Chengdu with EAP DAS 
Christensen, noted Sichuan-Tibetan scholar Tsering Dhudrup 
frankly shared his concerns on the economic and political 
challenges faced by ethnic Tibetans in China.  He complained 
that assistance funds directed by the central government to 
"Help Tibet" often end up being of more benefit to Han Chinese 
and warned the new Qinghai-Tibet railway will likely have a 
negative impact on Tibetan culture.  Central government 
authorities have directed the political crackdown that has 
occurred in western Sichuan's Ganzi Prefecture following summer 
disturbances.  Despite his criticisms of government policies, 
Tsering Dhudrup styles himself a "loyal ethnic cadre" and has 
 
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been able to publish his writings in China.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
---------------------- 
"Help Tibet" Cadres Not Much Help, Most Aid Money Makes a Quick 
U-Turn 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) On January 20, East Asian Affairs Bureau Deputy Assistant 
Secretary Thomas Christensen met with Tsering Dhudrup, a noted 
 
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local scholar on Tibetan issues.  CG, Congenoff, and Consulate 
Tibetan FSN also participated in the meeting.  Tsering Dhudrup 
stressed that Tibetans need technical training and management 
skills if they are to be able to compete with Chinese migrants 
in traditionally ethnic Tibetan areas.  Most if not all "Help 
Tibet" cadres (see ref a) sent from inland China to the Tibetan 
Autonomous Region (TAR) are originally low ranking government 
officials.  They get bumped up a grade and are given a handsome 
supplement to their salary for working in the TAR.  Such cadres 
do not understand Tibetan language and customs.  However, some 
ethnic Tibetan officials think such cadres are of some use since 
they can channel investment from their home areas. Relationships 
developed with home province companies are reinforced by the 
practice of tied aid so that firms providing the assistance get 
the development contracts. 
 
¶3. (C) Tsering Dhudrup estimated that 80% of government 
assistance funds to Tibetan areas finds its way back to inland 
China since there are few Tibetans who have the requisite 
training in science and engineering needed to replace the Han 
Chinese who carry out most development projects.  Han Chinese 
are in charge of all big construction projects in the region. 
They often do not hire local ethnic Tibetan workers or pay them 
only minimal wages.  Ethnic Tibetans often lack requisite 
technical skills and must settle for poorly paid manual labor. 
Han migration into Tibetan areas is also rapidly increasing. 
Most Han are migrant laborers, business people, cadres or 
students.  A traditional and cultural dislike of commerce as a 
form of "exploitation," is partly responsible for the overall 
lack of business acumen among many Tibetans. 
 
¶4. (SBU) What Tibetan areas need most, Tsering Dhudrup 
continued, are vocational schools to provide training in science 
and education.  More ethnic Tibetan scientists and engineers are 
needed if development work is actually to be done by Tibetans. 
Currently, there are very few Tibetans qualified in science and 
engineering anywhere in China.  Foreign assistance to Tibetan 
areas that focuses on training ethnic Tibetans in science and 
technology would be very helpful. Heavy industrial development 
would not be good for Tibetan areas due to the fragile ecology 
and environment. Developing ecotourism and protecting Tibetan 
culture, however, would not only help Tibetans, but also be of 
value to other peoples and nations. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
The Train and Economic Development 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Although the Qinghai-Tibet railway is good for China as a 
whole and can provide more material things to Tibetans in the 
TAR, it will likely prove harmful to Tibetan culture as it helps 
to strip away the traditional isolation that has protected 
Tibet.  Tsering Dhudrup referred to the new railway as creating 
both "spiritual and cultural pollution."  Although recently 
asked to write an article lauding the coming of the railroad, he 
refused.  Eventually, he was permitted to write an article that 
discussed both the downside of the coming of the railroad for 
the preservation of Tibet's traditional culture as well as the 
 
CHENGDU 00000017  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
benefits of economic development. 
 
--------------------------- 
Ganzi Prefecture Problems 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) According to Tsering Dhudrup, Tibetan areas (the TAR plus 
neighboring prefectures in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan -- 
where more than half of China's ethnic Tibetans live) have been 
liberalizing economically, but politically remain closed and 
backward.  For example, most ethnic Tibetans view the calling 
for a return of the Dalai Lama by a nomad in western Sichuan's 
Ganzi Prefecture during a public gathering on August 1 (see ref 
b) to have been a perfectly legitimate and understandable 
action.  Government authorities, however, overreacted and used 
the "Litang August 1 Incident" as a pretext to intensify efforts 
to crack down on local dissidents.  According to Tsering 
Dhudrup, current Ganzi Prefecture Party Secretary Liu Daoping is 
himself a "reasonable man," but has no choice but to implement 
policies dictated at a high level in Beijing. (Note: Tsering 
Dhudrup, who currently lives in the Ganzi Prefecture capital of 
Kangding, is known to have served as an adviser to Liu Daoping. 
End note). 
 
--------------------------------- 
Background on Tsering Dhudrup 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Tsering Dhudrup's nominal position as a local party 
cadre belies the influence his political and historical writings 
may have sometimes had on government authorities.  In 1995, the 
Communist Party published a series of his essays (for 
distribution only to Party members) in a Chinese/Tibetan 
bilingual edition entitled "My Cherished Desire" (Chinese: Wo de 
Xinyuan; Tibetan: bdag gi re smon).  Writing as a "loyal ethnic 
cadre" who sought to improve the Party's effectiveness in 
Tibetan areas, Tsering Dhudrup offered trenchant criticisms that 
echoed -- and foreshadowed -- overseas NGOs' concerns about 
Chinese government policies. 
 
¶8. (SBU) In "My Cherished Desire," Tsering Dhudrup attacked what 
he referred to as "Han Chauvinism," questioned ethnic cadres' 
understanding of and commitment to constitutional guarantees of 
autonomy, advocated better selection and training of Tibetan 
officials, decried the erosion of Tibetan language skills, and 
called for the elevation of the traditional Tibetan region of 
Kham (west Sichuan, east TAR, northwest Yunnan) to provincial 
status. In his most influential essay, "Reasons for and 
Responses to Instability in Tibetan Areas," written in 1986, 
Tsering Dhudrup articulated his theory that a strategy of 
 
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accelerated investment and targeted development could dampen 
separatist enthusiasm among ordinary Tibetans.  The Communist 
Party's decision to publish this essay in the mid-1990s, 
immediately before launching just such a policy, suggests that 
Tsering Dhudrup's ideas may have had an impact on government 
 
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policy. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Tsering Dhudrup remains an influential figure among 
ethnic Tibetan cadres. His recent, monumental Chinese-language 
history of Tibet, Zangzu Tongshi -- Jixiang Baoping, reportedly 
aroused the ire of officials in the neighboring Tibet Autonomous 
Region for what was regarded as a less than politically correct 
treatment of the years 1913-1959. 
 
¶10. (U) This cable was cleared by DAS Christensen. 
BOUGHNER