The Railway to Tibet
by Lauren Ting
On July 1, both the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Communist party and the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from British rule, the contentious Beijing-Lhasa Express train took its inaugural journey from China into the depths of Tibet. This $4.2 billion feat of engineering, the highest railway in the world, was commissioned by the Chinese government in a politically charged effort to stimulate the economy of Tibet. Its opponents claim that instead of promoting tourism, the railway will devastate Tibet’s already unstable culture following years of authoritarian Chinese rule.
The conflict between Tibet and China is nothing new, hailing back to the 1950 takeover of Tibet by the Chinese army and the subsequent Tibetan claim to sovereignty. Since then, the Tibetan people have suffered cultural re-education campaigns, forced patriotism lessons, the denouncement of their religious beliefs, resource extraction and Chinese settlement operations. Tibet is referred to by natives by its three original province names: U’sang, Kham and Amdo. It is referred to by the Chinese as the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), and has been struggling unsuccessfully for its much-contested independence since the 1950s without significant progress.
In addition to political concerns, environmentalists also contest the ecological soundness of the train, although it includes several engineering innovations in order to utilize solar energy and protect the permafrost lying under the higher portions of the track. They claim that despite these measures, the train will pollute the environment, threaten native wildlife and be used primarily to benefit Chinese military and business interests. As the tracks navigate through some of the most unspoiled landscapes and fragile ecosystems in the world, scientists claim that despite the government’s efforts to minimize effects, problems with global warming could also influence the longevity of the railway.
On the other hand, some open-minded Tibetans believe the railroad will benefit their people, opening the eyes of the Chinese to their struggle and repression. Many, including the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled religious leader, have suspended their assessments of its utility until enough time has passed for its effects to emerge.
In recent months, the repression of Tibetans by the Chinese Communist Party has worsened, according to many observers, as the Dalai Lama’s followers seek to reinstate him following over 40 years outside of the region. Since his goal is regional independence, he and his followers have been labeled dissidents by the government and this resurgence of aggression towards the movement signals to some a more significant power struggle. The symbolic significance of the railway’s completion aligns with a Communist plan in the works since the reign of Mao Zedong five decades ago: to integrate China and Tibet, and to impose an urban development plan in traditionally nomadic Tibetan culture.
The Chinese maintain that to grow, a culture needs outside contact and interaction with the greater world, and that the railway will decrease the cost of importing Tibetan products. However, the railway seems intentionally designed to benefit the Chinese themselves, leaving the Tibetans in the dust. With the highest illiteracy rates in China, few of the mostly rural-living Tibetans speak fluent Chinese, or have any marketable skills. The Tibetan people have been trying to diminish Chinese cultural and political influence since their loss of independence, and the railway comes as a great blow to many. They fear a sort of ‘cultural genocide’ with this ease of movement, as Chinese migrants have already begun to overwhelm the native population and increase their domination over the province.
During its traverse of the country, independent protesters emerged holding banners of dissent and demonstrating against the train’s inception, while the group Students for a Free Tibet planned demonstrations outside of Chinese embassies in several countries.
The tensions between China and Tibet are in constant flux, and the Beijing-Lhasa railway has renewed hostility between the province and the government. While no clear solution exists to dissipate this friction, one can only hope that the railway will be used justly to promote Tibetan economic independence, reveal to the general Chinese population the unfair stereotypes they hold regarding Tibet, and create some measure of progress in reconciling the attitudes of each entity.
