THE ENRICHMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT’S GENERAL PLAN FOR TIBET WORK

 

 　A Glimpse at the Gist of the Central Government’s Fifth Forum on Tibet Work 

　　Tibet is a provincial-level autonomous region that occupies an important strategic position along China’s southwest border. The central government has always attached great importance to its Tibet work, and this is the Fifth Forum on Tibet Work it has held since 1980. All these meetings have carried out deliberations concerning the situation and outstanding problems facing Tibet work at the time, clarified important policies and made strategic arrangements. The central government held the Fifth Forum on Tibet Work (hereafter simply called the Fifth Forum) in January 2010 to further clarify the guiding thought, main tasks and work requirements for now and the near future; to set forth a series of important measures for economic, political, cultural and social development, strengthening ecological awareness and Party building; and enriching and developing the basic plan for Tibet work. I will here discuss several points based on my understanding of the gist of the Fifth Forum.

　　1. Creatively articulating a theory of the main contradiction and unique problem in Tibetan society. The Fifth Forum stated that the main contradiction in Tibetan society is the same as in the country as a whole, the contradiction between the ever-increasing material and cultural demands of the masses and the backward social production. At the same time, Tibet has a unique problem pertaining to all of Tibet’s ethnic groups and the separatist forces represented by the Dalai Lama. This important exposition provided an important scientific and theoretical basis for adhering to and improving the guiding principles for Tibet work in the new period and for correctly handling the relationship between development and stability in this unique ethnic-minority frontier region. Because of the important contradiction between the ever-increasing material and cultural demands of the people and the backward social production, in our Tibet work we must always keep economic development at the center of everything. The more acute and complex the circumstances in which we do our Tibet work become, the more necessary it is to firmly implant this thinking and adhere to this center. We must not waver or make changes lightly. At the same time, due to the unique problem surrounding the anti-separatist struggle in Tibet, we must handle the issues of development and stability well. We must make maintaining stability a mandatory task and our number one responsibility, and commit ourselves fully to a long-term anti-separatist struggle. It is impossible to even think of developing Tibet if it doesn’t have a stable environment. The main contradiction and unique problem in Tibetan society determine that the focus of our Tibet work must be to promote leapfrog development and prolonged political stability.

　　2. Clarifying the basic requirements for Tibet to achieve leapfrog development along the track of scientific development. The Fifth Forum stated that without leapfrog development, the pace of development in Tibet cannot catch up to that in the country as a whole, and without scientific development it will be very difficult to maintain leapfrog development. We must intimately integrate the central government’s policies and arrangements for accelerating Tibet’s development with actual conditions in Tibet, change our concept of development, make innovations in our development model, and raise the quality of development. To this end the Forum identified seven areas where we need to place greater emphasis: improving the living conditions of farmers and herders, coordinating economic and social development, increasing Tibet’s capacity for self-development, improving basic public services and provide them more equitably, protecting the plateau’s ecosystem, expanding contacts and cooperation with the rest of the country, and creating systems and mechanisms for stimulating economic and social development. In addition, the Forum for the first time clearly stated the strategic orientation for Tibet’s development from now on: to achieve economic growth, improvement in people’s lives, ecological preservation, social stability and cultural progress, and to make Tibet an important security screen for the country, an important ecological screen, a reserve base for strategic resources, a production base for highland agricultural products, a preserve for a unique Chinese ethnic culture, and a world tourist destination.

　　3. Setting the important objectives for the next stage of Tibet’s economic and social development. The objectives the Fifth Forum set for 2015 are: to maintain the pace of leapfrog economic development, significantly narrow the gap between the per capita net income of Tibetan farmers and herders and the national average, significantly increase Tibet’s capacity to provide public services, further improve the ecosystem, greatly develop Tibet’s infrastructure, achieve unity and harmony between ethnic groups, maintain social stability, and comprehensively firm up the foundation for a moderately prosperous society in all respects. The objectives it set for 2020 are: to raise the per capita net income of Tibetan farmers and herders close to the national average, comprehensively raise the living standards of the people, raise the level of basic public services close to the national average, comprehensively improve infrastructure conditions, achieve significant results in creating an ecological security screen, considerably increase Tibet’s capacity for self-development, make society more harmonious and stable, and ensure that a moderately prosperous society in all respects is established.

　　It is extremely important to set development objectives for Tibet. Doing so not only affects the choice of strategy, orientation and focus for Tibet’s development, but also has a direct bearing on the Tibet policies of the central government and the governments of all the country’s provinces and municipalities directly under the central government, and on the projects they undertake on its behalf and the extent of the support they give it. For the present, the formulation we have decided on is: first, to separate our planning into two stages, short-term plans and long-term goals; second, to emphasize an overall system of objectives encompassing the economy, people’s lives, stability and the ecosystem, rather than just setting economic targets; and third, within this overall system of objectives to give particular emphasis to the targets concerning the net income of farmers and herders and basic public services, rather than emphasizing economic targets and growth rate as we do for the provinces and municipalities directly under the central government in the rest of the country. All this manifests the grasp the central government has of the unique features of its Tibet work and the requirements of the scientific outlook on development.

　　4. Particularly emphasizing that maintaining and raising people’s living standards is the starting and end point of Tibet’s economic and social development. Tibet is a vast, sparsely populated region with inconvenient transport, weak economic development, a low level of social development and backward social institutions. Compared with the rest of China, Tibet faces a much more daunting task to improve people’s living conditions, and accomplishing it will be costly and difficult, but also of great significance. It was decided at the Fifth Forum that: we need to continue to implement the strategy of enriching the people and invigorating Tibet; raise the living standards and improve the quality of life of all ethnic groups; show more solicitude and kindness to farmers and herders and those in dire straits, with the focus on solving their most pressing problems especially the problems of harsh conditions in agricultural and pastoral areas and the difficulty of raising the incomes of farmers and herders; improve and implement the policies for increasing Tibetans’ incomes; increase the incomes of members of all ethnic groups, especially farmers and herders, by all possible means; put great effort into improving the living conditions of farmers and herders; solve the problems of families in which there are no wage earners and people living in dire straits; create a social security system covering both urban and rural residents; basically implement universal coverage of the new rural social retirement insurance system before 2012; give priority to developing education; provide free tuition, room and board for the sons and daughters of farmers and herders from elementary school through high secondary school; further improve the medical system for agricultural and pastoral areas which takes free medical care as its basis; gradually raise the levels of subsidies and social security benefits; increase central government spending; continue to expand the scope of spending on special projects; and devote a greater portion of government spending to improving people’s lives, agriculture and animal husbandry, and infrastructure. In July of this year the State Council passed the Plan for Projects That Support Tibet’s Economic and Social Development to Be Included in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, which lists 226 construction projects in five major areas with a total cost of 330.5 billion yuan, with 193.1 billion of that amount to be spent in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period. Maintaining and improving people’s living standards is the foremost of the five major areas.

　　5. Particularly emphasizing the strategic importance of increasing people’s ecological awareness. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau covers much of Tibet. It has more mountain glaciers than anywhere else in the world and is the source of Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers as well as important rivers flowing to South Asia. It is an important screen that maintains the stability of Chinese and East Asian climate system, so it is of great ecological importance. However, the ecology of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is fragile, and any damage to it will have an enormous impact and be very difficult to recover from. It was decided at the Fifth Forum that: we must give greater importance to strategic projects to preserve Tibet’s ecosystem for the benefit of future generations; integrate planning to preserve the ecosystem with planning for economic development, social progress and improvement of people’s lives; make sure we do a good job in the key links of ecological protection, ecological economy, ecological migration and ecological compensation; coordinate improvements in ecological protection with economic development, optimization of the environment and improvement in people’s lives; and achieve a virtuous cycle in the ecological system. The meeting set forth the requirements that great efforts should be made to increase ecological awareness, give a prominent position in economic and social development to building a resource-conserving and environment-friendly society, and particularly avoid taking the development path of first damaging and then restoring the environment; create a plateau ecology security screen; strengthen overall use of land in and restoration planning for main functional areas; integrate rehabilitation projects with natural restoration on the basis of the principles of putting preservation first, carrying out rehabilitation comprehensively, adapting measures to the situation and focusing on crucial problems; and more quickly implement the Plan for Preserving and Improving the Tibet Ecological Security Screen.

　　6. Improving the one-to-one assistance policy. One-to-one assistance has already been practiced in Tibet for 16 years. It fully embodies the special concern the central government has for Tibet and the great unity of all China’s ethnic groups, and it is a milestone in the course of Tibet’s development. The Fifth Forum clearly stated that the one-to-one assistance policy would be extended till 2020; specified the provinces (municipalities directly under the central government), central and state organs, and enterprises responsible to provide one-to-one assistance and required them to set up a stable, long-term mechanism to fund their assistance; did a good job in selecting cadres to do assistance work; and increased the number of technical personal involved in assistance work. A work Forum on one-to-one assistance to Tibet was held in Lhasa in July of this year. At the Forum Xi Jinping gave a speech in which he stated it is necessary to carry out assistance in the areas of the economy, cadres, personnel, education, science and technology, and enterprises in a coordinated fashion and to create a pattern of one-to-one assistance work that is comprehensive, multi-layered and broad ranging. We need to always keep maintaining and raising people’s living standards as the primary task of one-to-one assistance work; further direct funds and projects to agricultural and pastoral areas and to farmers and herdsmen; effectively carry out projects affecting people’s lives in the areas of education, medical care, employment and social security; and make the provision of public services more equitable. We always need to steadfastly integrate state support with raising Tibet’s capability for self-development; place greater emphasis on integrating the advantages aid recipients have in the areas of policy and resources and as a result of developing later with the strengths aid donors have in the areas of personnel, capital, technology, markets and management experience; and achieve a mutually beneficial win-win situation in which everyone develops together. We need to strengthen work concerning cadres involved in one-to-one assistance, fully respect the wishes of cadres and ordinary people in the areas receiving assistance, ask the people what they need, get them involved in planning, and willingly accept the oversight of the masses.

　　7. Improving ethnic and religious policies. The Fifth Forum stated that an important standard for judging the success of ethnic work should between whether it is beneficial for promoting equality, unity and progress of all ethnic groups; is beneficial for promoting common prosperity and development of all ethnic groups; is beneficial for increasing contacts, interactions and intermingling between ethnic groups; and is beneficial for national unity and social stability. This work should also encourage all ethnic groups to live together amicably, work together cooperatively and develop in harmony, and further consolidate and develop socialist ethnic relations of equality, unity, mutual assistance and harmony. The formulation of these “four beneficials” were put forth on the basis of deep study of the laws of development of ethnic conflicts and a thorough review of the lessons we learned in our ethnic work in recent years. On the basis of this important standard, the Forum stated that it is necessary to widely carry out publicity and education in ethnic unity and devise activities that further ethnic unity; energetically publicize people who most contribute to ethnic unity; guide the cadres and people of all ethnic groups to firmly uphold the doctrine of the “three inseparables” (the Han ethnic group is inseparable from all the ethnic minority groups; all the ethnic minority groups are inseparable from the Han ethnic group, and all the ethnic minority ethnic groups are inseparable from each other); and the idea that unity and stability are a blessing and division and unrest are a misfortune. We need to correctly understand that the Chinese nation is a multifaceted unity, consciously resist any narrow ethnic thinking, firmly oppose ethnic separatist thinking, and increase the cohesiveness of the Chinese nation. We also need to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of all ethnic groups, and prevent the occurrence of situations that hurt the feelings of ethnic groups and undermine ethnic unity.

　　Tibetan Buddhism has a long history in Tibet and it has had a broad and deep influence on Tibetans’ thinking and behavior concerning politics, economics, culture and human nature. Tibetan Buddhist monasteries perform the functions of transmitting Tibetan Buddhist culture and also of satisfying the normal religious demands of religious believers, and they are both venues of religious activities and primary-level social institutions. The Fifth Forum stated that it is necessary to fully implement the Party’s basic policies on religious work and state laws and regulations concerning managing religious affairs, effectively safeguard the normal order of Tibetan Buddhism, and guide Tibetan Buddhism and our socialist society to adapt to each other, and also to establish long-term mechanisms for managing Tibetan Buddhist temples, thoroughly carry out publicity and education concerning temples, bring basic public services to them, and make appropriate arrangements to solve social security issues concerning old-age and medical care for monks and nuns.

　　8. Improving policies concerning Tibetans living abroad. The Fifth Forum clearly stated that Tibetans living abroad are overseas Chinese or Chinese citizens. This is an important conclusion reached on the basis of a review of many years of work. Tibet is an inseparable part of China, so of course Tibetans living abroad are overseas Chinese or Chinese citizens. Since the adoption of reform and opening up, the central government has followed the policy of “All patriots belong to one big family whether they rally to the common cause early or late” in relation to Tibetans living abroad. Every year, a large number of Tibetans return home to visit family or sightsee. Some overseas Tibetans engage in public welfare philanthropic activities and contribute their efforts to Tibet’s development, and others establish patriotic organizations and openly oppose the Dalai Lama clique’s activities to split China and establish a theocracy. At the same time Tibetans living abroad are different from other Chinese living abroad in that many of them have been deeply influenced by the Dalai Lama and rely on the Dalai Lama clique for economic support and are subject to strict controls it imposes. Uniting and winning over overseas Tibetans is an important area in the struggle against the Dalai Lama clique, and we need to follow the principle of dealing with different situations differently to unite and win over more Tibetans living abroad so they yearn for the motherland and throw off the control and influence of the Dalai Lama clique. At the same time, we need to get the many overseas Chinese, Chinese citizens living abroad and Chinese students studying abroad to play their important role in opposing Tibet independence.

　　It has already been more than a year since the Fifth Forum. In my work I can deeply feel that these new developments in the central government’s general plan and policy for governing Tibet have already engendered genuine changes in our Tibet work. If we can continue to maintain the good situation of development and stability; if we always clearly recognize the importance and unique importance of out Tibet work; if people on all sides constantly convert their love for Tibet into conscious action; and if the people of all ethnic groups in Tibet unite with all sons and daughters of China both here and abroad with one heart and one mind and work together for the same goals, then Tibet will definitely have a brighter future.