World Tibet News -- April 12, 1996
wtn-e...@utcc.utoronto.ca
Published by: The Canada-Tibet Committee
Editorial Board: Brian Given <bgi...@ccs.carleton.ca>
Nima Dorjee <ti...@acs.ucalgary.ca>
Conrad Richter <con...@utcc.utoronto.ca>
Tseten Samdup <tibet...@gn.apc.org>
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ISSUE ID: 96/04/12 20:00 GMT Compiled by Nima Dorjee
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Content:
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1. French MPs urge Chinese pullout from Tibet
2. Chinese premier strikes conciliatory tone in Paris
3. Tourism Turns Booming Sector in Tibet
4. French mount small-scale protests against Li Peng
5. Computer Technology Introduced to Potala Palace in ...
6. 'Extinct' Tibetan deer comes back to life
7. Chinese Relief Effort in Tibet
8. China seeks to prevent border clashes
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1. French MPs urge Chinese pullout from Tibet
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PARIS, April 9 (Reuter) - Over 200 French parliamentarians, seizing on a
controversial official visit by Chinese Premier Li Peng, called on Beijing to
pull out of Tibet and said the United Nations should take up the issue.
In a statement issued to coincide with Li Peng's arrival in Paris, the
deputies and senators accused China of being responsible for 1.5 million deaths
since it occupied Tibet in 1950
The MPs, of all political affiliations except communists, said China must
immediately suspend population transfers in Tibet, end human rights abuses and
"start with the process of decolonising Tibet."
They said the mandate of the U.N. Decolonisation Committee should be
extended to Tibet, and Beijing should open talks with exiled Tibetan authorities
-- who the MPs said were the legitimate representatives of Tibet and should be
admitted as observers at the U.N..
The parliamentarians urged the French government and the European Union to
intervene with international institutions to support their demands.
A French Foreign Ministry spokesman said France had recognised China's
borders in 1964 as including Tibet, but Paris, like its EU partners, was calling
for respect of TIbetan culture.
French human rights groups have called for protests during Li Peng's visit.
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2. Chinese premier strikes conciliatory tone in Paris
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By John Follain
PARIS, April 12 (Reuter) - Chinese Premier Li Peng, in his only speech
during a visit marred by human rights protests and a diplomatic clash, urged
Paris on Friday to iron out differences with Beijing and promised lucrative
business rewards.
Dangling the carrot of economic growth before an audience of business
leaders in a gilded salon of the Paris Chamber of Commerce, he said that China's
import-export market would grow to $400 billion in the year 2000 from $280
billion last year.
"We have to find a solution to resolve differences -- that is finding areas
of agreement while leaving aside divergences and treating each other in a
friendly manner," Li said shortly after China signed six more trade deals with
France.
"That is the only way we will be able to continue to strengthen our
bilateral relations," Li insisted.
He had been due to speak at a banquet given in his honour by Prime Minister
Alain Juppe on Wednesday. But the Chinese leader objected to Juppe's plan to
refer in general terms to human rights in his speech, and the exchange of toasts
was cancelled after a 90-minute diplomatic standoff.
French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette played down the incident, dubbing
it a "chance mishap."
Li made no specific mention of human rights in his speech.
He urged the two countries, as members of the U.N. Security Council, to
"intensify consultations, coordinate positions and work together to preserve
world peace."
Pledging that French companies would share in China's growth, which he
forecast at eight percent per year over the next five years, he also promised
that China would cut import duties to an average 15 percent from the current 23
percent.
The biggest of the six accords signed at the Chamber of Commerce, worth an
estimated 650 million francs ($130 million) over two years, extended a pact
under which China's Sinochem imports oil from France's Elf Acquitaine.
The others covered the purchase of a tunnelling machine for the Shanghai
underground railway, cables for a hydro-electric power station and medical
equipment for hospitals.
The contracts, including a gas liquefaction plant which the French Foreign
Ministry initially said was signed on Wednesday, were worth a total one billion
francs ($200 million).
But they were dwarfed by a $1.5 billion contract, signed on Wednesday, to
purchase 30 European Airbus A320 short-haul aircraft which was the main reward
for France's red-carpet welcome for Li Peng.
French Transport Minister Bernard Pons told Reuters: "The results have been
very positive. There is no point in pulling a long face. The international
reaction in the last few hours shows these agreements are far from negligable."
He was referring to expressions of concern by the U.S. Boeing Co, which has
dominated the Chinese aerospace market.
Pons said the most promising development was a letter of intent to study
the construction of a 100-seater passenger plane for the Chinese domestic market
which France's Aerospatiale signed with Aviation Industries of China on
Thursday.
"That will enable China to be a partner with Europe in our medium-haul
large aircraft project," he said in a reference to Airbus Industrie's so-called
3XX strategic probramme to build a 400-to-500-seat plan to rival Boeing's 747
jumbo jet.
While the value of the contracts signed in France fell well short of the
bonanza reaped by German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in Beijing in 1994, French
officials said it showed Paris had regained an equal place in the competition
for Chinese business.
China had punished France in 1992 for its sale of 60 Mirage fighter bombers
and frigates to Taiwan by slashing its share of trade and ordering Paris to
close its consulate in Guangzhou.
Symbolically, Li agreed on this trip to allow France to reopen the
consulate.
Isolated protests against Li's visit continued as he concluded his talks
with political leaders -- ex-president Valery Giscard d'Estaing and ex-prime
minister Edouard Balladur.
Socialist International President Pierre Mauroy sent an open letter to Li
protesting against the "deprivation of liberty" of the Tibetan people and the
"inhuman conditions" in which political opponents were detained.
And in the southwest city of Toulouse, France's aerospace capital which Li
will visit on Saturday, some 200 protesters marched to denounce the Chinese
leader, blamed for crushing a 1989 student-led democracy movement.
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3. Tourism Turns Booming Sector in Tibet
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(Xinhua news agency is China's official news service)
LHASA (April 12) XINHUA - Mythical Tibetan Buddhism and exotic folk customs
have helped create a multi-million dollar tourism industry in Tibet.
Now the flow of overseas and domestic tourists has become a vital business
which has increased Tibet's income and spurred the growth of many other economic
sectors, local officials said.
In 1995, the Tibet Autonomous Region welcomed more than 30,000 overseas
tourists, and earned 11.3 million US dollars in foreign exchange which rose by
8.1 percent over the figure of the previous year.
The plateau region also received 20,000 domestic tourists last year. Highland
scenery, abundant cultural relics, mythical Tibetan Buddhism and exotic folk
customs have become appealing tourist attractions for people both from home and
abroad.
Over the past few years, regional tourism departments have made efforts to
expand tourism by opening new tourist sites and improving facilities at existing
spots.
Two vocational areas, the Conggo Lake about 300 km east of the region's
capital city of Lhasa, and Xungbalaqu on the outskirts of Lhasa, were brought
into use last year.
Two major circular tourist routes to the east and west of Lhasa City have
created a string of tourism spots in Nyingchi, Shannan and Ngari prefectures.
By the end of 1995 there were 108 businesses linked to the tourism industry,
including 42 tourism agencies. Across the region 38 hotels, with 2,570 rooms,
were granted rights to receive overseas tourists. Some 3,200 people now work in
tourism businesses, 62 percent of them Tibetans.
In addition to tourists from Germany, the United States, France and Britain,
more are coming from Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong
Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
Booming tourism has spurred allied industries in Tibet, such as civil
aviation, transportation, posts and telecommunications, commerce, as well as
ticket revenue at tourism spots.
Many local residents have also benefitted a great deal from tourism. Enditem
12/04/96 10:59 GMT
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4. French mount small-scale protests against Li Peng
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PARIS, April 11 (Reuter) - Small groups of protesters against Chinese
Premier Li Peng's official visit to Paris criicised Beijing on Thursday over
nuclear tests and alleged repression of journalists.
Police detained 11 people, including the head of the press freedom watchdog
Reporters without Borders (RsF), and a lone anti-nuclear activist who flew near
the Chinese embassy.
RsF said its general secretary Robert Menard and three other members were
arrested as they drove up to the embassy to demand the release of 17 reporters
jailed in China. Five journalists covering the event were also detained.
Police removed two trucks bearing protest banners.
Earlier, a Greenpeace activist defied a ban on flying over central Paris
and flew a motorised hang-glider near the embassy to demand an end to Chinese
nuclear weapons tests.
Witnesses said the aircraft, trailing a banner demanding "China: stop
testing now," flew over the Arc de Triomphe in an area with many embassies and
diplomatic residences.
Witnesses said the pilot was detained when he landed in the nearby Monceau
public park.
Li's first full day in Paris on Wednesday was marred by a diplomatic
incident with French Prime Minister Alain Juppe over human rights, and by
protests against alleged abuses in China and repression in Tibet and Li's role
in the crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy movement.
Some 2,300 demonstrators were barred from getting within shouting distance
of the Chinese embassy, and 157 Amnesty International activists who demonstrated
on the Champs-Elysees avenue were briefly held.
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5. Computer Technology Introduced to Potala Palace in ...
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LHASA (April 11) XINHUA - Computer technology has been introduced to Potala
Palace in the Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China, giving a boost to its
management modernization drive.
The computer was presented to the palace by the computer CD center of
Beijing's Qinghua University. Qinghua is working with the Palace in Lhasa to
produce a series of special CDs, to introduce the palace's cultural relics to
the outside world.
Using advanced multi-media computer technology, the palace will be able to
show the world its architecture, sculptures, pagodas, murals, and other forms of
ethnic culture.
The Palace was first built in the 7th century, and is the largest and most
splendid example of ancient architecture in Tibet. Enditem
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6. 'Extinct' Tibetan deer comes back to life
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BEIJING, April 11 (Reuter) - A species of red deer believed to have become
extinct in Tibet has been rediscovered by Chinese and U.S. scientists on a high
plateau in the remote mountainous region, the Xinhua news agency said on
Thursday.
Scientists from the U.S. Wild Animal Protection Association and the Tibetan
forestry department found herds of the endangered wapiti, or red deer, on a
4,000-metre-high plateau during a two-month survey of Sangri county in Tibet,
Xinhua said.
A special nature reserve has been set up in the area to protect the wapiti,
believed to have vanished from Tibet in the 1950s, it said.
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7. Chinese Relief Effort in Tibet
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BEIJING (AP) -- Chinese officials have distributed thousands of tons of flour
and warm clothes and blankets to tens of thousands of Tibetan nomads threatened
by their harshest winter in decades.
The freezing weather in Yushu prefecture -- a county high on the rugged
Tibetan plateau -- has killed thousands of yaks and sheep that provide the
nomads with food and hides for tents.
The relief organization Doctors Without Borders said in March that some
80,000 Tibetans were in danger of starving and freezing to death. It said the
extreme cold froze medicine, making it unusable, and nearly 30,000 people were
suffering from frostbite or snow blindness.
The China's People's Daily newspaper said Wednesday that by March 31, 1.08
million farm animals had died and more were dying every day.
The Chinese air force has delivered food and fuel, and more than $1.2 million
in relief has been collected at home and abroad, the newspaper said.
More than 22 million pounds of barley and flour, 120,000 sets of
cotton-padded clothes and 26,000 woolen blankets have been distributed, it said.
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8. China seeks to prevent border clashes
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BEIJING, April 10 (UPI) -- China pledged Wednesday to complete a survey of
its internal borders within five years to curb an escalating number of violent
clashes over dwindling land and natural resources.
At a ceremony Tuesday in Sichuan province presided over by the Ministry of
Civil Affairs, representatives of the Tibet and Xinjiang autonomous regions
marked the demarcation of 600 miles of once-contested border land, the China
Daily reported.
Minister Doji Cering urged local officials to cooperate with the central
government's survey, calling it "vital to the development of local economies and
to regional and national social stability."
He warned of the potential for "intensified border conflicts" triggered by an
increasing number of frequently bloody disputes over regional resources.
Only 5 percent of China's 65 existing boundaries delineating provinces,
autonomous regions or municipalities have been designated as legal and about 20
percent are disputed by local authorities.
More than 1,000 incidents of violence involving 56,000 square miles of land
have taken place, according to official statistics.
A number of feuds reported in the Chinese media erupted over mining rights
and contending claims on water resources and agricultural land.
China started its national border survey in 1989 and has mapped boundaries
for 18,000 miles of territory disputed among nine provinces.
The authorities want to clarify 14 provincial boundaries in northern China by
the end of the year.
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END WTN NEWS 96/04/12