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Q: Will, as asserted by the Dalai Lama, the western development policy lead to
the colonization of Tibet and deterioration of its ecological environment? |
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A: The principle of the western development strategy in Tibet is to improve Tibetan
people's living standards and uphold sustainable development. Tibet Autonomous
Region has formulated a three-stage plan. First, a period of 5 to 10 years will
be allotted to achieving an annual growth rate of 10 percent, to improving Tibet's
comprehensive strength, to infrastructure construction and ecological environment
construction, and to turning its favorable natural resources to economic advantage.
Second, a further 10 years will be spent on ensuring an annual growth rate 2 to
3 percent higher than the national average, thereby bringing the Tibetan people
up to the same standard of wealth as other Chinese western provinces and autonomous
regions, as well as developing its economy at the same pace. Third, by the middle
of the 21st century, it is expected that Tibet will have achieved basic modernization.
To realize these targets, the regional government has put forward some key points
for its development. These include the acceleration of infrastructure construction
to release the current "bottle neck" restrictions, and the readjustment of Tibet's
industrial structure, and the readjustment of Tibet's industrial structure to
improve economic performance. The ecological environment will continue to be protected
and enhanced, and agriculture and animal husbandry further developed. As a means
to stimulating development of education and science, and promoting general social
development, and reform and opening, more time and funds will be devoted to educating
and developing Tibet's human resources. From these policies one can see that the
regional government has attached great importance to improving people's living
standards, protecting the environment and taking the road of sustainable development-all
measures which will in no way lead to the colonization of Tibet or deterioration
of the environment. | |
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