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Q: The Chinese government has been criticized for carrying out nuclear testing
in Tibet, for damaging the local environment by its construction of water and
electricity projects, and for draining the water from Holy lake. It has also come
under fire for construction of buildings that are said to violate Tibetan traditions,
and for excessive tree felling. Do these criticisms have any foundation? |
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A: These accusations are entirely groundless. The Chinese government has never
carried out nuclear testing or Dumped nuclear waste in Tibet. The government of
Tibet Autonomous Region has always attached great importance to the state policy
of environmental protection and rational exploitation and use of natural resources,
and has, in recent years, promulgated a series of local laws and administrative
regulations for this purpose. The autonomous region's Environmental Protection
Committee was founded in 1990, and has adopted numerous measures to protect forest
as well as being the motivating force behind tree-planting projects. Since the
1960s, Tibet Autonomous Region has planted a total of 70 million trees and closed
about 140,000 hectares of hillsides to livestock grazing and fuel gathering to
facilitate afforestation every year. The local government also pays great attention
to the cultivation of farmland and pasture, and to water conservancy projects.
It has constructed more than 13,000 irrigation canals and over 5,200 reservoirs
of different sizes, with a total storage capacity of over 270 million cubic meters.
There is now a total of 202,000 hectares of irrigated grassland. Since the 1970s,
Tibet has increased its financial input for the protection of wildlife and plant
resources. The region now has 13 nature reserves, accounting for 26.5 percent
of the total area of Tibet Autonomous Region.
Pollution from industry and
other sources are minimal in Tibet, and there has never been any kind of accident
resulting in environmental pollution. Tibet has no acid rain. According to detailed
monitoring and investigation, Tibet's environment has maintained a good condition.
the air and water have negligible levels of pollution, and environmental radiation
is sin a normal scale. No radiation pollution emanates from man-made factors. | |
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