On China Rises blog, Tim Johnson has a follow-up to his story about the relocation of Tibetan herders (for which he received a scolding from the Foreign Ministry):
My earlier story said Tibet had relocated up to 10 percent of its population, around 250,000 herdsmen, into “socialist villages,” in a move to improve their living conditions but also without much real consultation or input from the herders themselves…
Xinhua is doing its utmost to present the herder relocations as voluntary. Here is an earlier story, dated June 20, that also carries a denial that any of the relocations are forced or under pressure. Is this true? Many of these nomads have been living for centuries as roaming herders. So the relocations are not only a physical move but also a dramatic change in lifestyle for them. [Full text]
