Infrastructure projects in Tibet have often drawn controversy for failing to balance development, human rights, and environmental protection. As CDT has covered this year, state-sponsored hydropower projects have forcibly...
With the annual “Two Sessions” political assemblies underway in Beijing, the South...
According to a state media report, China plans to construct two railway lines in Tibet that will...
In partnership with the China Copyright and Media blog, CDT is adding the “Beijing Internet...
An editorial in The Independent contrasts the banquets that greeted Li Keqiang on his visit to London with the conditions endured by missing human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng during an earlier incarceration: When the Chancellor,...
On the train to Tibet, by thriol
The controversial railway into Tibet is going to be expanded to Tibet’s second largest city, Shigatse (Xigaze), Xinhua reports: The Lhasa-Xigaze railway, with a budget of 13.3 billion yuan (1.95 billion U.S. dollars), is...
On TreeHugger, Alex Pasternack gives a lengthy account of his ride on the train to Tibet, offering observations on how the railway is impacting the Tibetan environment, economy, and culture: To many the world’s most daring...
If you’re going to ride China’s most controversial rail line, why not do it in swaddled in velvety comfort? From AFP: “The interior of the train will be decorated according to the standards of a five-star...
A new report, Tracking the Steel Dragon: How China’s economic policies and the railroad are transforming Tibet, from the International Campaign for Tibet has focused attention on the impact of the Qinghai-Tibet railway on...
After being questioned and exposed by Internet users, Chinese photographer Liu Weiqiang admitted that he has published a fake photo about Tibetan antelopes, which won a national prize. These photos were used by Chinese...
Chinese state media have announced a leap of Himalayan proportions in the number of tourists going to Tibet, thanks in large part to the contentious opening last year of the Qinghai-Tibet rail line. BBC has the summary: Just over four million tourists will have visited Tibet in 2007, an official said, an increase of 64% […]
From BBC News: China’s high-speed, high-altitude railway to Tibet has carried troops to the regional capital, Lhasa, for the first time, state media has reported. The Xinhua news agency cited unnamed sources in the People’s Liberation Army as saying the railway would become “a main option” for transporting soldiers. Analysts say the move is likely […]
From Reuters: More then 3.2 million people have visited Tibet so far this year, breaking all records and doubling tourist spending in the Himalayan region, thanks to a new railway and airport, state media reported on Friday. The tourists spent 3.89 billion yuan (253 million pounds), an increase of 90.1 percent from on the same […]
BBC carried Michael Bristow’s report on the effects of the railway line linking Tibet to China in its first year of existence. Lhasa’s railway cargo depot lies at the end of a partly-paved road, full of potholes, around 20km (12.5 miles) outside the Tibetan capital. Scurrying to and fro along its platforms, uniformed workers unload […]
From Zee News International: China has claimed that the Qinghai-Tibet railway, the world’s highest, has had no adverse effects on the surrounding environment and wildlife as accused by some pro-Dalai Lama activists. The landscape, lakes and the frozen earth are all well preserved and the wildlife’s migration also remains unchanged after trains started plying through […]
The Times of India outlines what its reporter believes is China’s plan for preparing for the death of the current Dalai Lama: Chinese authorities are working on an action plan for the post-Dalai Lama scenario in Tibet. The plan involves promoting the officially ordained Panchen Lama as the supreme spiritual leader of the Tibetan people […]
From Xinhua via China Daily: Since the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway on July 1 last year, Tibet has witnessed a rapid growth in tourism. In the first quarter of this year, it received 116,000 visitors, up 15.8 percent on the same period last year, the Tibet regional tourism bureau said. Tourism income during the […]
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