MONTREAL, (Oct. 17) IPS - Controversy over Chinese rule in Tibet, a staple of recent global conferences, is being served up again at the World Conservation Congress here this week.

An international network of green activists and Tibetan support groups is asking Beijing to review a major dam project in Tibet. The request is being made through a formal resolution at the Congress, which is sponsored by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the world's largest environmental organization.

The activists say the social and environmental impacts of the Yamdrok Tso hydroelectric project have not yet been adequately assessed.

The relationship between China and Tibet has long sparked controversy at international conferences such as this year's Habitat II conference in Istanbul, the United Nations' Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, and the 1994 U.N. Human Rights conference in Vienna from which China insisted that the Dalai Lama, who heads a government-in-exile in India, be barred.

IUCN officials say the dam controversy is a "sensitive issue." Chinese officials are keeping mum on it, and Tibetan exiles attending the Congress say Beijing is keeping to its usual tack of not dealing directly with issues raised by its critics.

Chinese government officials, led by delegation head Song Jian, state counselor in charge&of the environment, met dam project critics yesterday.

They said that residents should welcome the project as one that will promote Tibet's "economic development." They also insisted that environmental impact assessments have been performed.

But Tenzin Bhagen of the U.S.-based International Committee of Lawyers for Tibet said: "They were talking about development, but there was no mention of culture at all or Yamdrok Tso being a sacred lake. They don't have to build in that lake."

The resolution to be considered by the delegates here calls on the Chinese government to assess the project's likely effects on the local climate, fisheries and migratory fowl, and to "establish convincingly that the project will not cause significant impact" on vulnerable species in the Himalayan territory.

Critics of the project say it threatens fragile wildlife and ecosystems, the already scarce wetland resources on the Tibetan plateau, as well as the lake itself.

Of specific concern is the project's impact on the black-necked crane, listed in the IUCN's 1996 Red List of Threatened Animals.

The project would use the closed lake system as a reservoir for supplying power to greater Lhasa, Tibet's capital. Yamdrok Tso, Tibet's third largest lake, is located 4,445 meters above sea level on the Himalayas' northern side. A pilgrimage site, it is considered a 'life-power lake' by Tibetan Buddhists, whose political and religious leader is the Dalai Lama.

Those seeking a review of the project include nine groups from all over the world, ranging from the International Committee of Lawyers for Tibet, the Swedish Society for the Conservation of Nature and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.

The argue that the Chinese government should develop alternative methods of supplying local energy needs.

But the debate on the Yamdrok Tso project which had been delayed due to vigorous opposition by the late Panchen Lama, the second highest spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists cannot be confined solely to the environment, according to the critics.

It poses a sensitive question for the Chinese government, which has just joined the IUCN and is loath to be criticized through a formal resolution so soon after becoming a member.

The debate is inevitably enmeshed in the question of China's role in Tibet. China considers Tibet a province, but Tibetan groups reject Chinese "occupation." Some Tibetans favor greater autonomy, while others are working for complete independence.

There is a long-running tussle between what the Chinese government says are efforts to develop the Tibetan autonomous region, and what critics say are Beijing's attempts to erode local religion, culture and traditions.

In their meeting with the critics, Chinese officials said discussion should be confined to environmental issues and not be expanded into a political debate that questions China's position that Tibet is an intold IPS.

Tibetans fear that the power project is designed to benefit mainly the Chinese community that Tibetan support groups say has become the majority in Lhasa in recent years. Tibetan activists have long charged Beijing with encouraging the migration of ethnic Chinese to Tibet.

"All the construction is happening where the Chinese people live, so who will it really benefit?" asks Tenzin Bhagen.

Tibetans and environmentalists fear that the dam project would mean draining the lake, since water is supposed to go into a tunnel 10 meters below the lake surface, enter turbines at the lower end and then empty into the Yarlung river below. This could have a serious effect on the surrounding environment.

"It is rare for a closed system to be used as a reservoir this way," according to a background paper circulated with the proposed IUCN resolution.

The Chinese government insists that lake water levels would not be affected, since excess power capacity would be available during off-peak hours to pp clarified river water back into the lake.

Environmentalists remain skephowever, saying this is unls water level.

Already, the International Campaign For Tibet says there ns of shoddy construction at Yamdrok Tso and that tunnels leading from the laines are leaking badly.