Published by: World Tibet Network News Saturday, November 29, 1997

By Conrad Richter

TORONTO, Nov. 25, CTC -- The influx of Chinese traders and settlers is leading to Chinese domination of Eastern Tibet according to Lobsang Gyaltsen, a 28 year old monk who recently left Tibet. Chinese control of the economy and culture is destroying Tibetan culture in the region.

Gyaltsen is from Ganze which is located in a part of Tibet that was annexed to the Chinese province of Sichuan after China took control of Tibet in the 1950s.

The population in Gyaltsen's village is now 25% Chinese. Three of five shops are owned by Chinese, and in Labrang, a major centre in the area, 99% of the shops are now owned by Chinese. Gyaltsen said that Tibetans in the area believe the Chinese want to drive them out by forcing them to sell their animals and farm produce at prices below the cost of production. The Chinese are demanding that Tibetans sell at one third of market prices, he said.

Chinese exploitation of gold and timber in the area is also causing concern among Tibetans.

There have been recent signs of protest in the area. Gyaltsen said three monks raised the Tibetan flag at a gathering and were severely beaten and imprisoned for one year. Four monks were imprisoned three months and fined 10,000 Chinese yuan each for shouting "Free Tibet!" in a separate incident.

Gyaltsen, whose real name is not being used for fear of reprisals against his family, said it is urgent that the world understand the extent of the cultural destruction going on in Eastern Tibet. All traces of Tibetan culture are being obliterated. Chinese officials in the area have said repeatedly that unless the old culture and traditions are destroyed there will be no space for the new.

Gyaltsen said small children are growing up not knowing what Tibetan culture is. As a child he himself suffered from China's destructive policies. For the first 23 years of his life he was not allowed to interact with other Tibetans because he was a 'bad person', a tulku (reincarnate lama) from a wealthy family.

Despite official claims that Tibetans are not subject to population control measures, forced abortions are common. Gyaltsen said he personally knows of six cases. Women are called in when 2 to 3 months pregnant, put to sleep, and the abortion performed along with sterilization. You can hear announcements on the radio telling women to turn themselves in for abortions and sterilization or face heavy fines, he said.