The real and modern Tibet

[By Li Feng/China Daily]

There are different views on Tibet's history and the autonomous region today. Some of the views are misunderstandings and misinterpretations of Tibet. Some are simply bias and lies. The real Tibet is often lost.

I grew up in Tibet. I like to see my hometown from four perspectives: history, state, people and the world.

It is difficult to understand today's Tibet, if we do not know about its past. In the early 1950s, the average life expectancy was 35.5 years, the infant mortality rate was 43 percent, and the mortality rate of pregnant and lying-in women was 5 percent.

The year 1959 was a turning point for the plateau. Democratic reform in 1959 abolished the caesaropapist feudal serf system. The last largest serf society covering an area of 1.2 million square kilometers was ended. The Tibet autonomous region was founded in 1965. A modern Tibet government run by Tibetan people came into function.

One million serfs became citizens in the democratic reform initiated by the Chinese central government. They are no longer "tools that can speak", but citizens with property, families and dignity.

The development of Tibet has always been closely linked with that of the whole state. China's reform and opening-up in 1978 ushered Tibet to rapid development. China's fast economic growth and modernization since then constitute the main context to see Tibet today and its future.

The central government has subsidized the government in Tibet with more than 450 billion yuan ($75 billion) from 1952 to 2012, which accounts for 96 percent of the Tibet government's accumulated expenditure during that period of time. Other provinces and cities have also provided direct assistance to Tibet.

The central government built the Sichuan-Tibet highway and the Qinghai-Tibet highway in the 1950s, when it was in great financial difficulties. The two milestone projects, and the Qinghai-Tibet railway completed in 2006, which is an engineering marvel, greatly improved Tibet's connectivity with the rest of China.

People's needs are central to all government works in Tibet. The improvement of people's livelihoods and their practicing of legal rights provide a sensible and humanitarian perspective to see Tibet.

The human rights conditions in Tibet are popular topics in the world. Tibet's development after 1959 helped the residents on the plateau realize their right to subsistence and the right of development, two key parts of the modern human rights framework.

More than 91 percent of Tibet's current population of 3 million are Tibetan people. They are the largest beneficiary of Tibet's growth.

There are 40 ethnic groups in Tibet. All of them enjoy equal rights to participate in the governance of the region that had previously been ruled by only a few.

The Tibetan people, irrespective of their religious beliefs, now enjoy the best education, housing, medical care and social security net in their history. And the central authority and Tibet government will continue their efforts to improve people's livelihoods.