{"id":4921,"date":"2012-04-28T10:54:27","date_gmt":"2012-04-28T08:54:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sangye.it\/dalailamanews\/?p=4921"},"modified":"2012-05-01T11:18:51","modified_gmt":"2012-05-01T09:18:51","slug":"tibetan-quake-victims-fight-china-government-land-grab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/dalailamanews\/?p=4921","title":{"rendered":"Tibetan quake victims fight China government land grab"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n
\"Pire

Thousands of deths burning in Yushu earthquake<\/p><\/div>\n

Tibetan quake victims fight China government land grab<\/p>\n

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April \t27, 2012 3:47 pm<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a>By Sui-Lee Wee, GYEGU, China | Thu Apr 26, 2012 4:38pm EDT (Reuters) \u2013 For two years after a cataclysmic earthquake struck a remote and wild part of China\u2019s northwestern Qinghai province, Baobao and 29 other homeless ethnic Tibetan residents occupied the area outside several government buildings to denounce a land grab.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But no officials in Gyegu \u2013 known in Chinese as Yushu \u2013 would listen to their pleas, said Baobao, 41, a burly Tibetan odd-job laborer, who goes by only one name.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Government officials, he said, were threatening to forcibly relocate some 600 people \u2013 mostly Tibetans \u2013 from what was prime real estate in order to rebuild Gyegu as what officials billed as an \u201cecological tourism centre\u201d.<\/span><\/span>The move has triggered resentment as two of China\u2019s most volatile social issues \u2013 land grabs and perceived mistreatment of ethnic minorities \u2013 combine to raise tensions and threaten social stability in the region.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Just down the street, officials\u2019 homes have been spared from the land seizure, according to Baobao.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we don\u2019t understand is why the officials\u2019 homes can be left alone, but the ordinary people\u2019s homes have to be snatched away,\u201d he told Reuters in the tent he set up next to his home that is still standing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere must be two kinds of policies: one for officials and another for ordinary people.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Land disputes are common across China, but the issue takes on new ramifications in areas dominated by ethnic Tibetans.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Tibetans make up one of the most discontented minorities, resentful of the ruling Communist Party and the majority Han Chinese. Thirty-four Tibetans have set themselves on fire to denounce Chinese rule since March 2011.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While most Tibetans live in what China calls the Tibet Autonomous Region, large communities are scattered across the neighboring provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan, in what is often termed \u201chistoric Tibet\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There have been no self-immolations or violent unrest in Gyegu, but many Tibetans said they felt deprived of economic opportunities and hope.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The 6.9 magnitude earthquake on April 14, 2010 killed nearly 3,000 people, devastated Gyegu and forced about 80 percent of its residents to seek shelter in squalid camps.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Thousands live in tents lacking running water and reliable electricity, pitched alongside damaged houses or in an open area previously used to race horses.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While many government structures were rebuilt, residential areas were laid to waste and many residents live amid rubble alongside a canal that stinks of human excrement and rubbish.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI told the county secretary: \u2018You\u2019re all robbers. You\u2019re looting a burning house\u201d, said Baobao, a former soldier with the People\u2019s Liberation Army.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Baobao and other witnesses said that on April 12, almost two years to the day after the disaster, the government dispatched an eight-man anti-riot squad to the street where many protesters live to try to frighten them into backing down.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But the demonstrations continued unabated.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

An official with the prefecture government said he had no knowledge of the situation.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Baobao said he was the only resident offered compensation \u2014 220,000 yuan ($34,000) for his home, far below its 800,000 yuan valuation.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In March 2011, 4,000 Tibetans demanding their land be left untouched blocked a road leading to the provincial capital, said Jamdrol, 63, a former nomad. On the third day, police broke up the protest and detained several participants.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

INFLUX OF HAN<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The eco-tourism plans have fuelled fears of a mass influx of Han Chinese, few of whom learn Tibetan.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf this large-scale migration is realized, then it will have a very large impact on the traditional culture of ethnic Tibetans,\u201d said Tsering Woeser, a Tibetan writer based in Beijing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Though Tibetan residents say they have secured some financial help from the government, many are critical of the pace and the policies of reconstruction.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Tibetans also say the government has barred locals from rebuilding. Most of the construction of schools, hospitals and buildings owned by Chinese companies are done by Han Chinese workers \u2013 mostly migrants from Sichuan.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Repeated calls to officials seeking comment went unanswered.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Gyegu is 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) above sea level on the Tibetan highlands. Most of the Yushu prefecture\u2019s 380,000 residents are ethnic Tibetans and many are former nomads, among the poorest groups in Qinghai, itself China\u2019s third-poorest province.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After the earthquake, the authorities told Amdo, a former nomad, that the 2 hectares (five acres) of grassland he had owned would be taken by the government. They gave no reason.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Officials had first promised Amdo a free house and money in 1995 in exchange for him giving up his herd and relocating to the nearest town. He moved but got nothing in return.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI petitioned the government to solve my housing problem but there was no effect,\u201d said Amdo, dressed in a sheepskin robe.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Trinley Palmo, 56, another nomadic herder, said the authorities tore down her house in the grasslands after the earthquake, citing safety concerns. Her family was moved into an 80 square-meter (850 sq.foot) brick home in a resettlement area on the outskirts of Gyegu \u2013 one of almost 70,000 such households.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

An official with Gyegu\u2019s Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Department said resettlement \u201cshould not have any detrimental impact\u201d on the nomads\u2019 cultural and religious beliefs.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the farmers and herdsmen are still in favor of resettlement,\u201d the official, identifying himself by his surname Li, said by telephone.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But Andrew Fischer, an expert in rural development in Tibetan areas at the Netherlands-based International Institute of Social Studies, said the policy was \u201cpoorly conceived\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey (The nomads) are coming from fairly prosperous subsistence-based rural areas \u2026 so it\u2019s a bit of an insult to their dignity to assume that they can huddle into the market and sell bread or something alongside local traders,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Many residents said they had seen no benefits. Tashi Nyima, 35 and a former herder, worried about feeding his family.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf the government policy changes, I would go back to herding,\u201d he said, after trading goods outside a storefront.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After snowstorms last week, Jamdrol said life was tough in the two-room 20 sq. meter tent pitched outside his house. The interior was lined with wooden benches, with strips of carpet on them. His wife, Tselha, was chopping firewood for warmth.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The government may seize his land, but he says he is unafraid.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI will persist in telling the government the land belongs to me,\u201d Jamdrol said. \u201cEven if they want my life, I\u2019ll never give it up,\u201d he said, moving his finger across his throat.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(Additional reporting by Beijing Newsroom, Editing by Ken Wills and Ron Popeski) http:\/\/tibet.net\/2012\/04\/27\/tibetan-quake-victims-fight-china-government-land-grab\/<\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tibetan quake victims fight China government land grab April 27, 2012 3:47 pm By Sui-Lee Wee, GYEGU, China | Thu Apr 26, 2012 4:38pm EDT (Reuters) \u2013 For two years after a cataclysmic earthquake struck a remote and wild part of China\u2019s northwestern Qinghai province, Baobao and 29 other homeless ethnic Tibetan residents occupied the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/dalailamanews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4921"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/dalailamanews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/dalailamanews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/dalailamanews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/dalailamanews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4921"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/dalailamanews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4933,"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/dalailamanews\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4921\/revisions\/4933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/dalailamanews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/dalailamanews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/dalailamanews\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}