Tibet reopened to tourists

Signalling that the risk of anti-Chinese unrest has subsided in Tibet, Beijing has decided to reopen the Himalayan region's soaring mountains and gilded temples to foreign tourists...

From April 5th, foreigners will be allowed back into a region locked off for nearly two months amid anxiety among the ruling Communist Party of a repeat of the riots in March last year when Tibetans angry at Chinese rule rampaged through the streets setting fire to shops and offices and leaving 22 people dead.

Tibet's Head of Tourism, Bachug, said that the region had been closed out of consideration for the safety of travelers. "Tibet is harmonious and safe now. Travel agencies, tourist resorts and hotels are well-prepared for tourists."

The decision could mean that the authorities may reduce the number of paramilitary police who patrol around the Old City, many even breaking with Tibetan religious rules by striding anticlockwise around Jokhang Temple that is the holy of holies in the heart of Lhasa. During March the usual five-man patrols were increased to 13 amid fears of a repeat of last year's violence.

Smooth Celebration of the inaugural Serf Emancipation Day on Saturday, a new holiday invented by Beijing to commemorate the dates 50 years ago when the Communist authorities formally dissolved the administration of the Dalai Lama after his flight days earlier into exile amid an abortive anti-Chinese rebellion.

Any tourists seeking to go to Tibet must submit passport copies and receive a police permit, one travel agency in Lhasa said. The official added, "Diplomats and journalists will not be allowed in." That marks no Change from a longstanding policy - even though officials insist they have nothing to hide. An extra permit will be required to go to Mount Everest.

China marked the inaugural Serf Emancipation Day with a ceremony in the heart of Lhasa that was an opportunity for Beijing to highlight the prosperity its rule has brought to the remote Himalayan region. However, there was no mention of the many restrictions imposed on religious observance in the deeply Buddhist Roof of the World or the ban on images of the Tibetans' deeply revered god-king, the Dalai Lama.

Zhang Qingli, the region's Communist Party Chief, delivered the central message of a 75-minute ceremony in Lhasa. He declared, "Any plots to make Tibet independent, to separate it from socialist China, are bound to fail. The skies above Tibet will always be clear blue; the bright red five-star flag of China will always fly high over Tibet."

That officially orchestrated rally at the foot of the Potala Palace, former home of the Dalai Lama, was followed by an hour-long evening television extravaganza of dancing, singing and interviews with Tibetans who praised Beijing rule.

Only two of the songs were in Tibetan; the rest while from Tibet were performed in Chinese. Many of the songs were Tibetan Tunes that gained prominence during the ultra-leftist 1966-76 Cultural Revolution when monasteries were dynamited and monks and nuns were persecuted and forced to give up their robes.

It is a turbulent decade whose destruction goes virtually unmentioned either in Tibet or the rest of China for the sensitive memories it evokes of the excesses of the rule of Chairman Mao.

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk