Booming tourism: a double-edged sword for Tibet
- By Li Xiaohua
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E-mail China.org.cn, August 13, 2014
Over the past 50 years or so of benefiting from the support of the whole nation, people of all ethnic groups in Tibet have pulled their full weight to give an earth-shaking new look to Tibet, making achievements in ecological improvement and environmental protection that have attracted attention worldwide. "Tibetan people today live and work in peace not only with a booming economy and developing society, but also with their landscape kept beautiful, their rivers kept clean, their animal species kept diversified, and their vegetation kept lush. Tibet has truly become a ‘Shangri-la,'" Dr. Peter Wittmann, member of the Austria National Council said at the forum, which brings together about 40 representatives from abroad.
Dr. Wittmann believes that ecological improvement and environmental protection in Tibet cannot be achieved if development steps falter, but that this does not mean we should try to attain short-term economic development at the cost of the ecological environment. We cannot refuse any interaction between man and the natural environment on the grounds of preserving the landscape's fragile, primitive natural state, because this will hamper economic and social development and obstruct the improvement of Tibetan people's standard of living .
"Tourism will always be a great driver of the economy in such a beautiful and diverse area. This places its own pressures on Tibet, but with good planning and high awareness of the identified values of the region, it can be managed," said Sir Robert (Bob) Parker, Chairman of Huaxin International Ltd., and former mayor of Christchurch, New Zealand's second-largest city.
"Without the support of the Chinese central government, Tibet could hardly face today's challenges that are presented on the development, ecology and preservation of their culture. The progress shown by the region to date is admirable, and [we] can say without fear that a better future awaits," Luis Alberto Muñoz, vice president of LA REPUBLICA newspaper, said.
However, Muñoz worried there are others who want to see this reality from a biased and distorted perspective that serves outside interests who do not want a unified China.
"In this sense, the greatest challenge in its history, for Tibet, is to overcome these artificial barriers, geopolitical and strategic created with resentful purposes and motivated by ideologies that yearn to bring this beautiful region to the harsh conditions of life, before 1950.
Faced with this challenge, the peoples living in Tibet should rely on their ancient wisdom to appreciate the great opportunity open to them, now their society is master of its own destiny." Muñoz concluded.
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