Xinhua News Agency, Chongqing, July 13 (Reporter Li Hualing) As one of the 44th sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the "Cloud Meeting", the International Seminar on "Tibet Social Development and Human Rights Protection" was held in Chongqing on the 13th. Experts and scholars on Tibet-related issues from China, Pakistan, Nepal and other countries participated in the seminar. Experts and scholars at the meeting said that the achievements in Tibetan social development and human rights protection are obvious to all and commendable.
The seminar consisted of two major themes, "Achievements and Prospects for Tibet's Eradication of Poverty" and "Tibet's Social Changes and Human Rights Progress." The seminar pointed out that in terms of the right to survival, the people of all ethnic groups in Tibet have more convenient medical treatment and a guaranteed life; in terms of development rights, transportation, water, electricity, and communications have been improved; in education, children of all ages can enter school; in terms of culture, Historical culture and monuments have been fully protected and developed; with regard to freedom of religious belief, the law guarantees everyone’s religious beliefs, and the state also continuously repairs various venues for religious activities, especially cultural relics.
Sun Hongnian, deputy director of the China Border Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that at the end of 2019, 628,000 poor people in Tibet had been lifted out of poverty, and 74 poverty-stricken counties (districts) all took off their hats. People’s lives have further improved, and the progress of human rights is obvious to all. For example, he said that Milin County, Nyingchi City, Tibet has implemented a policy of free fees for hospitalized patients of farmers and herdsmen since 2017.
The former senior police chief of Nepal and the chief leader of the People’s Party, Yogyeshwar Rokihimi, said that Tibet’s social and economic development has been rapid and its per capita income has continued to increase. "We have seen the development of Tibet in education, medical care, transportation, etc. in recent years. The Tibetan language, Tibetan culture, and religion have all been protected and developed. Tibet's backwardness is gone forever."
Zhou Li, Director of the Scientific Research Management Department of the Human Rights Research Institute of Southwest University of Political Science and Law, introduced the recent survey in Gongga County, Shannan City, Tibet. He said that in recent years, Tibet has carried out ecological relocation at extremely high altitudes, relocating residents living in areas above four or five thousand kilometers above sea level and without basic development conditions to low-altitude areas. "The entire relocation process is based on respecting the wishes of the masses. In the above, the "Village Rules and Regulations" were written in Tibetan and Chinese, and the villagers voted one by one."
During the seminar, the participating experts and scholars also pointed out that in Tibet, people of all ethnic groups can freely carry out religious activities according to their religious traditions. Since the 1980s, the central government has invested more than 1.4 billion yuan in large-scale repairs of Tibetan cultural relics and key temples.
"What is the situation of social development and the situation of human rights? The biggest voice is in the more than 3 million people of all ethnic groups in Tibet. The satisfaction of the people and the strong sense of well-being of the people are the best human rights. The world is obvious to all." said Zhang Yonghe, executive dean of the Institute of Human Rights of Southwest University of Political Science and Law.