DHARAMSHALA, July 9: China on Sunday started work on a multi-billion dollar tourism project in Lhasa, the restive capital city of Tibet.
The announcement came even as the region is facing a ban on foreign visitors, the second in the year, following the self-immolation protest by two young Tibetans against China’s continued occupation of Tibet in May in the centre of Lhasa.
The $4.8-billion project will include a theme park, commercial district and residential area, Lhasa Vice Mayor Ma Xinming was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.
Construction on the first phase of the project, about two kms (just over a mile) from downtown Lhasa, will take three to five years, it said.
Ma said the project spread across 800 hectares (1980 acres) would create a “living museum” for Tibetan culture as well as reduce tourist pressure on the Jokhang Temple and the Barkhor in the heart of old Lhasa. Incidentally, the Jokhang Temple, one of Tibet’s holiest shrines, was the site of the self-immolation protest by Dhargey, 25 and Dorjee Tseten, 19 on May 27.
According to the mayor, the project would also include attractions themed around Princess Wencheng of China’s Tang dynasty, one of the many royal princess that Songtsen Gampo, the 33rd king of Tibet married.
Last month, China announced plans to invest 400 million yuan (US $63.5 million) to develop tourism in Nyingtri, southeastern Tibet, known for its natural beauty.
In addition to creating an international “Swiss-style” tourism town, the schemes will involve building 22 “model villages”, where tourists will be able to enjoy homestays.
Authorities see developing tourism as crucial to the economic future of Tibet and have set a goal of attracting 15 million tourists a year by 2015, generating up to 18bn yuan. Around 8.5 million people visited last year, according to official figures, up by around a quarter compared to 2010.
Following the 2008 peaceful uprisings in Tibet and the ongoing wave of self-immolations, which has witnessed more than 40 Tibetans set themselves on fire, the entire region has regularly faced bans on visitors.
According to reports, the current ban could last until November with travel agencies cancelling holiday packages to the region for the rest of the year.
Last month, the global rights group, Human Rights Watch had said that China’s “extreme measures” adopted in response to the May 27 self-immolation protests could further “deepen tensions” in the region.
“Tibetans in Lhasa are being arbitrarily expelled from the city as part of a drastic security drive,” the global watchdog said. “This arbitrary expulsion of people because of their ethnicity or place of birth is clearly discriminatory and violates their basic rights to freedom of movement and residence.”
