By Tenzin Tsering
Dharamsala, September 27: China on Sunday started work on a railway line that will connect Tibet’s second largest city, Shigatse, to the capital, Lhasa. The 253 kilometre railway line will promote “tourism and rational use of natural resources” in the occupied country, Liu Zhijun, the Minister of Railways, said.
China will invest $1.98 billion (13.3 billion yuan) to create the Shigatse-Lhasa railway line, which will be the first extension of the “Qinghai-Tibet” railway that opened in 2006.
The Qinghai-Tibet railway line is reported to have accelerated a number of mining projects, including the massive Yulong copper mine, under development by Western Mining and Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd, among others.
Chinese geologists have found deposits of copper, iron, lead and zinc ore along the Qinghai-Tibet Railroad route, Chinese state media confirmed in 2007.
Beijing is also planning to double its railway links in Tibet, which it refers to as its “Western Treasure House,” from 2013, according to Chinese media reports.
Activists and Tibet advocacy groups say the Tibet railway line will encourage further influx of Han Chinese migrants into Tibet, marginalising the Tibetans in their own country. Tibet activists say China’s primary goal in building the railways is to strengthen its political clout over Tibet and boost efforts to drain Tibet’s natural resources.
“The railway line between Lhasa and Shhigatse will further agrravate the tension between India and China where both the Asian giants have hugely militarized their sides of 4200 Km Himalayan border,” said Tenzin Tsundue, a Tibetan independence activist.
The new section of the railway to link Shigatse, expected to complete and be open to traffic after 4 years, is designed with a capacity to transport 8.3 million tonnes of freight annually. Earlier this month, China’s state Council and the National Development and Reform Commission approved the project for the extension of the Qinghai-Tibet railway from Lhasa to Shigatse.
