By Phuntsok Yangchen Think-tank
DHARAMSHALA, November 5: The Tibet Policy Institute under the exile Tibetan government (officially known as the Central Tibetan Administration) on Tuesday organized a one – day conference on ‘Environment, Economy and Development of Tibet’ at Nyatri hall in Gangchen Kyishong here.
Dicki Choyang, Minister of Department of Information and International Relations, while welcoming more discussion on Tibet’s environment, said that the fast transformation of Tibet’s landscape is affecting the lives of all Tibetans.
“It is so important for Tibetans to be aware of the impact on human and general population around these large projects. I am hopeful in the sense that the level of literacy and education in the Tibetan population inside Tibet is increasing; perhaps not as quickly as we hope but it is increasing and there are more and more educated young Tibetans who will hopefully be in a better place to address the impact of these environmental projects on their local community,” said Chhoyang in her address.
The minister said it is important for the exile Tibetans to talk about the various policies of the Chinese government in general and in Tibet in particular. “It is difficult to say how much we can influence them but I think that in terms of environment policies, I really think we can make a difference. Although we don’t have the necessary resources to have the complete set of technical data, I think just the fact that we can raise international awareness and also awareness amongst the neighboring countries can influence the development and implementation of environment policies on the Tibetan plateau.”
Emily Ting Yeh, author of ‘Taming Tibet- Landscape transformation and the gift of Chinese development’ was the key speaker at the conference, speaking about her book and issues of ‘Climate change related to challenges facing Tibetan pastoralists.’
Research fellows at the Tibet Policy Institute also presented their work and spoke on topics- ‘Resettlement of Tibetan Nomads’, Military and Economic Implications of railway line in Tibet’, ‘Comparative analysis of Tibet’s past and present economy’, ‘Model Schools in Tibet’, ‘Sino-Indian Relations’, and ‘Xi Jinping and anti-corruption campaign’.
The conference, TPI says, was aimed to bring to the notice of the Tibetan community the enormous economic development and other changes transforming the lives of the Tibetan people inside Tibet, for better or worse.
Tibet Policy Institute is a policy think tank of the exile administration started months after Tibetan Prime Minister Dr Lobsang Sangay assumed office following his victory in the elections held in 2011.
