Impending loan decision casts shadow over Dalai Lama visit

Supporters of a free Tibet rally in Washington D.C. against a World Bank loan that would enable China to resettle farmers in traditional Tibetan lands

July 3, 2000
Web posted at: 10:28 a.m. HKT (0228 GMT)

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From staff and wire reports

WASHINGTON -- The possibility of a World Bank loan for a Chinese project that some believe threatens Tibetan culture cast a shadow over the Dalai Lama's words of hope Sunday in Washington, D.C.

The guest speaker at the Smithsonian Institution's Folklife Festival, where Tibet is one of the featured countries, the Dalai Lama said: " "I think the very foundation of our existence is hope. When there is hope, yes, we survive."

Tibet's spiritual leader, who is due to meet Secretary of State Madeleine Albright during his Washington visit, carefully avoided politics in his speech at the Smithsonian.

But the focus was very much on that subject 24 hours earlier, when thousands of Tibetans and their supporters rallied to urge the World Bank to scrap a $40 million loan that would enable China to resettle nearly 60,000 Qinghai province farmers in traditional Tibetan lands.

VIDEO CNN's Kate Snow reports on why some regard a loan under consideration by the World Bank to be a threat to ancient Tibetan traditions QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     QUICK VOTE Should the World Bank put a moratorium on loans to China for development projects in Tibet? Yes No View Results

The bank is scheduled to make a decision on the loan Thursday. Supporters of the Dalai Lama say a decision to grant the loan on that day would be particularly devastating: July 6 is the Dalai Lama's birthday, a sacred day for the Tibetan people.

The greatest threat

Supporters of a free Tibet complain that China has been crushing Tibetan human rights since it conquered the region 50 years ago. They say the loan is the latest threat to the Tibetan homeland.

"This is very worrisome for us because the greatest threat that the Tibetan people face is cultural genocide," said Lodi Gyari, the Dalai Lama's special envoy.

The loan is to help China relocate the farmers from the eastern part of Qinghai province to the more fertile central region -- some into lands where the Dalai Lama was born.

Chinese officials say it is an effort to help poor farmers from several ethnic groups to survive.

Zhang Yuanyuan, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy, said, "This is a poverty elimination or alleviation project. It is designed solely for helping the poor, whether they are Tibetan or Chinese Han, or other ethnic groups, to achieve prosperity, to bid farewell to poverty."

'Tibetan culture could die'

But festival organizers fear the relocation efforts will threaten the very culture they are celebrating.

"I think Tibetan culture certainly could die," said Greg Kruglak, of the Conservancy for Tibetan Art and Culture. "It is in grave danger. I think it is maintained fairly successfully outside Tibet by a small group of Tibetans, but within Tibet I do fear that it is dying."

A scathing report released earlier last week by the World Bank's independent Inspection Panel said the bank had failed to follow its own rules in assessing the potential social and environmental consequences of the project, including its impact on minority groups.

It said the bank did not make adequate efforts to consult the public and conducted no meaningful analysis of alternatives.

"We can't redraw maps and we can't intervene in internal political disputes," said Peter Stephens, a spokesman for the World Bank, said on Sunday. "But we can do what we need to do to ensure that the voices of the people are heard and their cultural issues are addressed and that all of that is on the table when the board meets."

Correspondent Kate Snow and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Tibet Online
Tibet Tourism Bureau
The World Bank Group
His Holiness The Dalai Lama
CIA World Factbook 1999: China

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