Work begins on disputed Tibetan rail link

Chinese Vice Premier Wu Bangguo at a ceremony in Lhasa, capital of Tibet, to mark the start of construction

BEIJING, China -- China has officially started work on a controversial and technically-challenging 1,118-km (695-mile) railway link to Tibet.

The Tibetan government-in-exile criticised the $2.5-billion project last month, saying Tibet would be swamped by Chinese settlers and its fragile ecosystem endangered if Beijing went ahead with plans to build the railway to Lhasa.

The railway will extend from Lhasa in Tibet to Golmud in Qinghai Province in northwest China.

Chinese state media on Saturday admitted the country would face major problems finishing the world's highest rail line by 2007.

More than 960 km (597 miles) of the railway from the western city of Golmud in Qinghai province to Tibet's capital of Lhasa will be at an altitude of more than 4,000 metres (13,000 feet), the Xinhua news agency and People's Daily newspaper said.

Over half of the tracks would be laid on frozen ground with the additional danger of earthquakes and landslides, they said.

Besides geography, the lack of oxygen at high altitudes would have an impact on workers and machinery while the ecological environment was also fragile, the People's Daily said.

International rights groups also say the railway will lead to increased Chinese migration into areas mainly populated by ethnic Tibetans.

Separatist crackdown

Thousands of Tibetans followed their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to India after a failed uprising in 1959.

China says the railway will provide an economic lifeline to Tibet and speed up development of the mountainous region.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin said on Friday the government would seek to develop Tibet's economy while at the same time cracking down on separatist activities.

"We will continue to pay attention to two major issues in Tibet -- economic development and social stability," Jiang was quoted as saying in a separate Xinhua report.

He said those who used "religion as camouflage" to support independence for Tibet would be punished.

China will spend 31.2 billion yuan ($3.8 billion) on 117 construction projects in Tibet in the next several years.

Reuters contributed to this report.