歷史的跨越 恢宏的篇章—— 看西藏和平解放60年的發(fā)展進步

■ 吳楚

歷史的跨越 恢宏的篇章
—— 看西藏和平解放60年的發(fā)展進步

■ 吳楚

今年是西藏和平解放60周年。60年前的5月23日，中央人民政府與原西藏地方政府在北京簽訂了《關于和平解放西藏辦法的協(xié)議》(簡稱《十七條協(xié)議》)，宣告西藏實現(xiàn)和平解放。西藏的和平解放，徹底打破了近代以來帝國主義勢力覬覦西藏、分裂中國的圖謀，實現(xiàn)了祖國大陸的完全解放和統(tǒng)一；極大地鼓舞了西藏內(nèi)部的愛國進步力量，為改變舊西藏政教合一的封建農(nóng)奴制度創(chuàng)造了條件；密切了西藏與內(nèi)地的聯(lián)系，極大地促進了西藏各項事業(yè)的發(fā)展，開啟了西藏繁榮進步的光明前程。

60年彈指一揮間，西藏這顆祖國西南邊陲的高原明珠發(fā)生了翻天覆地的歷史性巨變，在祖國大家庭里，西藏各族人民與全國人民一道，艱苦奮斗、銳意進取，團結協(xié)作，取得了實實在在的發(fā)展進步。

(一)社會制度實現(xiàn)歷史跨越

和平解放以前的舊西藏，長期以來實行政教合一的封建農(nóng)奴制度。在這一制度下，占總人口不足5%的農(nóng)奴主占有西藏全部生

產(chǎn)資料和文化教育資源，而占人口95%以上的農(nóng)奴和奴隸沒有任何生產(chǎn)資料和人身自由，更談不上享有政治權利，只是“會說話的工具”。舊西藏頒布的《法典》明確規(guī)定，人分為三等九級，并規(guī)定死亡有命價，大貴族、上層僧侶的命價相當于與身體等重的黃金，而奴隸、屠夫等最低等級的命價只有一根草繩。在西藏和平解放的過程中，中央政府全面分析了國內(nèi)外形勢和西藏當時的社會狀況，提出了“解放西藏宜早不宜遲”和“和平解放西藏”的方針。經(jīng)過中央政府的反復爭取和以十世班禪額爾德尼、阿沛·阿旺晉美、帕巴拉·格列朗杰等為代表的西藏愛國進步力量的共同努力，西藏地方政府派出和談代表，與中央政府簽訂了《十七條協(xié)議》。在《十七條協(xié)議》中，一方面規(guī)定人民解放軍進入西藏，保衛(wèi)邊疆，驅(qū)逐帝國主義勢力，另一方面規(guī)定對西藏現(xiàn)行的社會制度和達賴喇嘛的職權不予變更，原西藏地方政府官員照常供職；同時也規(guī)定，西藏人民有改革現(xiàn)行制度的愿望時，西藏地方政府應在協(xié)商基礎上自動進行改革。然而，西藏封建農(nóng)奴主上層中的頑固勢力并不真心擁護和實行《十七條協(xié)議》，企圖維護封建農(nóng)奴制度“永遠不變”，并且在西藏和平解放后的8年時間里不斷制造破壞協(xié)議的各類事件，并于1959年3月10日發(fā)動了全面武裝叛亂。在這種情況下，中央政府果斷做出平息叛亂的決定，3月28日國務院發(fā)布命令解散西藏地方政府，由西藏自治區(qū)籌備委員會行使西藏地方政府職權，這是西藏民主建政道路中具有決定意義的一步。同時，中央政府采取“邊平叛、邊改革”的方針，在平息叛亂的同時，發(fā)動群眾進行民主改革，徹底廢除了實行千年的封建農(nóng)奴制度，建立起各級人民民主政權，百萬農(nóng)奴翻身成為國家和社會的主人。又經(jīng)過幾年的準備，1965年9月西藏自治區(qū)正式成立，西藏人民通過行使自己的民主權利，選舉出西藏自治區(qū)各級自治機關人民代表大會和人民政府，自主地行使憲法和法律賦予的權力，管理西藏自治區(qū)內(nèi)的各項事務。

改革開放以后，西藏的民主政治建設不斷推進。人民代表大會制度、中國共產(chǎn)黨領導的多黨合作和政治協(xié)商制度、民族區(qū)域自治制度、基層群眾自治制度在西藏全面建立并不斷完善。截至目前，西藏自治區(qū)人大及其常委會共制定了250余部地方性法規(guī)和單行條例，內(nèi)容涉及政治、經(jīng)濟、文化、教育等各個方面。西藏各級人大代表中，藏族和其他少數(shù)民族占94.4%；全國人大代表中，西藏有12名藏族代表和1名門巴族、1名珞巴族代表；自治區(qū)現(xiàn)職省級領導干部中，藏族和其他少數(shù)民族干部占70.42%；在全區(qū)74個縣(市、區(qū))以及682個鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)中的主要領導干部中，藏族和其他少數(shù)民族占86%以上。社會制度的偉大變革使古老的西藏高原煥發(fā)出勃勃生機，極大地促進了生產(chǎn)力的發(fā)展，推動西藏經(jīng)濟快速增長，社會全面進步，各族人民的生活水平不斷提高。

(二)經(jīng)濟建設成就輝煌

1951年西藏和平解放時總人口114萬，生產(chǎn)力水平極其落后，產(chǎn)業(yè)結構基本以農(nóng)牧業(yè)為主，只有少量商業(yè)和手工業(yè)，全區(qū)生產(chǎn)總值1.29億元，人均113元。針對當時西藏一窮二白、民生凋敝的狀況，中央政府把幫助西藏發(fā)展經(jīng)濟、改善人民生活擺在首位，對西藏地方經(jīng)濟社會發(fā)展給予大量幫助。上世紀五十年代，當時的進藏人民解放軍遵照中央政府的指示，在各地舉辦學校、醫(yī)院、發(fā)放農(nóng)具、無息貸款，派醫(yī)療隊、獸防醫(yī)療人員深入農(nóng)牧區(qū)，免費為群眾看病治病，為牲畜防治疫病。這一切增進了人民群眾對解放軍、共產(chǎn)黨的了解，增強了漢藏民族的團結。根據(jù)毛澤東主席“為了幫助兄弟民族，不怕困難，努力筑路”的指示，從1951年至1954年短短的三年時間里，以解放軍為主的10余萬藏漢軍民跨過無數(shù)高山、深谷，筑成了全長3000多公里、平均海拔4000米的川藏公路和青藏公路，由于高寒缺氧、施工條件艱苦，3000多名烈士長眠在修路工地上，平均每一公里至少有一名官兵犧牲。然而青藏高原自此有了“幸福路”、“連心路”，大批物資、人員源源不斷地來到西藏，密切了西藏與祖國內(nèi)地的聯(lián)系，拉開了西藏現(xiàn)代化建設的序幕。

改革開放以后，中央政府先后召開五次西藏工作座談會，制定了扶持西藏經(jīng)濟社會發(fā)展的一系列特殊政策和優(yōu)惠措施，舉全國之力支援西藏建設。據(jù)統(tǒng)計，僅2001年至2010年，國家為西藏提供財政補貼和固定資產(chǎn)投資累計達3100多億元。此外，中央政府還動員全國其他相對發(fā)達的省份和國有重要骨干企業(yè)對口支援西藏，選派一批又一批的援藏干部到西藏幫助工作，同時選派西藏的干部到內(nèi)地進行培訓和鍛煉。目前，國家直接投資西藏建設項目、中央政府實行財政補貼、全國進行對口支援的全方位支持西藏現(xiàn)代化建設的格局已經(jīng)形成。

經(jīng)濟總量躍上新臺階。目前西藏已經(jīng)連續(xù)18年實現(xiàn)了兩位數(shù)的經(jīng)濟增長速度，2010年全區(qū)生產(chǎn)總值達到507.46億元，按可比價格計算，是1951年的393倍，是1959年西藏民主改革前的83倍；人均國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值超過1.7萬元，是1951年的150倍，1959年的34倍；地方財政一般預算收入達到36.1億元，連續(xù)8年保持20%以上的增長。特別是在過去的五年里(“十一五”時期)，全區(qū)生產(chǎn)總值先后突破300億元、400億元、500億元，年均增長12.4%，保持了跨越式發(fā)展的良好勢頭；全社會固定資產(chǎn)投資累計達到1656億元，是“十五”時期的2.4倍；社會消費品零售總額累計實現(xiàn)670億元，比“十五”時期增長1.3倍；地方財政一般預算收入累計達到126.3億元，是“十五”時期的近3倍。

基礎設施有了極大改善。綜合交通運輸網(wǎng)初步形成，全區(qū)74個縣中54個縣通油路、6個縣油路在建，所有鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)和80%以上的行政村通公路，通車里程達到5.8萬公里，比1959年增加5.07萬公里；青藏鐵路2006年建成通車，結束了西藏不通鐵路的歷史，拉薩——日喀則鐵路納入國家“十二五”規(guī)劃并已開工建設；已建成拉薩貢嘎機場、昌都邦達機場、林芝米林機場、日喀則和平機場、阿里昆莎機場等5大民用機場、開通21條國際國內(nèi)航線。以水電為主的綜合能源體系加快建立，獅泉河、直孔、巴河雪卡等電站竣工投產(chǎn)，全區(qū)電力裝機總容量達到97.4萬千瓦，在建規(guī)模95.6萬千瓦，用電人口覆蓋率82%。現(xiàn)代化通訊網(wǎng)絡覆蓋全區(qū)，3G網(wǎng)絡實現(xiàn)縣縣覆蓋，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)用戶超過115萬戶,基本實現(xiàn)了鄉(xiāng)鄉(xiāng)通寬帶、村村通電話。

產(chǎn)業(yè)建設邁出新步伐。西藏提出，要大力發(fā)展優(yōu)勢礦產(chǎn)業(yè)、藏藥業(yè)、民族手工業(yè)、特色旅游業(yè)、特色農(nóng)牧業(yè)和綠色食(飲)品業(yè)等六個特色產(chǎn)業(yè)，著力打造一批具有較高知名度的高原特色品牌。目前西藏特色優(yōu)勢產(chǎn)業(yè)快速發(fā)展，農(nóng)牧業(yè)綜合生產(chǎn)能力進一步提高，礦產(chǎn)勘查工作取得重大進展。特別是立足高原獨特的自然條件和豐富的人文環(huán)境，旅游業(yè)得到了長足的發(fā)展。近年來，西藏狠抓宣傳促銷和優(yōu)化服務，突出冬季旅游和農(nóng)村旅游，2010年全區(qū)接待游客685.1萬人次，旅游總收入達71.4億元，分別較2005年增長2.8倍和2.7倍。

人民生活水平極大提高。農(nóng)牧民人均純收入連續(xù)8年保持兩位數(shù)增長，2010年達到4138.7元，比2005年增長99.2%，比1959年的35元增長了118倍；城鎮(zhèn)居民人均可支配收入達到14980元，比2005年增長78.1%。特別是從2006年以來實施的以安居樂業(yè)為突破口的社會主義新農(nóng)村建設取得重大進展，累計投入資金170億元，全區(qū)住房條件比較差的27.5萬戶、143萬農(nóng)牧民住上了安全適用的房屋，同時解決了153萬人的安全飲水問題，159個鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)和1659個行政村通了公路，新增74萬農(nóng)牧民用上了電。

(三)社會事業(yè)全面進步

西藏和平解放以前，沒有一所現(xiàn)代意義上的學校和醫(yī)院，有限的教育和為數(shù)不多的傳統(tǒng)藏醫(yī)藏藥醫(yī)療機構被封建農(nóng)奴主貴族和寺院所壟斷，青壯年文盲率高達95%，人均壽命35歲。民族要發(fā)展，教育是基礎。從1950年至2010年，國家累計投入教育經(jīng)費407.3億元，形成了涵蓋學前教育、義務教育、中等教育、高等教育、職業(yè)教育、特殊教育的現(xiàn)代教育體系。西藏早在上世紀80年代就實行全區(qū)義務教育階段農(nóng)牧民子女的學生全部免除學雜費和書本費，并對寄宿制學生實行包吃、包住、包學習費用的“三包”政策，2009年西藏第八次提高“三包”經(jīng)費補助標準，小學生1750元，中學生1850元，惠及中小學生27萬人。截至2010年，西藏全面完成“普九”，適齡兒童入學率、初中入學率、高中入學率和高等教育毛入學率分別達到99.2%、98.2%、60.1%和23.4%，青壯年文盲率下降到1.2%，人均受教育年限達到7.3年。

西藏的醫(yī)療衛(wèi)生事業(yè)取得了長足發(fā)展。西藏在全國率先實現(xiàn)了城鎮(zhèn)居民醫(yī)療保險全覆蓋，建立了以免費醫(yī)療為基礎的農(nóng)牧區(qū)醫(yī)療制度。目前全區(qū)有各類衛(wèi)生醫(yī)療機構1500多家，實現(xiàn)了鄉(xiāng)鄉(xiāng)有衛(wèi)生院，村村有衛(wèi)生室，病床8000多張，每千人擁有的病床和衛(wèi)生技術人員數(shù)分別達到2.6張和3.2人，高于全國平均水平。嬰兒死亡率由50年代的43%下降到3.1%，人均預期壽命增加到67歲，目前西藏是全國百歲老人最多和比例最高的省區(qū)之一。

社會保障體系逐步完善。城鎮(zhèn)登記失業(yè)率連續(xù)多年控制在4.3%以內(nèi)，僅2009年就安排培訓資金5000萬元，培訓農(nóng)牧民28萬人。在中央政府的大力支持下，西藏在全國率先實現(xiàn)了新型農(nóng)村社會養(yǎng)老保險和城鄉(xiāng)最低生活保障等制度的全覆蓋，城鄉(xiāng)居民最低生活保障標準分別提高到月人均330元和年人均1300元。

(四)文化生活豐富繁榮

藏族的優(yōu)秀傳統(tǒng)文化，是中華民族傳統(tǒng)文化的重要組成部分。中央政府和西藏地方各級政府十分重視保護和發(fā)展西藏的優(yōu)秀傳統(tǒng)文化，一貫實行尊重、繼承和發(fā)展少數(shù)民族傳統(tǒng)文化的政策。在西藏成立了專門的民族文化遺產(chǎn)搶救、整理和研究機構，對全區(qū)民間文化藝術遺產(chǎn)進行全面普查，將流傳于民間的戲劇、舞蹈、音樂、曲藝、民歌、諺語、故事等加以搜集、整理，采錄藏漢文資料3000多萬字，發(fā)表有關西藏傳統(tǒng)文化的學術論文1000多篇，專著30多部?！陡袼_爾王傳》等進入非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)保護名錄，得到及時搶救和保護。重視藏語文的學習、使用和發(fā)展，藏文編碼國際標準成為我國少數(shù)民族文字中第一個具有國際標準的文字。

舊西藏沒有報刊、雜志、電影、電視，現(xiàn)在西藏共有出版發(fā)行單位86家，每年出版圖書百余種、雜志34種，其中藏文14種，報紙23種，其中藏文10種；廣播電臺1座，廣播電視臺3座，電視臺5座，衛(wèi)星接收站12976座，廣播電視人口綜合覆蓋率分別達到90.3%、91.4%。近年來大力推進文化體制改革，一大批具有濃郁地方特色、體現(xiàn)時代精神的文化精品不斷推出。每年藏歷新年，西藏電視臺都要制作播出藏語的新年聯(lián)歡晚會，不僅深受西藏各地人民群眾的喜愛，而且據(jù)境外藏胞反映，在印度、尼泊爾的藏人聚居區(qū)也可以看到西藏電視臺的節(jié)目，特別是每逢藏語新年聯(lián)歡晚會播出時，一些藏人聚居區(qū)萬人空巷，與境內(nèi)的藏族群眾共同享受這場文化大餐。近年來，西藏自治區(qū)還派出文藝團組在春節(jié)、藏歷新年期間，到尼泊爾、瑞士、澳大利亞等國的境外藏胞聚居區(qū)進行演出和聯(lián)歡，每年都有近萬人次參加，深受境外藏胞歡迎。

(五)宗教信仰自由得到充分保障

藏族群眾普遍信仰藏傳佛教，藏傳佛教在西藏有著悠久的歷史，對人們物質(zhì)生產(chǎn)和精神生活有著廣泛而深刻的影響。目前西藏共有寺廟1700多所，僧尼4萬多人。除藏傳佛教外，還有一部分群眾信仰伊斯蘭教、天主教。在舊西藏政教合一的封建農(nóng)奴制度中，貴族、政府官員和寺廟上層僧侶是三大封建領主，其中寺廟占有的土地和農(nóng)奴最多。1951年西藏110多萬人口中，寺廟僧尼有20萬，大量青壯年集中在寺廟，不從事生產(chǎn)勞動，成為嚴重制約西藏經(jīng)濟社會發(fā)展的一個重要因素。在寺廟內(nèi)部等級森嚴，下層僧侶地位十分低下，主要從事各種雜役，沒有接受文化甚至宗教教育的機會。同時，藏傳佛教各個教派之間歷史上矛盾沖突不斷，各教派在不同時期依靠不同的政治勢力，往往在掌權后對其他教派進行打壓。在同一教派中也有矛盾，民國時同屬藏傳佛教格魯派的九世班禪與十三世達賴失和，九世班禪被迫來到內(nèi)地，最后在內(nèi)地圓寂。

西藏和平解放后，在中央政府的努力下，實現(xiàn)宗教信仰自由政策，各教派一律平等，同時在中央政府的努力下，十世班禪回到西藏，西藏地方政府承認班禪的固有地位，歷史宿怨得以化解，西藏內(nèi)部增進了團結。中國憲法規(guī)定，宗教信仰自由是公民的一項基本權利，西藏信教群眾在國家憲法和法律的保護下，享有開展正常宗教活動的充分自由?！八_嘎達瓦節(jié)”等40余種傳統(tǒng)宗教節(jié)日受到國家法律保護，每年到拉薩朝佛敬香的信教群眾達百萬人次。藏文《中華大藏經(jīng)》等一大批藏傳佛教典籍的整理、出版，滿足了僧尼和信教群眾的學修需求。上世紀八十年代以來，國家每年都撥出專項資金，對包括寺廟在內(nèi)的重要文物單位進行維修和保護?！笆濉逼陂g(2001-2005)，國家投資3.3億元對布達拉宮、羅布林卡、薩迦寺進行包括古建筑維修、周圍環(huán)境整治、安裝消防設施等內(nèi)容的保護工程，“十一五”期間(2006-2010)，國家投資近6億元，在西藏實施22處文物維修工程，其中重點文物保護單位和重要寺廟15處。與此同時，加強宗教法律法規(guī)建設和政府對宗教事務的管理，在宗教活動場所內(nèi)部實現(xiàn)民主管理，開展法制宣傳教育，提高宗教活動場所的社會化管理和自我管理水平，增強僧尼的國家意識、法律意識、公民意識。

(六)生態(tài)環(huán)境得到有效保護

西藏地處青藏高原核心地帶，是世界山地冰川最發(fā)育的地區(qū)，是長江、黃河、瀾滄江等主要河流和亞洲重要江河源區(qū)，是維系我國和東亞氣候系統(tǒng)穩(wěn)定的重要屏障。西藏復雜的地形和多樣的氣候也使西藏成為一個生物資源非常豐富的地區(qū)，是生物多樣性的重要基因庫。據(jù)勘察，目前西藏有野生植物9600多種，被列入國家重點保護的珍稀植物有40多種，西藏特有的野生動物達196種，被列為國家和西藏自治區(qū)重點保護的野生動物125種。西藏現(xiàn)有森林1400多萬公頃，森林蓄積量20多億立方米，名列全國第一位；現(xiàn)有天然草地8207萬公頃，約占全國天然草地面積的21%，西藏土地面積的68%。

西藏的生態(tài)環(huán)境特殊而豐富，但同時也比較脆弱，一旦遭到破壞，影響極大且很難得到恢復。合理開發(fā)和利用自然資源、保護生態(tài)環(huán)境是中國的一項基本國策。中央第五次西藏工作座談會明確提出，要把西藏的生態(tài)環(huán)境建設作為造福千秋萬代的戰(zhàn)略工程，促進生態(tài)保護與經(jīng)濟建設協(xié)調(diào)發(fā)展、環(huán)境優(yōu)化和民生改善同步提升，實現(xiàn)生態(tài)系統(tǒng)良性循環(huán)。近年來，西藏實行生態(tài)環(huán)境與經(jīng)濟社會同步規(guī)劃，全面實施《土地管理法》、《水法》、《草原法》等法律法規(guī)和《西藏生態(tài)安全屏障保護與建設規(guī)劃》，推進天然林保護、退耕還林、退牧還草等工程，開展防沙治沙、水土流失、小流域綜合治理及地質(zhì)災害防治工作。目前，已建立21個生態(tài)功能保護區(qū)、7個國家森林公園、3個地質(zhì)公園、1個國家級風景名勝區(qū)以及47個各級各類自然保護區(qū)，保護區(qū)面積占西藏國土面積的34.5%，森林覆蓋率由不足上世紀50年代的1%上升到11.91%。根據(jù)國家的要求，在西藏的經(jīng)濟項目建設中，實行最嚴格的環(huán)境評價機制，堅決防止由于資源開發(fā)、各類項目建設對西藏生態(tài)環(huán)境造成重大影響。在建設青藏鐵路的過程中，為保護沿線的生態(tài)環(huán)境，采取了大量高科技手段和工程措施，僅用于環(huán)保的投資就達14億元，創(chuàng)下中國鐵路建設之最。

60年來，中央政府始終高度重視西藏工作，關心西藏各族人民，采取符合西藏現(xiàn)實的政策措施，西藏經(jīng)歷了從黑暗走向光明，從專制走向民主，從落后走向進步，從貧窮走向富裕，從封閉走向開放的歷史跨越，實現(xiàn)了短短幾十年跨越上千年的發(fā)展奇跡。2010年召開的中央第五次西藏工作座談會，明確提出到2020年西藏與全國一道實現(xiàn)全面建設小康社會的宏偉目標。我們有理由相信，在中央的關心和全國人民的無私支援下，通過西藏各族人民的團結奮斗，通過西藏與內(nèi)地交往、交流、交融的不斷深化，西藏一定會有更加美好的發(fā)展前景。

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet. Sixty years ago on May 23, the Central People’s Government and the former Tibet local government signed the Agreement on the Procedures for Peacefully Liberating Tibet(the Seventeen Articles), which declared that Tibet was achieving peaceful liberation. The peaceful liberation of Tibet completely wrecked the avaricious schemes that foreign imperialist forces had carried out throughout the modern period to split Tibet off from China, and achieved the complete liberation and unification of the Chinese mainland. This greatly encouraged patriotic advanced forces in Tibet and created the conditions for changing Tibet’s feudal serf system rooted on the twin pillars of politics and religion. It also created intimate links between Tibet and the interior of China, greatly stimulated the development of all undertakings in Tibet, and opened a promising path for Tibet to flourish and progress.

Sixty years have passed in the twinkling of an eye, and in that time the marvelous Tibetan plateau in China’s southwest has undergone tremendous changes,and the Tibetan people of all ethnic groups have united with people throughout the country in the great family of the motherland, struggled resolutely together to progress, and worked arm in arm to achieve real development and progress.

1. Historic changes in the social system

Before its peaceful liberation, Tibet was for a long time under a feudal serf system rooted on the twin pillars of politics and religion. Under this system, serf owners, who comprised less than 5% of the population, controlled all the production, cultural and education resources; whereas the other 95% of the population were serfs or slaves who possessed no production resources and had no personal freedom, let alone any political rights, and they were nothing more than tools with the ability to speak. The legal code of old Tibet clearly stipulated that people are divided into three levels and nine sublevels and it sets a price on the value of a person’s life based on his or her status. Nobles and high-level religious figures were worth their weight in gold, but the lowest-level serfs were worth only a length of rope. In the course of the peaceful liberation of Tibet, the central government carried out a thorough analysis of the domestic and international situations and the social situation in Tibet at the time, and set forth the policy of liberating Tibet sooner rather than later and liberating it peacefully. As the result of repeated efforts of the central government to work together with patriotic progressive forces in Tibet represented by the Tenth Panchen Erdeni,Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme and Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai among others, the Tibet local government dispatched a peace negotiator to Beijing who signed the Seventeen Articles with the central government. The Seventeen Articles stipulated on the one hand that the PLA would enter Tibet and protect its borders and oust imperialist forces there, and on the other hand that the prevailing social system and the powers of the Dalai Lama would not be changed and that officials of the Tibet local government would remain in office. It also stipulated that when the Tibetan people expressed the desire to change the prevailing social system, the Tibet local government should take the initiative to carry out reform on the basis of consultations. Subsequently,the hardline forces within Tibetan feudal serf-owing upper class did not sincerely uphold and implement the Seventeen Articles, tried to maintain the feudal serf system forever without any changes and hoped that reforms would never be adopted. In the eighth year after the peaceful liberation of Tibet, they constantly fomented incidents to break the accord, and launched an all-out armed rebellion on March 3, 1959. In this situation, the central government resolutely decided to quell the rebellion. On March 28, the State Council issued an order to dissolve the Tibet local government and have the Party committee of the Tibetan Autonomous Region carry out the functions of the local government. This step was of decisive significance on the path of building democracy in Tibet. At the same time, the central government adopted the policy of carrying out reform while quelling rebellion. While quelling the rebellion, it mobilized the masses to carry out democratic reform and to thoroughly abolish the feudal serf system that had been practiced for a thousand years and create a democratic government of people of all classes. As a result millions of serfs stood up and became masters of their country and society. In addition, after several years of preparation, the Tibetan Autonomous Region was formally established, and the Tibetan people exercised their democratic rights to elect people’s congresses and people’s governments at every administrative level in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, independently exercise the rights given to them by the Constitution and laws, and manage all the internal affairs of the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

Since the beginning of reform and opening up,constant progress has been made in developing democracy in Tibet. The system of people’s congresses, the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the system of ethnic autonomous regions, and the system of primary-level self-governance have all been fully established in Tibet and are being constantly improved. Up till the present,the Tibetan Autonomous Region People’s Congress and its standing committee have enacted more than 250 local laws and regulations, whose content ranges over a wide area including political affairs,the economy, culture and education. Members of the Tibetan ethnic group and other minorities constitute 94.4% of the membership of people’s congresses at all levels in Tibet. The Tibetan delegation to the National People’s Congress includes twelve members of the Tibetan ethnic group, one member of the Monpa ethnic group and one member of the Lhoba ethnic group. Members of the Tibetan ethnic group and other ethnic groups constitute 70.42% of provinciallevel leading cadres in Tibet, and they comprise more than 86% of leading cadres in Tibet’s counties (cities,municipal districts) and its 682 towns and townships.The great changes that have occurred in Tibet’s social system have infused vigor and vitality into the ancient Tibetan plateau, greatly stimulated the development of productive forces, given impetus to rapid economic development and comprehensive social progress in Tibet, and constantly raised the living standards of the members of all ethnic groups in Tibet.

2. Glorious achievements in economic development

At the time of the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, Tibet had a population of 1.14 million; the level of productive forces was extremely backward;farming and herding was the primary industry; only a small number of people were engaged in commerce and handicraft industries; the gross regional product(GRP) was only 129 million yuan, and per capita income was only 113 yuan. Because Tibet was mired in poverty and ignorance and the people were destitute, the central government gave top priority to helping Tibet develop its economy and improve the people’s lives, and gave a large amount of aid to assist the economic and social development of Tibet. When the PLA entered Tibet in the 1950s, it abided by the directives of the central government and everywhere it went it set up schools and hospitals, passed out farm tools, and issued no-interest loans. The central government sent medical teams and veterinarians and doctors that went deep into the hinterlands where they treated the sick and prevented and controlled animal epidemics. All this increased people’s understanding of the PLA and the Communist Party and increased the solidarity between the peoples of the Han and Tibetan ethnic groups. In accordance with Comrade Mao Zedong’s directive to brave all hardships in an all-out drive to build roads to help our fellow ethnic groups, more than 100,000 Tibetans and Han Chinese,soldiers and civilians, with the PLA in the lead,built the Sichuan-Tibet Highway and the Qinghai-Tibet Highway, which together extended more than 3,000 km. over countless mountains and valleys at an average elevation of 4,000 m. Due of the elevation,cold, lack of oxygen and difficult working conditions,more than 3,000 construction workers sacrificed their lives working on the project, an average of about one per kilometer. As a result, from then on, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau had a “happiness road” and a “heart link road” along which a constant stream of supplies and personnel entered Tibet, closely connecting Tibet with the rest of the motherland and lifting the curtain on the modernization and development of Tibet.

Since the beginning of reform and opening up, the central government has held five working meetings on Tibet, where it a series of special policies and preferential measures were adopted to support Tibet’s economic and social development and forces throughout the country were marshaled to support Tibet’s development. According to statistics, the state provided Tibet fiscal subsidies and fixed investment totaling 310 billion yuan just in the period from 2001 to 2010. In addition, the central government mobilized relatively developed provinces and major core SOEs to provide direct assistance to sister organizations in Tibet, and to send one group after another of cadres there to do assistance work while at the same time bringing Tibetan cadres to the interior for training. At present, a comprehensive setup for supporting Tibet’s modernization involving a combination of state direct investment in Tibet construction projects, central government fiscal subsidies and support by sister organizations throughout the country has already been set up.

Total economic output jumped to a new height.Tibet has registered double-digit growth for 18 consecutive years. In 2010, Tibet’s GRP was 50.746 billion yuan, 393 times that of 1951 calculated in comparable terms and 83 times that of 1959 when democratic reforms were adopted in Tibet. The per capita GDP was 17,000 yuan, 150 times that of 1951 and 34 times that of 1959. Local general budgetary revenue was 3.61 billion yuan, and it increased at least 20% for eight consecutive years. In particular,in the last five years (the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period) GRP growth maintained a sensational pace and the GRP passed the 30 billion, 40 billion and 50 billion marks and increased at an average annual rate of 12.4%. Total fixed investment in the region for the five years was 165.6 billion yuan, 2.4 times that of the Tenth Five-Year Plan period. Total consumer sales over the five years totaled 67 billion yuan, 1.3 times that of the Tenth Five-Year Plan period. Local general budgetary revenue for the five years was 12.63 billion yuan, three times that of the Tenth Five-Year Plan period.

Infrastructure has been greatly improved. The rudiments of a comprehensive transport network are now in place. Asphalt roads connect 54 of Tibet’s 74 counties and six more are under construction. All of the region’s towns and villages and 80% of the administrative villages are linked by roads, and there are 58,000 km. of roads open to vehicular traffic, an increase of 50,700 km. over 1959. The Qinghai-Tibet railroad was opened to traffic in 2006, connecting Tibet to the rest of China by rail for the first time. The Lhasa-Shigatse Railroad is included in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan and construction of it has already begun. Construction has been completed on five large civilian airports: the Lhasa Gonggar Airport, Qamdo Bangda Airport, Nyingchi Mainling Airport, Shigatse Peace Airport and Ngari Gunsa Airport which are serviced by 21 domestic and international airline routes. Development of a comprehensive energy system based mainly on hydropower was accelerated.Hydropower stations were built and put into operation at Shiquan River, Zhikong and Bahexueka, and the total electric power capacity of Tibet has reached 974,000 kW., with another 956,000 kW. under construction, and 82% of the population has access to electricity. The modern information network covers the whole region, and the 3G network extends to all counties. There are more than 1.15 million Internet users, and all townships have broadband Internet service and all villages have telephone service.

Further progress has been made in developing industry. Tibet has indicated that it needs to energetically develop six industries for which it has favorable conditions: mining, Tibetan medicine, ethnic handicrafts, tourism, local agricultural products, and organic foods and beverages, and create a number of name brands that reflect the characteristics of the region. At present, industries that produce unique products for which Tibet has favorable conditions are developing quickly; the overall productive forces of the farming and herding industries have increased further, and great progress has been made in mineral exploration. The tourism industry in particular has grown by leaps and bounds due to the unique natural conditions of the plateau and Tibet’s rich cultural environment. In recent years, Tibet has thrown itself wholeheartedly into publicity, sales promotion and outstanding service, and made breakthroughs in winter tourism and rural tourism. In 2010, a total of 6.851 million tourists visited Tibet and tourism income was 7.14 billion yuan, 2.8 and 2.7 times more than in 2005 respectively.

People’s standard of living has increased greatly.The per capita net income of farmers and herders has undergone double-digit growth for eight consecutive years, and reached 4,138.7 yuan in 2010, a 99.2%increase over 2005, and 118 times the figure of 35 yuan in 1959. The per capital disposable income of urban residents was 14,980 yuan, a 78.1% increase over 2005. Particularly since 2006, great progress has been made in building a new socialist countryside with the focus on enabling the people to live peaceful lives and have satisfying jobs, and a total of 17 billion yuan has been invested in this undertaking. In all of Tibet, 275,000 people live in substandard conditions,and 1.44 million farmers and herders live in safe and satisfactory housing. A total of 1.53 million people have been provided with a steady source of safe drinking water; roads have been built to 159 towns and townships and 1,659 administrative villages, and electric power has been provided to an additional 740,000 farmers and herders.

3. Comprehensive progress in social undertakings

Before its peaceful liberation, Tibet did not have a single modern school or hospital. The limited number of schools and traditional Tibetan medicine facilities were monopolized by the feudal nobility and the monasteries. Life expectancy was 35 years, and 95%of young and middle-aged people were illiterate. For the Tibetan ethnic group to progress, education had to be made the foundation. From 1950 to 2010, the state spent a total of 40.73 billion yuan to cover the costs of education, and created an education system encompassing pre-school education, compulsory education, secondary education, higher education,vocational education and special education. In the 1980s, the state eliminated miscellaneous expenses and provided free books to the children of all farmers and herders throughout Tibet who were enrolled in compulsory education, and boarding students were provided free housing and meals and exempted them from school fees. In 2009, Tibet raised the level of subsidies for this program for the third time, and now elementary students receive 1,750 yuan and secondary school students receive 1,850, and 270,000 students benefit from this program. As of 2010, Tibet has made nine-year compulsory education virtually universal,and 99.2% of elementary-school aged children attend school; and the percentages for lower secondary school, upper secondary school and university are 98.2%, 60.1% and 23.4% respectively. The illiteracy rate for young and middle-aged people has dropped to 1.2%, and the average education of Tibetans is 7.3 years.

Great progress has been made in the medical and health fields in Tibet. Tibet was the first province in the country to provide universal medical insurance coverage to urban residents, and has set up a rural medical system with free treatment as its foundation.At present there are more than 1,500 health and medical facilities of all kinds in Tibet, and every township has a hospital and every village has a clinic.There are more than 8,000 hospital beds in these facilities, and there are 2.6 hospital beds and 3.2 health professionals for every 1,000 people. Both of these figures are higher than the national average. The infant mortality rate has dropped from 43% in the 1950s to 3.1% today, and life expectancy has reached 67 years. Tibet is one of the provinces with the largest number and highest percentage of centenarians in the population.

The social security system is gradually approaching completion. For many years the registered urban unemployment rate has been held at or below 4.3%, and in 2009 alone 50 million yuan spent was on job training for 280,000 farmers and herdsmen. With the energetic support of the central government, Tibet was the first province in the country to achieve full coverage of the new kind of rural old-age insurance and urban subsistence allowances. The urban subsistence allowance was raised to 300 yuan per month, and the rural subsistence allowance was raised to 1,300 yuan per year.

4. Rich and flourishing cultural life

Tibet’s outstanding traditional culture is an important part of the Chinese nation’s traditional culture. The central government and local governments at all levels in Tibet place strong emphasis on preserving and developing Tibet’s outstanding traditional culture, and always carry out a policy of respecting, carrying forward and developing the traditional culture of ethnic minorities. Institutions have been established in Tibet for the salvaging,sorting and study of artifacts of ethnic culture. They carried out a comprehensive survey throughout Tibet of artifacts and culture and arts; formulated plans to collect and organize plays, dances, music, folk art, folk songs, proverbs and stories that circulate among the people; collected materials in the Tibetan and Chinese languages totaling more than 30 million words; and published more than 1,000 academic papers and more than 30 monographs on traditional Tibetan culture.The Biography of King Gesar and other works have been placed on the list of protected intangible cultural artifacts, and were salvaged and preserved in a timely manner. The central government pays great attention to the study, use and development of the Tibetan language. International standard script coding has been developed for the Tibetan language, and it is the first Chinese ethnic minority language to be so coded.

In old Tibet, there were no newspapers,magazines, films or television; but now there are 86 publishing houses in Tibet, and every year they publish more than a hundred books; 4 magazines,14 of which are in Tibetan; and 23 newspapers, 10 of which are in Tibetan. There is one radio station,three radio and television stations, five television stations, and 12,976 satellite receiving stations; 90.3%of the population has radio reception and 91.4% has television reception. In recent years, great progress has been made in reforming the culture system, and a large number of cultural products that have rich local flavor and embody the spirit of the times have appeared in a constant stream. Every year at Tibetan New Year, all the Tibetan television stations present variety shows celebrating the holiday, and these programs are not only well loved by the people throughout Tibet, but are also avidly watched by Tibetans living outside the region. Television stations in areas of India and Nepal where Tibetans are concentrated also broadcast Tibetan programs. New Year’s variety programs are especially popular, and Tibetans there gather with family and friends to enjoy this cultural feast just like their compatriots in Tibet. In recent years at Tibetan New Year and Spring Festival, the Tibetan Autonomous Region has sent performing arts troupes to places in Nepal, Switzerland, Australia and other countries where Tibetans are concentrated to perform and celebrate the holidays with local Tibetans. Every year, nearly 10,000 Tibetan artists participate in these programs and are enthusiastically welcomed by their compatriots living abroad.

5. Fully protecting freedom of religious belief

Most Tibetans believe in Tibetan Buddhism.Tibetan Buddhism has a long history in Tibet, and it has a pervasive influence on people’s material and spiritual lives. At present, there are more than 1,700 Buddhist temples and monasteries and more than 40,000 Buddhist monks in Tibet. Small minorities of Tibetans also believe in Islam or Catholicism. Under the feudal serf system rooted on the twin pillars of politics and religion of old Tibet, there were three kinds of feudal lords: nobles, government officials and monastery abbots. Monasteries possessed the most land and serfs. In 1951, there were 200,000 monks and nuns out of a population of 1.1 million. Most young and middle-aged people congregated in monasteries and did not want to engage in productive work. This was a major factor constraining Tibet’s economic and social development. There was a strict caste system within monasteries, and the status of the lowest-level monks was very low. They were unskilled laborers and had no opportunity to receive cultural or even religious education. In addition, throughout history conflicts constantly broke out between different sects of Tibetan Buddhism, and whenever one sect achieved dominance through its political connections,it suppressed the other sects. There were also conflicts within sects. In the first half of the 20th century, the Ninth Panchen Lama and Thirteenth Dalai Lama, both of whom belonged to the Gulug sect, had a falling out,and the Panchen Lama was forced into exile in the interior, where he died.

After the peaceful liberation of Tibet, the policy of freedom of religious belief was adopted through the efforts of the central government. All religious sects are now equal, and the Tenth Panchen Lama was able to return to Tibet through the efforts of the central government. The local Tibetan government recognized the legitimacy of the Panchen Lama,with the result that a long-standing conflict was resolved and Tibet became more united. The Chinese Constitution stipulates that freedom of religious belief is a basic right of citizens. Under the protection of the Constitution and laws, Tibetan religious believers enjoy full freedom to participate openly in normal religious activities. Forty traditional religious festivals such as the Saga Dawa Festival are protected by state law, and every year nearly a million pilgrims go to Lhasa to light incense and pray to the Buddha.A large number of traditional Buddhist sutras such as the Zhonghua Dazangjing have been edited and published in Tibetan to satisfy the demand of monks,nuns and laymen. Every year since the 1980s, the state has designated special funds for maintaining and preserving important cultural institutions, including temples and monasteries. During the Tenth Five-Year Plan period (2000-2005), the state spent 330 million yuan on preservation projects such as building maintenance, cleaning up the environs around temples and installing fire extinguishing equipment. During the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period, the state spent nearly 600 million yuan to carry out 22 cultural restoration projects in Tibet at 15 key cultural preservation agencies and important temples and monasteries. At the same time, religious laws and regulations and government management of religious affairs was also strengthened; democratic management of venues where religious activities are held was instituted;publicity and education in the law was carried out; the level of non-governmental- and self-management of venues where religious activities are held was raised;and the understanding of monks and nuns concerning the country and its laws and citizens was raised.

6. Effectively protecting the ecosystem

Most of Tibet is covered by the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and it is the region of the world with the most glaciers; the source of the Yangtze, Yellow and Mekong Rivers; and an important protective screen maintaining the stability of the Chinese and East Asian weather system. Its complex topography and variable weather make Tibet a region extremely rich in biological resources and an important gene bank for biological diversity. On the basis of surveys, we know that Tibet now possesses more than 9,600 species of wild plants, 40 of which are on the national list of endangered wild plants. There are 196 species of wild animals unique to Tibet, 125 of which are national and Tibetan lists of endangered wild animals. Tibet presently possesses more than 14 million hectares of virgin forest containing more than two billion cubic meters of timber, and Tibet ranks first among China’s provinces in both categories. It also possesses 82.07 million hectares of virgin prairie, accounting for 21%of China’s virgin prairie, and 68% of Tibet’s land.

Tibet has a unique and rich ecosystem, but it is also fragile. Once it is damaged, the effects are enormous and very difficult to reverse. Carrying out development rationally, using resources wisely,and protecting the ecosystem is one of the country’s basic state policies. The Central Committee’s Fifth Working Meeting on Tibet, held in 2010, clearly stated that improving Tibet’s ecosystem is a strategic project for bringing benefits to Tibet long into the future, promoting coordination between ecological protection and economic development and coordinated improvements in the ecosystem and people’s living conditions, and achieving a virtuous cycle in the ecosystem. In recent years, Tibet has carried out planning for the ecosystem in conjunction with economic and social planning; fully implemented such laws and regulations as the Land Administration Law, Water Law and Prairie Law, as well as the Tibet Ecological Security Barrier Protection and Development Plan; carried out projects to protect natural forests and return cultivated land to forests and grazing land to pastures; and carried out projects to prevent and control desertification, prevent soil erosion, comprehensively improve small watersheds,and prevent and control geological disasters. At present, Tibet has already established 21 ecological functional protection areas, seven national forests,three geological parks, one national-level scenic area, and 47 nature protection areas of various kinds at various levels. Protected areas occupy 34.5% of Tibet’s land, and forest coverage has been increased from less that 1% in the 1950s to 11.91% today. In accordance with state requirements, construction of economic projects in Tibet is subject to the strictest environmental evaluation to effectively prevent a severe negative impact on Tibet’s ecosystem from resource exploitation and all kinds of development projects. In the course of building the Qinghai-Tibet Railroad, a large number of high-tech methods and engineering measures were adopted to protect the ecosystem alongside the railroad line, and 1.4 billion yuan were spent on environmental protection, making this the most expensive item of the project.

For the last 60 years, the central government has always placed great emphasis on its Tibet work, shown concern for the Tibetan people, and adopted policies and measures suitable to realities in Tibet. Tibet has made an historic transition from darkness to light,from despotism to democracy, from backwardness to progress, from destitution to abundance, and from being closed to being open, and has achieved the miracle of compressing a thousand years of development into a few short decades. The Central Committee’s Fifth Working Meeting on Tibet clearly set forth the great target of completely becoming a moderately prosperous society in all respects, which is also a major target for the country as a whole. We have reason to believe that with the solicitude of the Central Committee and the selfless support of the people of the whole country, and through the hard work of the people of all ethnic groups living in Tibet and the constant deepening of contacts, interaction and mingling between Tibet and the interior, Tibet’s development prospects will be even brighter in the future.

The Sixtieth Anniversary of the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet A Historic Advance and a Great Achievement: Development and Progress in Tibet during the 60 Years since Its Peaceful Liberation

■ WuChu