Connecting Heavenly Tibet

The Tibetan plateau is witnessing a great deal of infrastructure development. This is not new, but the Chinese investments have taken much larger proportions in the recent weeks.

According to the website en.tibetol.cn, the Government of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) has vowed to invest 543.1 billion yuan (88 billion US dollar) “to improve transportation conditions and promote the economic and social development during the 13th five-year period (2016-2020).”

What does it means?

Undoubtedly, it will bring tens of millions Chinese tourists on the plateau.

One hundred million soon?

The 12^th Five-Year Plan

During the previous five-year period (2011-2015), 300 kilometers of high-level roads were built in the TAR while the Lhasa-Shigatse Railway started its operations in 2014; further 63 new airlines have been opened, linking 40 cities in China.

By the end of the current Plan (13^th), the total mileage of highways in Tibet will reach 110,000 kilometers.

New Developments

On November 25, China Daily announced that “more than 20 new highways will be built in the TAR next year, with a total investment of more than 33 billion yuan (5 billion US dollar)”.

According to Ge Yutao, head of the TAR’s regional transportation authority, the new routes will include Lhasa to Nagchu; Derge to Chamdo; Chamdo to Jaka; Lhasa to Shigatse Airport; and Gongkar Airport to Tsethang, as well as the Nyima-Aso section of National Highway 317.

Ge added that 54 billion yuan (8.8 billon US dollar) from the TAR’s coffers will be spent on Tibet's transport infrastructure during the current year: “The total length of roads has reached 82,000 kilometers, and it's expected to reach 89,000 km next year. Next year, we will finish constructing 864 km of highways and 5,500 km of rural roads, and reconstruct 4,310 km of national and provincial trunk highways."

Ge spoke during the recent TAR Congress in Lhasa.

The TAR plans to spend 15 billion yuan (2.4 billion US dollar) from the State resources and 40 billion yuan (6.5 billion US dollar) from bank loans to further improve Tibet's transportation network next year.

It is not said who is guarantying the loans. Probably the Central Government as these investments will also be useful to ‘defend the borders’.

On November 15, while presenting the TAR’s ‘Work Report’ to the regional Congress, Wu Yingjie, the new TAR Party boss mentioned the improvements in road, rail and aviation networks planned for the next five years.

The second ‘Sky Road’

During the current Five-Year Plan, Tibet will particularly speed up the construction of its second ‘Sky Road’, the Sichuan-Tibet Railway.

The 1,838 km railway will run from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province to Lhasa. The first ‘Sky Road’ on the plateau was the Qinghai-Tibet Railway opened in July 2006, linking Golmund to Lhasa.

‘While the first section of the second ‘Sky Road, between Chengdu and Ya'an, began in 2014, the second part, from Lhasa to Nyingchi, started in 2014. 

Wu affirmed that “The section inside Tibet is expected to be finished by 2020.”

He told the delegates to the Congress that the preliminary work on the Yunnan-Tibet Railway and flights between Ngari and Purang, in Ngari prefecture, will start in the next five years.

Incidentally, Purang is located near Mt Kailash, just north of Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand.

Wu added that “Tibet has plans to build airports in densely populated and developed cities and prefectures. The progress of an elaborate transportation system of highways, railways and air routes in the coming years will lay a foundation for Tibet to blend in with the Belt and Road Initiative. [One Road One Belt scheme]"

According to the TAR’s Work Report: “Tibet has witnessed rapid development in transportation construction in the past five years, with the total length of the highways increasing by 33 percent. In that time, the 300-km Lhasa-Nyingchi Highway was completed, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was expanded and the Lhasa-Shigatse Railway went fully operational.”

All this has brought millions of tourists from the Mainland to the plateau, with the consequences often mentioned on this blog.

Xu Ance, an engineer with Qinghai-Tibet Railway Co, told The China Daily: “Over the past 10 years, the number of tourists visiting Tibet has increased every year, while our passenger and cargo flow has grown annually, too,"

The railway line is being used for transporting basic goods, coal, cement and construction materials …and troops and military equipment.

The world’s highest tunnel

The Chinese press reported that China completed the work on the world's highest road tunnel, costing about US dollars 170 million on the Sichuan-Tibet highway.

The seven-km long tunnel, situated 6,168 metre above sea level (the tunnel or the mountain?), passes through the main peak of Chola Mountain. It shortens the time from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, to Nagchu in Tibet by two hours, and avoiding the most dangerous section on the highway.

The four-way lanes tunnel has been under construction since 2012. It will open to traffic next year.

The seven-km long tunnel has been built at a cost of 1.15 billion yuan (US dollar 170 million). It takes only takes 10 minutes to drive through. The highway will accommodate 4,000 to 5,000 vehicles a day, as compared with around 1,500 now.

Feasibility of Kangding to Nyingchi railway

According to China Tibet Online, the pre-feasibility study report of the Kangding to Nyingchi segment of the Sichuan-Tibet railway was ready by the end of October this year.

The China Railway Eryuan Engineering Co. Ltd asserted that it is the longest and toughest segment of the Sichuan-Tibet railway line. National Development and Reform Commission is planning to start the construction of this section in 2017. The expected construction time should be seven or eight years

The Sichuan-Tibet railway starting from Chengdu will serve Ya'an, Kangding, Chamdo, Nyingchi, Lhoka and Lhasa. The total length of the operation route will be 1,838 kilometers, out of which 1,738 kilometers of new track will be built. The total investment will reach be 216.6 billion yuan (35 billon US dollars). 

It should shorten the traveling time from 43 hours and 7 minutes now to 13 hours while providing for ‘bidirectional rapid trains’ and inject “double momentum for Tibet's economic development. Over five million people will benefit from this railway project,” according to one report.

Preliminary work of Yunnan-Tibet

The new Yunnan-Tibet Railway to Shangri-La and Dechen County of Yunnan province crossing to the TAR’s Markam and Zogang counties will connect with the Sichuan-Tibet Railway in Bamda Town. The line will be 415 kilometers long; 265-kilometer being in TAR. The total investment has been evaluated to 43.6 billion yuan (7 billion US dollar); the Tibet section alone will cost about 27.8 billion yuan (5 billion US dollar). The preliminary work for the alignment of the line has started. The main work will begin during the 14^th Five-Year Plan period.

China Tibet Online says that the railway in Tibet “is gradually approaching perfection with the operation of Qinghai-Tibet Railway and Lhasa-Shigatse Railway as well as the construction of Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway. Since the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is put into operation, [in 2006] Tibet's freight transportation has increased rapidly and it has become the main freight channel."

And let us not forget, it also takes care of the PLA’s requirements.

The Chinese site added: “The construction of Yunnan-Tibet Railway will bring more convenient transportation conditions for the passenger and cargo circulation between TAR and Yunnan Province;” it concludes: “The Yunnan-Tibet Railway is a critical part of China Western Development, which is meaningful for the leapfrog development and long-term peace and order of Tibet.”

In other words it will be useful to control the restive Tibetans.

On October 31, Kangba TV announced, the opening ceremony of Baima (Pema?) Snow Mountain tunnel on the G214 national highway from Shangri-la to Dechen in Yunnan province.

Kangba TV said that the Shangri-la-Dechen secondary highway is extremely difficult to build “with the high altitude, the worst environment and the most complicated geological landscape in Yunnan Province.”

The project consists of three tunnels, all above 4,000m altitude. The length of the three tunnels totals 19,5 kms. The project started its construction in March 10, 2010 (incidentally, the Tibetan Uprising Day).

The Baima (Pema?) Snow Mountain tunnel should boost the local economy and help the transportation network in Dechen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

In Amdo/Qinghai

In the north, in the Amdo province of Tibet, the construction of the Delingha-Xiangride Highway has been completed; the road is 176.48 km long. The 72.75 km-long Ebao-Qilian Highway is also in operation.

The Delingha-Xiangride Highway is a special one.

Historically, Delingha has been the launching sites for many Chinese ballistic missiles. Located in the Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, the project’s ending point will be connected with the planned Beijing-Tibet Highway (G6), and to the beginning of the Xiangride-Huashixia Highway.

It has a complex geographical environment, crossing the Gobi Desert, salt-marsh, and water meadows.

According to the Chinese media: “It will create a combined transportation network featuring the Beijing-Tibet Highway (G6), National Road 214, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, and the Qinghai-Xinjiang Railway.”

This expansion is part of the national highway project linking Delingha to Maerkang in Sichuan (G0615). The entire highway will be built to the latest standards and will be designed for vehicles to run at a speed at 100 km/hr.

In the Qilian County, the Ebao-Qilian Highway starts from Ebao Town. It connects to National Highway 227 as well as the Zhangye-Henan Highway, ending up in Qilian County. The road further connects to Provincial Road 204 and the planned Qilian-Chamdo Highway.

Other developments

China Tibet News reported that at the beginning of 2016, all cities in China's have access to the fiber-optic broadband. During the current Five-Year period, China Telecom will promote the development of basic information resources, making the fiber-optic broadband faster: “Internet will integrate with more traditional industries, accelerating the construction of broadband Tibet, intelligent city, intelligent industry and intelligent family. It also makes the poverty alleviation work more efficient.”

The website says that there are 82 mobile phones and 11 fixed phones for every 100 people in China's Tibet. The Internet penetration rate reaches 60 percent: “Internet not only improves Tibetan people's livelihood but also shortens the distance between Tibet and the outside world. As Internet integrates with traditional industries such as tourism and agriculture, work efficiency gets great improvement.”

It cites the Qionglin Village in Nanyi Township of Menling County, Nyingchi (north of Aurunachal Pradesh). It has been provide fiber-optic broadband connection by China Mobile. Out of 47 households in the village, 40 have access to broadband and Wifi access is available in the village.

The same website says that “during  the 12th Five-Year Plan period, China's Tibet built 3,000 rural comprehensive information service stations, covering 57 percent of administrative villages and 62 percent of farmers and herdsmen.”

Tibet branch of China Mobile has invested 14.29 billion yuan (about 2.14 billion U.S. dollar) and built 12,600 base stations: “long distance optical cable reached 51,900 sheet km. In Tibet, there are already 4,440 administrative villages that have access to mobile Internet, with the coverage rate of 84 percent. 693 towns and more than 4,000 administrative villages are connected to optical fiber cable, lying a solid foundation for the proliferation of optical fiber cable in all farming and pastoral areas.”

It speaks of ‘Heavenly Tibet’: “an intelligent tourist product, providing tourists with one-stop information service encompassing eating, accommodation, traffic, traveling, shopping and entertainment. It is the same as the newfangled online tourism service.”

The Nyingchi Prefecture has invested 1.33 million yuan (about 199,445 U.S. dollars), to develop the ‘transparent kitchen’ which is a food safety monitoring project integrated with the Internet: “Currently, 25 school cafeterias and hotels have been monitored by this system. Besides, more than 400 restaurants will be put into this item.”

The Disneyland of Snows will become a cool connected place, but it may lose its soul in the process.

Lamas in their mountain caves were also ‘connected’, but in a different way.

China’s New War over Internet

Swearing on Internet

My article China’s New War over Internet appeared in NitiCentral.


Here is the link...

Beijing irredentism is not restricted to the China Seas, Beijing also wants to be the leader in cyberspace and impose its own law.
President Xi Jinping in his keynote speech at the World Internet Conference (WIC), recently asserted that the world needs new rules for cyberspace; he strongly defended the Middle Kingdom’s internet controls.
The three-day conference was held in Wuzhen in Zhejiang province. The Chinese media said that some 2,000 senior global technology company executives and ‘world leaders’ from more than 120 countries and regions had come to discuss the ‘future of Internet’.
The foreign leaders who attended the conference included Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Massimov, Kyrgyzstan’s Prime Minister Surrey Aliyev, and Tajikistan’s Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda.
The WIC website affirmed that the Conference was part of Beijing’s effort to ‘assume the responsibility of a great network power’. Beijing may have some reasons to believe that China has become ‘the leader’.
According to the China Internet Network Information Centre, China has some 668 million internet users, 594 million using their mobile phones.
The same source says that in 2014, Chinese mobile users spent an average of 158 minutes every day using their smartphones for entertainment.
I wonder if anybody has similar stats for India.
But …China has the strongest and most sophisticated censorship machinery of the planet. According to GreatFire.org, more than 5,000 websites are officially blocked on the mainland. In actual fact, it may be much, much more. This writer’s blog has been blocked for the past 5 years. Why? Just because I analyze the situation in Tibet from time to time. Among the ‘famous’ websites and networking platforms blocked are Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
At the same time, e-payment is growing fast. China Internet Watch Mobile believes that the amount paid through internet in China reached US$4.19 trillion during the second quarter of 2015, up 445 per cent from the same period last year. Some 650 million Chinese use Tencent’s mobile messaging app WeChat; out of which 60 per cent use the app’s built-in WeChat Wallet service.
And then e-commerce! It may reach US$ 672 billion this year, more than 40 per cent of the world e-commerce. On November 11, on the occasion of Singles Day shopping, Chinese spent a record US$14.3 billion online on websites such as Alibaba’s Taobao Taobao and Tmall.
Does this give China the right to dictate the world’s Internet policy?
No, especially with the Chinese State becoming more and more assertive in the way it controls the use of the Internet. The Party considers the present ‘struggle’ as a war, on whose outcome would depend the fate of the Communist Party. Many believe that if ‘western views’ would prevail, the Party could soon lose its central place in China.
Qiao Mu, a communication expert at the Beijing Foreign Studies University told The South China Morning Post: “Over the past few years, Beijing has gone from passive defence to active offence in its internet security. Staging the conference is a way for China to showcase the legitimacy of its internet governance.”
In his address to the Conference, Xi Jinping asserted: “The internet should be regulated to protect countries’ core interests”, while presenting his vision for a new system of cybersecurity governance.
Xi noted that control was important to find ‘a balance between order and freedom of expression’; he asserted that ultimately each country has the right to choose their own set of rules: “Cyberspace is not a place beyond the rule of law. While respecting internet users’ rights to exchange ideas and express their views, efforts should be made to build a sound cyberspace order under the law so as to protect the legitimate rights and interests of all internet users”.
Though not openly, Xi’s attack was directed at the United State, especially when he said “There should be no internet hegemony”; he also spoke of no “interference in another country’s internal affairs.”
It was rather ironic as it is a fact that the Chinese hackers have been involved in attacks on other countries’ institutions more than once.
Was Xi really serious when he spoke of not ‘tolerating or supporting internet activities that damage another country’s national security’?
While Lu Wei, China’s ‘cyberspace minister’ promised to “build a multilateral, democratic, transparent international Internet governance system that will better benefit the whole world,” The New York Times was barred from this year’s Conference.
The China Daily reported quoted Lu saying China ‘only welcomes friends’, though he denied there was any censorship in the country.
Today, China has one of the most comprehensive Internet censorship apparatus in the world to suppress dissidence and any information considered ‘unsafe’ for the ruling Communist Party.
A Xinhua article explained: “A stabilized China is in line with global interests, which is especially true comparing China's security, prosperity and vibrancy with chaos in some places around the world.”
It is not said if India is counted in the chaotic countries …in any case, there is no doubt that the freedom in India brings far more stability than the ‘order’ in China, which seems caught in a vicious circle.
Last year, a Central Leading Group for Internet Security and Informatisation was created to monitor the Internet and in July this year, the National People’s Congress, China’s legislative body, published the draft of the first internet security law, under which law enforcement agencies will be authorised to ban access to the Internet during times of social unrest and will have the legal powers to obtain whatever information they require from telecom providers.
A year ago, when several well-known bloggers were convicted on various charges, including ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’, others became silent; that is to ‘kill a few chickens to scare the monkeys’, in Maoist parlance.
One of the ‘chickens’ is human rights lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang, who was detained in May 2014 while attending a private seminar to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown. He was charged of writing microblog commentaries critical to the Party.
In November, in an article in the People’s Daily, Huang Kunming, the Party’s deputy propaganda chief, use the word ‘battlefield’ to describe the ideological struggle facing the Communist regime over internet security. He spoke of “strengthening the building of the online battlefield of thoughts and culture”.
Internet security has become an increasingly important priority for a nervous Communist Party over the past two years.
To give another example of the regime’s uneasiness, on October 21, the Party published new Disciplinary Regulations; it included a new violation item which referred to officials who make improper comments about, or criticize the Party's decisions.
The People's Forum, a subsidiary under The People's Daily, explained the regulation: Party members are still allowed to have individual opinions which can be different from the Party's position, but they have to express them through proper channels. The new regulation is to prevent officials from making improper comments or criticizing the Party Central's key decisions in a public forum.
Internet security may have become an increasingly important priority for the Communist Party, but the free world does need to follow Beijing’s lead or China’s law and lose its freedom in the process.

Threats to China

Chinese commandos trying new QSZ-92 pistols in Urumqi, Xinjiang

My article Threats to China appeared today in The Statesman

Here is the link...

The recent White Paper (WP) on China's military strategy affirms that the country generally enjoys a favourable environment for development, but external challenges are increasing. Though only briefly mentioned, the Middle Kingdom faces many internal threats too. The WP speaks of many multiple and complex security risks, “leaving China an arduous task to safeguard its national unification, territorial integrity and development interests?”
Of course in Beijing’s eyes, the main villain is Washington; Beijing does not appreciate the US ‘rebalancing’ strategy’ and its enhanced military presence in the region. Then, there is Japan. Mao would have probably called Tokyo a US lackey; the WP affirms that Japan is “sparing no effort to dodge the post-war mechanism, overhauling its military and security policies.”
In view of these major threats, Beijing believes that China now “faces a long-standing task to safeguard its maritime rights and interests.” Other nations certainly do not share the same perception about peace and stability in the region; this does not bother Beijing as the WP affirms: “Some of its offshore neighbours take provocative actions and reinforce their military presence on China’s reefs and islands that they have illegally occupied.” It further adds: “Some external countries are also busy meddling in South China Sea affairs; a tiny few maintain constant air and sea surveillance and reconnaissance against China”.
Well, there is another side to the coin. Ask Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines or even India for that matter, they can tell you.
The WP lists the Korean Peninsula and North-east Asia as being ‘shrouded in instability and uncertainty’, but perhaps more importantly for Beijing, the “Taiwan independence separatist forces”, are described as the biggest threat to the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations. That is not all, and here come the ‘internal’ threats “Separatist forces for ‘East Turkistan independence’ (Xinjiang) and ‘Tibet independence’ have inflicted serious damage, particularly with escalating violent terrorist activities by ‘East Turkistan independence’ forces.” Beijing should seriously consider this particular menace at a time when China is financing the Pakistan Economic Corridor. It is also an open admission that Beijing is more bothered by a ‘terrorist’ Xinjiang than a non-violent ‘Tibet’.
One of the WP’s conclusions is that “China’s national security is more vulnerable to international and regional turmoil, terrorism, piracy, serious natural disasters and epidemics, and the security of overseas interests concerning energy and resources, strategic sea lines of communication.”
In the years to come, this will practically translate to an important enhancement of the capacity of the Peoples’ Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). China believes that the future belongs to those who will run the Sea. Has Delhi got the message?
Though Beijing has not given them the same pre-eminence as the ‘external threats’, the ‘internal’ ones, mainly Xinjiang and Tibet and the Internet, are serious enough to call a three-day special meeting (held from May 18 to 20 in Beijing) of the United Front Work Department (UFW) of the CPC’s Central Committee. To tackle the internal dangers, Beijing badly needs the support of those still outside the Party. Addressing the UFW delegates, President Xi Jinping asked them to befriend and recruit more non-CPC intellectuals and business people. He further stressed their crucial role in economic development as well as in ‘cleansing’ the Internet. Xi invited the expertise of people like Jack Ma of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Lei Jun of Xiaomi Corp, to join the collective effort to build the Chinese Dream: “To unite the non-CPC intellectuals is basic and strategically important work under the party’s efforts to unite the nation and pool strength for realization of the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation”.
According to Xinhua, Xi vowed to develop the widest patriotic united front to support the great Chinese renaissance. The President added: “Students studying abroad should also be encouraged to return home and serve the country in various ways.”
He asked communist officials to make friends with non-CPC intellectuals in ‘doing ideological work’ “Excellent non-CPC representatives should be guided to grasp the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
Easier said than done!
He concluded by exhorting the cadres to be “sincere, modest and clean so that they can gain respect from non-CPC members and help them work together with the party.”
Xinhua noted that the conference came “against the backdrop of mounting challenges to the party’s agenda, including pro-democracy protests last year in Hong Kong and ethnic unrest in the far western region of Xinjiang.”
While the Defence publication is meant to tackle external threats, the UFW meeting was about ‘internal’ issues.
Around that time, Voice of America (Chinese programme) quoted the Ming Pao published in Hong Kong, which reported that the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League (CYL) had decided to recruit 10.5 million Internet youth ‘propagandists’, mainly from colleges and universities.
 What is a ‘propagandist’?
Beijing needs to keep a tab and ‘help’ some 650 million Chinese Internet users to think as the Party wants them to think. This was revealed after the database of the Shanghai and Chongqing Communist Youth League (CYL) was hacked. On 4 April this year, a ‘Report on Public Opinion on the Internet’ from Donghua University came to light; it contained instructions on what should be tolerated (and what shouldn’t) on the Internet on a wide number of subjects, including military, political, and economic topics. In China, the ‘propagandists’ are known as the ‘Fifty Cent Party’ because they are paid 50 cents per ‘propaganda’ post supporting the Party. Thus they are able to monitor, control and direct the thought process of students. Beijing uses also ‘religion’ to control the masses.
At the time of the UFW conference, Madam Sun Chunlan, head of the UFW Department met some Tibetan Buddhist monks, who had just graduated as geshe (doctor) in Buddhist philosophy.
Incidentally, this is first time in recent years that a member of the Politburo also heads the UFW. It shows the importance of ‘co-opting’ non-Communist forces into the Chinese Dream and controlling the restive provinces. China Tibet Online reported that the awards ceremony was held at the Tibetan Buddhism College of China in Beijing on 20 May.
Madam Sun declared that the academic degree system advanced by the present Tibetan Buddhists is “an important measure in fostering Tibetan Buddhist religious believers to love their country and religion, as well as adapting religion to socialist society.” In other words, China trains Tibetan geshes with ‘socialist and Chinese characteristics’!
Madam Sun believed that these new geshes “would cherish and honour their award, help religious people, promote social development and the fine Tibetan Buddhism tradition of loving their country and religion,” and of course “observe and uphold the law, protect the country and its people, promote economic development and social and religious harmony.”
During the UFW conference, Xi Jinping also spoke of the “the positive influence that religious people and believers have on social and economic development.”
He pleaded with the UFW officials to make ‘active efforts’ to incorporate religions in socialist society, adding that ‘religions in China must be Chinese’.
Even the Tibetan religion should be ‘Chinese’!
In the meantime, another self-immolation was reported on the Tibetan plateau: a Tibetan woman set fire to herself protesting against Chinese repression in Gansu province. It is the second self-immolation this month. The International Campaign for Tibet based in Washington said that Sangye Tso, a 36-year-old mother of two, committed the fatal act outside a Chinese government building in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. She died immediately.
There is clearly a great disconnect between the official speech and the reality in Tibet and Xinjiang; this is the most serious ‘internal’ threat facing China today; a few ‘socialist’ geshes will not solve the problem.

Messages on the Wind

Wind Messages on Iron Horse's Tracks

According to Xinhua, Tibet has a telephone penetration of over 99%. Can you believe it?
Quoting from  a  'communication management meeting of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR)', China Tibet Online affirms: "The number of fixed-line phone users and mobile users totaled 3.05 million, accounting for 99.3 percent of the overall population."
Of course, one has to take Chinese statistics with a pinch of salt.
Anyway, another article of Xinhua states that the number of Internet users in the TAR reached 2.03 million at the end of 2013.
Qunggyi, the head of the Tibet Communications Administration explained: "This means 67.5 percent of Tibet's 3 million population have access to the Internet".
He added that many Internet users are surfing the network using their smartphones. The number of 3G network subscribers in Tibet has reached 964,000 and the new-generation 4G network will soon be available.
Further, 665 townships of the plateau region have been connected with optical cables, covering 97.5 percent of all townships, while 3,231 villages have access to broadband Internet, covering 61.4 percent of the total number of villages.
All this is of course closely monitored by the Chinese Public Security Bureau, but this is another issue.
According to taobao.com, a sales platform under Alibaba: "On last year's Singles Day (Nov. 11) shopping spree at China's largest online purchasing platform Taobao, Tibetans spent more than 7.7 million U.S. dollars, almost double that of 2012."
Here are some 'propaganda' photos of the penetration of the cellphones in Tibet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This reminds me of the delightful book of the great French explorer Alexandra David-Neel who marched in disguise from Eastern Tibet to Lhasa in 1923/24.
On the way, she met many lamas, anchorites, yogis, magicians who had obtained supernatural powers (siddhis).
One of these siddhis was to be able to send 'message on the wind', what Europeans call 'telepathy'.
Below are excerpts from With mystics and magicians in Tibet by Alexandra David-Neel (Penguin books).
Undoubtedly, 'speaking on the wind' is easier today.
But has humanity really progress?
It is a more difficult question to answer.

Messages Sent ‘On the Wind’
Alexandra David-Neel

Tibetan mystics are not talkative, those of them who accept disciples teach them according to methods in which discourses have but little place. The disciples of the contemplative hermits seldom see their master and only at intervals determined by the spiritual attainment and needs of the novice.
A few months or a few years may elapse between these meetings. But in spite of their seeming aloofness, master and disciples—especially advanced disciples—do not lack means of communication when they deem it necessary.
Telepathy is a branch of the Tibetan secret lore and seems, in the Land of Snows, to play the part that wireless telegraphy has recently taken in the West. Yet, while apparatus for wireless transmissions are, in Occidental countries, at the public's disposal, the subtler ways of sending messages ‘On the Wind’ remain the privilege of a small minority of adepts in that art in Tibet.
Telepathy is not altogether a novelty to Westerners psychic research societies have, more than once, called attention to telepathic phenomena. These, however usually seem to have occurred by chance. The author of the phenomenon was not aware of his part in it under such peculiar circumstances, he had sent forth the mysterious waves that had reached, at a greater or lesser distance, a human receiver, but he had not done this knowingly and on purpose. On the other hand, the experiments made to transmit volitional telepathic messages have given doubtful results, for they could not be repeated successfully as often as desired.
Things are different among Tibetans. They assert that telepathy is a science, which can be learnt like any other science, by those who have proper teaching and are fit instruments to put the theory into practice.
Various ways are mentioned for the acquisition of telepathic power, though Tibetan adepts of secret lore are unanimous in ascribing the cause of the phenomena to an intense concentration of thought.
One may remark that as far as telepathy has been observed and studied in Western countries, its cause has seemed identical with that discovered by Tibetans.
Mystic teachers declare that mastery in telepathy requires a perfect command over the mind, in order to produce at will the powerful ‘one-pointedness of thought' on which the phenomenon depends.
The part of conscious ‘receiver’, always ready to vibrate at the subtle shock of the telepathic waves, IS considered almost as difficult as that of the sender. To begin with, the intended receiver must have been ‘tuned’ with him from whom he especially expects messages.
Now, volitional perfect concentration of mind on one single object, until every other object vanishes flora the field of consciousness, is the basis of the lamaist spiritual training, and this training also includes psychic exercises that aim at developing the power of detecting the various ‘currents of energy’ that are crossing each other in every direction.
So some affirm that telepathy, as well as tumo [inner heat] and other kindred accomplishments, is a natural by-product of the spiritual training and, consequently, need not be studied separately. This also explains the power with which all great gomchens [meditators] and dubchens [someone with great ‘magic’ powers] are credited, of communicating with their disciples, whatever may be the distance that separates them.
However, some see the matter in another light though they agree that proficiency in the spiritual training brings in its train proficiency in minor accomplishments, such as telepathy, they think that those who are not able to reach the high stages of the mystic path may rightly cultivate telepathy or other byproducts separately.
Mystic masters agree to this to a certain extent and, in fact, a number of them train their disciples in telepathy
A number of Tibetan anchorites have become able without having undergone any special training, to catch the telepathic messages of their guru. This is commonly considered as proof of their great devotion to him. A few have spontaneously acquired the power to emit messages.
As for those who cultivate telepathy, the main lines of the training may be sketched as follows.
First, it is necessary to go through all the practices devised to produce the trance of ‘one-pointedness’, the concentration of thought on one single object and complete oblivion of all other things.
The complementary practice which consists in ‘emptying’ the mind from all cogitations, establishing in it complete silence and blankness, must also be mastered.
Then comes the analysis and discrimination of the various influences which cause sudden, apparently inexplicable, psychic or even physical sensations or moods of the mind, such as abrupt feelings of joy, of melancholy of fear, and also sudden memories of persons, things or events apparently unconnected with anything going on around one.
When the pupil has exercised alone for a time, he may sit in meditation with his master in a silent and darkened room, the thoughts of both being concentrated on the same object. At the end of a given period, the student tells his teacher the phases of his meditation and these are compared with those of the master, concordances and discrepancies are noted.
Now, stopping, as far as he can, the activity of his mind, emptying it of all ideas, reflections and mental representations, the novice watches the thoughts which arise involuntarily and unexpectedly in him without being apparently linked with any of his present preoccupations or feelings. He notes the subjective images which appear. And, again, at the end of the meditation, thoughts and images are made known to the lama teacher who sees whether or not they correspond to those he mentally suggested to his disciple.
Then, the master sends mental orders to his disciple, while the latter is at a short distance from him. If these are duly received and the student answers by acting accordingly, the exercise continues, the distance between master and disciple being gradually increased.
It is believed in Tibet that dubchens are capable of reading the thoughts of others at will. The master being credited with such a power, it would be absurd to train anyone to send him telepathic messages. The very intention of sending them would be detected by him before the messages had actually been sent. Whether this power is real or not, the master is compelled to act as if he possessed it. Consequently, his disciples practice the exchange of telepathic messages among themselves. Two novices or a number of them associate for that purpose under their teacher's supervisions and the training is very much like that described above.
Novices test their progress in dispatching unexpected telepathic messages to one another at a time when the person designated is likely to be busy and not thinking about receiving communications.
They also try to convey messages to people with whom they have never been connected through training in common, and who know nothing about telepathy. Some make experiments with animals.
Years are devoted to these practices. It is impossible to guess how many of the students who pursue this study really obtain results from it.
Whatever may be the fruits they reap, the most worshipful among mystic teachers do not encourage this kind of exertion. The efforts made to acquire supernormal powers are considered by these masters as uninteresting childish sports.
It seems proved that great contemplative anchorites are able to communicate by telepathy with their disciples and some even say, with any sentient being, but that power—as already stated—is considered as a mere byproduct of deep insight into psychic laws, and of spiritual perfection.
It is said that, when on account of the enlightenment acquired through various contemplative meditations one has ceased to consider "one's self" and "others' as entirely distinct entities, devoid of points of contact then telepathy IS easily practiced.
The discovery—during prolonged introspections—of these ‘points of contact’ leads to a sphere in which delimited beings vanish and only continual exchanges are perceived.
These are psychic and mystic experiences which words cannot describe. Whatever may be the share of truth or fancy in such theories, I prefer to avoid discussing them.
One thing I may say, however, is that communications from mystic masters to their disciples through gross material means, such as letters falling from the ceiling or epistles one finds under one's pillow are unknown in lamaist mystic circles. When questions regarding such facts are put to contemplative hermits, erudite lamas or high lamast dignitaries, they can hardly believe that the inquirer is in earnest and not an irreverent joker.
I remember the amusing reflection of a lama from Tashilhunpo when I told him that some ‘philings’ [foreigners] believed in such ways of communicating with departed ones or even with Tibetan mystic teachers: ‘And these are the men who have conquered India!’ he exclaimed utterly amazed at such simplicity in these otherwise redoubtable Englishmen relying on observations which extend over a large number of years, I shall venture to say that Tibet seems to offer peculiarly favourable conditions for telepathy— as well as for psychic phenomena in general. What are exactly, these  ‘conditions’?
It would be presumptuous to attempt defining them while the very nature of psychic phenomena is still so mysterious.
Maybe the very high level of the country is helpful. Perhaps we may, also, take into account the great silence in which the country is bathed, that extraordinary silence of which—if I dared to use so strange an expression—I would say that it is heard above the loudest voices of the most furiously roaring torrents.
Again, solitude might be reckoned with: the absence of big crowds whose mental activity creates many whirlpools of psychic energy which trouble the ether. And perhaps the placidity of Tibetans whose minds are not filled, like ours, with cares and cogitations is another of these favourable conditions.
Whatever may be the causes at work, telepathic transmissions, either conscious or unconscious, seem to occur rather frequently in Tibet.
Regarding my own experience, I am certain that I did receive on several occasions, telepathic messages from lamas under whom I had practiced mental or psychic training. It may even be that the number of these messages has been larger than I suspect. However, I have only retained a few cases in which the lama afterwards inquired if I had understood what he meant to tell at a given time.

China: the War is going on

The excellent Reuters article posted below raises an interesting question, what is a rumor?
The authors say: “China's crackdown on online ‘rumor-mongering’, widely seen as a tool to halt criticism of the ruling Communist Party, has chilled political discourse, with high-profile bloggers saying they have reined in sensitive posts for fear of detention”.
When read with a commentary of The Beijing Daily, entitled ‘Do Not Leave Space for Universal Values’, it makes it more frightening
On September 2, 2013, Beijing Daily advocated ‘ideological education’.
The article was later reprinted by many major State media.
The Beijing Daily argued that “if China does not engage in ideological struggle, it could disintegrate and perish, in the same manner as the former Soviet Union and the Eastern Block.”
For the past 2 decades, this has been the main fear of the leadership in Zhongnanhai.
The Beijing Daily goes very far by saying: “Especially for those people who preach the so-called ‘universal values,’ ‘constitutional democracy’, ‘freedom,’ and other fallacies, we cannot give any space or assistance at any time to those malicious attacks on the Party's leadership and the socialist system, to speeches that distort the history of the Party and the country, and to information that spreads rumors. We must take action to control what must be controlled, and punish those who violate the law.”
In other words, the Party is always right. It has never committed any crime, whether it is during the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, the Tiananmen events or today when censures and suppresses its own people, particularly in 'minorities' areas such Tibet and Xinjiang.
The Beijing Daily admits that “today, the Internet has become the main battlefield for ideological struggle.”
Unfortunately, the Party sees a foreign hand everywhere (read the United States), even when the Chinese people try to express their concerns and aspirations, through the only means they have at their disposal, the Internet.
The article asserts: “The Western anti-China forces seek to advance this ‘biggest variable’ to ‘topple China.’ Whether we can hold up and win in the battlefield directly relates to the security of our ideology and the ruling Party's power.”
The Party leadership is so nervous to lose its grip on ‘the People’ that they consider the ongoing battle as a War for survival of the Party: “We do not see gunfire in this ideological struggle, but all the same - it is a matter of life and death. … Dare to fight and dare to show the sword. That is the choice we must make now!”
The leadership sees it like this.

Strengthen Faith in Marxism and Communism 
A week later (on September 9), The People’s Daily published an article on ‘the importance of propaganda and ideological work in China’.
According to the Party’s main mouthpiece: “The Key Is to Strengthen Most Party Cadres’ Faith in Marxism and Communism”
Luo Shugang, the Deputy Minister of the Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, elaborates on Party Secretary Xi Jinping’s speech at the National Propaganda and Ideological Work Conference (on August 9).
Here are the five recommendations of Mr. Luo:

1) The key is to strengthen most Party cadres’ faith in Marxism and Communism; strengthen the entire Party, the nation, and the People of different ethnic groups’ faith in socialism with Chinese characteristics.
2) Resolutely obey the CCP Central Committee led by General Secretary Xi Jinping, and resolutely safeguard the authority of the CCP Central Committee.
3) Always adhere to principle of the Party's control of media. The Chinese Communist Party has the absolute leadership position over all media and communication channels at all different levels.
4) Punish those who spread ‘rumors’ and ‘harmful information’ on the Internet.
5) Guide people to look more at the bright side. Announce the full scope of authoritative information in a timely manner so as to suppress negative information and wrong views. Constantly reinforce the people’s trust and confidence.

Several questions remain, first how long can this work?
How long can the aspirations of the people for more freedom be suppressed? How long can the Party retain ‘absolute leadership position over all media’ in an economically freer society?
Last question: why are the Party’s leaders sending their kids for education in the United States?
The only thing which can be said is that the situation is not healthy.
I thought that China was aspiring to be a ‘normal’ great power?
Stalinist policies won’t help.

China crackdown on online rumors seen as ploy to nail critics
Reuters
By Megha Rajagopalan and Adam Rose
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's crackdown on online "rumor-mongering", widely seen as a tool to halt criticism of the ruling Communist Party, has chilled political discourse, with high-profile bloggers saying they have reined in sensitive posts for fear of detention.
Lawyers and activists called the crackdown a significant, if crude, expansion of powers to police the Internet and a blow to those who rely on microblogs to disseminate information that is often not monitored as strictly as traditional media.
"I am really scared now that any whistleblowing might lead to an arrest," said Zhou Ze, a rights lawyer with more than 165,000 followers on the Twitter-like microblog Sina Weibo. "We all have to talk less, and more carefully."
It is common for politically sensitive posts to be taken down by censors and for users to be blocked, but recent detentions have sparked fears of harsher punishments.
At the heart of the issue is a judicial interpretation by China's top court that says bloggers can be prosecuted for posting rumours seen by more than 5,000 people, or forwarded more than 500 times.
"If rumours can lead to detention or arrest, everyone will fear for themselves and become particularly scared about criticizing officials, which we are seeing less of on the Internet," Zhou said.
An estimate of data provided to Reuters by Weiboreach, a social media data analysis firm, shows that in a random sample of 4,500 highly influential users known as "Big Vs", those with a self-reported occupation in government or academia had a much higher rate of deletion in August than those in entertainment.
The data does not differentiate between posts that users had deleted themselves and those that were deleted by authorities.
MOVING TARGET
Analysts said the judicial interpretation specifically targeted the hundreds of Big Vs - "v" for verified - who send opinions, news and information to thousands or even millions of followers. Many are entrepreneurs, celebrities or academics.
Weibo users known for political and social commentary have been detained in recent weeks, enforcing fears that rumor-mongering is not the target of the law.
Wang Gongquan, an outspoken venture capitalist, was taken away by police on Friday on charges of disturbing public order after he helped lead a campaign for the release of another activist.
Well-known whistleblower Wu Dong, more commonly recognized by his online handle "Boss Hua", was taken into police custody in Beijing, the official Liberation Daily reported on its verified Weibo feed.
He said via Weibo on Wednesday that he had been released. His phone was off and he could not be reached for comment.
Wu, a watch lover, is one of many Weibo users who post about official corruption. He drew attention last year when he posted photos of expensive watches worn by government officials last year, helping to bring down one high-flying official.
Chinese-American venture capitalist Charles Xue was detained on charges of prostitution and appeared on state TV in handcuffs on Sunday to apologize, saying his status as a Big V had gone to his head.
"Freedom of speech cannot override the law," said Xue, who was known for outspoken comments on political and social issues online.
Spreading rumours is common on Weibo, and there is little protection against defamation.
"It's important that those who spread slander are held legally responsible," said Peng Jian, a lawyer with more than 100,000 followers on Weibo. "But if it's not implemented properly, it could suppress freedom of expression."
OPINIONS "SHOULDN'T BE SUPPRESSED"
The problem, lawyers say, is that the interpretation takes a broad view of what constitutes a rumor.
"The goal is pretty obvious, and it's certainly not to suppress so-called rumours. In some sense that's just an excuse," said rights lawyer Mo Shaoping. "Most of the things people post on the Internet are just opinions and views. Those things shouldn't be suppressed."
Mo said he had stopped using Weibo two years ago under pressure from officials.
Legal experts said that the court's interpretation amounted to a broadening of authority to police the Internet, as if Weibo were a physical public space.
"It's a significant expansion because it criminalizes postings that were not criminalized before, and not only rumours and libelous comments," said Nicholas Bequelin, of New York-based Human Rights Watch.
Tong Zhiwei, a professor at East China University of Political Science and Law who has about 95,000 Weibo followers, said he had seen a rise in the number of his posts that had been censored in recent weeks.
"It's not so much the judicial interpretation per se that is affecting my comments," said Tong, who frequently comments on social issues from a legal perspective. "It's the atmosphere it has created."
Criticizing one-party rule was in effect forbidden already, Bequelin added.
"Nine tenths of the Internet population would be in prison if you were to apply this very strictly," Bequelin said. "But that is the root of China's regulation of freedom of expression."
The latest crackdown was also significant because it targeted Internet users who didn't see themselves as dissidents, said Sarah Cook of Freedom House, a U.S.-based group promoting political freedom and human rights.
"Now you're having a criminal judicial interpretation and then actual arrests of people who don't see themselves as political," Cook said. "The group of people being targeted is much wider."
(Additional reporting by Li Hui, Beijing Newsroom and Reuters TV; Editing by Nick Macfie)