The new panacea for the Middle Kingdom’s problems?

Premier Li Keqiang inspecting the Lhasa-Nyingtri railway route

Railways have recently been in the news in the Chinese press, particularly new railway lines on the Tibetan plateau and its periphery.
Yesterday, an article dealt at great length about the ‘LaLin’ section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway.
‘Lalin’ is a short form for Lhasa-Linzhi railway (‘La’ for Lhasa and ‘Lin’ for Linzhi, called Nyingtri by the Tibetans).
On September 18, Xinhua reported that the China Railway’s 11th Bureau had successfully laid the first group of ballasts for the Gonggao [Gonkar?] station, the first new station in the railway line: “thus created the traffic conditions for the passage of the Lalin Railway.”
Liu Jun, the Secretary of the Lhasa-Nyingtri Project told the agency that the Sichuan-Tibet Railway was a key project of the National 13th Five-Year Plan: “Upon completion, it will become another railway artery connecting the plateau with the mainland.”
In 2006, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was opened to service.

Details of the Lhasa-Nyingtri Project
The Lhasa-Nyingtri Project section is an important section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway; it is certainly relatively easier to build than the eastern part.
It will have a total length of 435 kilometers and 34 new stations, including 17 which which are already existing. It will start in Lhasa and end at Nyingtri City and follow the Yarlung Tsangbo River (Siang/Brahmaputra in India).
The construction of this section started at the end of 2014; it should take 7 years to complete the entire project and the speed of the train will be 160 kilometers; it will be the first electrified railway in Tibet.
The Railway line will cross the Yarlung Tsangpo 16 times. The railway bridges use large-span bridge structures: “The mountains are high in water depth, the rivers are rushing, the technology is special, and the construction is extremely difficult. There are 14 high-risk tunnels out of 47 tunnels, of which 7 are extremely high-risk tunnels,” explained China Railway's 11th Bureau.

Not being afraid of difficulties
On September 6, another article which appeared in China Tibet Online reported that Lhasa-Nyingtri Railway was making smooth progress; a total of 2.72 billion yuan has been invested between January and August 2018: “Relying on advanced technology and the spirit of not being afraid of difficulties, now the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway project is progressing well,” said a release.
The annual planned investment is 4.38 billion yuan.
According to the authorities, the project should promote town development, resource exploitation [mining?], industrial upgrading, emergency rescue and relief, emergency situation ...and perhaps more importantly national defense.
Beside this, it will play an important role in implementing the scientific development concept, building a harmonious society, implementing the Western Development strategy; it will promote the coordinated development of eastern and western economies, improve the layout of the regional rail network, connect Yangtze River Economic Zone and Sichuan-Chongqing Economic Circle, promote the development of Shangri-La Ecological Tourist Area and improve the investment environment.
Quite a long list of benefits!
And as importantly, the construction of new towns along the line will improve people's living standard, and speed up the pace of poverty alleviation in Tibet.
In one word, the panacea for all problems on the plateau.
But national defence is certainly one of the major objectives of the project.

A map of future railway lines
Interesting is a map found on a Pakistani website accompanied one of these articles.
The ‘Lalin’ railway line is in green, but several new lines are shown reaching the plateau. They are worth noting:

• The Lhasa-Shigatse-Kyirong section which should be completed in a couple of years (it was delayed due to the 2015 Nepal Earthquake)
• The Lhasa-Yatung section reaching the Chumbi Valley and the Indian border in Sikkim. It has serious strategic implications for India, especially after the Doklam episode. Though it is rarely mentioned in the Chinese press, it is clearly on the cards (it is not in dotted lines)
• The projected Yunnan-Tibet railway line which has special strategic implications to India too, particularly for the border in Arunachal Pradesh (in a dotted line). It will join the Sichuan-Nyingtri line somewhere near Chamdo.
• Korla-Golmud is already under construction. It will be the second major railway line linking Qinghai province to Western Xinjiang.
• The Shigatse-Rutok-Kashgar line (in dotted line). It is a novelty. It may follow the G219 Highway (known as the Aksai Chin road). Will India protest if China starts building a railway on its territory?
• A new Qiemo-Korla line across the Taklamatan desert. An extension of G216 Highway is under construction. It should be following the highway.
• The Khotan-Quiemo line in Xinjiang. It will link up with the Khotan-Kashar line. It is probably important for the totally unstable Muslim province, in order to ‘stabilize’ southern Xinjiang and build new model villages/town along the line.
• The Khotan-Tashkurgan line, leading to the border with Afghanistan.
  Tashkurgan has historically been part of the Silk Road. “Major caravan routes converged leading to Kashgar in the north, Yecheng to the east, Badakhshan and Wakhan to the west, and Chitral and Hunza to the southwest” says Wikipedia.
• A never seen-before project to link Chengdu in Sichuan to Golmud in Qinghai. It will close the loop linking the two provinces on the West and North of the Tibetan plateau and link up Xinjiang through the above-mentioned Golmud-Korla line.

Incidentally at the end of July, Li Keqiang, the Chinese Premier visited a construction site of the Lhasa-Nyingchi railway.
Li stressed the importance of the project for the development of Tibet and  for the ecological protection [how is not clear]: "The railway project is beneficial for Tibet to cultivate new growth drivers, and it is the right thing that must be done. Full construction work should be accelerated," Li said.
He added that "at present, infrastructure development in the country's central and western regions is relatively weak, and promoting effective investments to improve weak links will not only narrow the gap in regional development but also helpful for the country to cope with economic downturn."
He further observed: "China should avoid strong stimulus and take targeted measures that are beneficial in both short and long terms."

Implications for India
All this should be quite worrisome for India.
However the main problem for Beijing seems to be: can China afford all these new projects?
Who will finance these mega-developments, especially if the US President turns the screw on the Chinese economy and if Xi continues to ‘invest’ in Africa, Pakistan or elsewhere, outside the Walls of the Middle Kingdom?
It is a serious question, though difficult to answer.
Further, it is bound to create ‘differences’ within the Communist leadership on the investment ‘priorities’ and ultimately jeopardize the ‘stability’ of the Kingdom …when the Emperor and his courtiers start fighting among themselves.

Relentless development of infrastructure in Tibet

China relentlessly continues to develop the infrastructure on the Roof of the World.
Last week, China Tibet News announced the reconstruction and an extension of Lhasa Kongkar Airport which is scheduled to start in July: “the land expropriation and demolition work of the reconstruction and extension project of Kongkar Airport has been nearly completed and construction is expected to start.”
Su Zhiqiang, member of the Tibet Civil Aviation Administration mentioned the budget of the new project: 3.9 billion yuan.
By 2025, the Kongkar Airport will yearly accommodate 9 million passenger and 80,000 tons of cargo. The Chinese website says that 88,000 square meters will be added to T3 terminal and a 56,000 square meters parking lot will be built. The Tibet Civil Aviation expects the passenger traffic to double by 2020 (compared to 2015).
China Tibet News notes: “The construction of new airport terminal area will further improve the comprehensive security capabilities of Kongkar Airport, meet people's travel demands, and effectively promote Tibet's economic and social development.”
The ‘defense’ is not mentioned.
But that is not all: the Highway between the Airport and Tsetang will be upgraded. The same website reports: “the subgrade earthwork, bridge project, and tunnel project have been basically completed.”
The length of the ‘upgraded’ highway is 90 km: “the running speed is designed to be 100 km/h. It is first-class highway with four lanes. There are 54 bridges, 1 tunnel, and 189 culverts along the highway. Besides, there are 9 separate interchanges and 6 interchanges.”
It is expected to be opened on June 30.

In Southeastern Tibet (Yunnan province), the Dechen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is planning to invest 13 billon yuan to build four 'secondary' roads.
According to Kangba TV, the first road will be the 62 km-long Xiangwei secondary road, starting from Yisong in Shangri-La City to end up in Cangjue Village in Wujing Township. The investment is estimated to be 3 billion yuan.
The second one is the 121 km-long Xiangxiang secondary road, starting from Junmachang also in Shangri-La City, it will end at Mt. Daxue pass; it will connect provincial way S209, Dongwang road and provincial way S416. It is estimated at more than 4 billion yuan.
The third is the 61km-long Weixi-Judian secondary road which will start from Lahezhu in Weixi County will end in Judian’s Xiaohekou in Lijiang City. It will connect provincial way S210 and Dongwang road: estimate is 2 billion yuan.
The fourth is the 148.91km-long Huzhong secondary road, from Hutiaoxia Township in Shangri-La City to Junmachang, connecting national G214 and provincial way S209. It will cost nearly 5 billion yuan.

What will this infrastructure used for?
A study recently published in the Oxford Review of Economic Policy and conducted by the Saïd Business School brings some light on the issue. It found out that “low-quality infrastructure investments pose significant risks to the Chinese and the global economy.” The authors of the study argued that over half of the infrastructure investments in China have destroyed rather than generated economic value.
The study authored by Atif Ansar, Bent Flyvbjerg, Alexander Budzier and Daniel Lunn is based on the large database, which analyzed 95 large Chinese road and rail transport projects, and 806 other transport projects.
Dr Ansar commented: “It is a myth that China grew thanks largely to heavy infrastructure investment. It grew due to bold economic liberalisation and institutional reforms, and this growth is now threatened by over-investment in low-grade infrastructure. The lesson for other markets is that policy makers should place their attention on software and deep institutional reforms, and exercise far greater caution in diverting scarce resources to large-scale physical infrastructure projects.”
The conclusion is that massive infrastructure investment programmes are not a viable development strategy for developing countries such as Pakistan, Nigeria or Brazil, which dream of using China’ model of economic development.
If not viable for Mainland China, can it be sustainable in Tibet?
Though the risks are the same, large scale tourism development in Tibet, i.e. The Disney Land of Snows, justifies heavy infrastructure and though not explicitly mentioned, the ‘defense’ of the borders needs is present in the minds of the planners in Beijing, which knows of the importance of 'dual use' of infrastructure on the plateau. See my previous posting.

New tourist packages
In a recent article, Kangba TV quoted Lhasa Transport Industry Group, Tibet's largest passenger road transport company, about the opening of direct routes/packages to scenic spots in Tibet on May 1.
According to the Group, nine regional and six inter-provincial tourist routes will be launched by the company in the next three years.
The list of the tours gives an indication where the infrastructure development will take place in the coming years.
(Note in Tour No 10, China is planning a Lhasa-Kashgar trip via Western Tibet and the Aksai Chin Road. Should not Delhi object to the flocks of tourists crossing the Indian territory?)
A quick glance at the tours itinerary shows that Western Tibet will be one of the focus of development in the years to come.
Interestingly, a promotion meeting, with the theme of 'Secret Area of Western Tibet, Ngari in Heaven”, was held in Beijing on May 24.
Xinhua reported: "Ngari Prefecture in Tibet Autonomous Region has long attracted myriad tourists coming from afar with its unique tourism resources. In recent years, according to the strategic deployment about building Gangdise international tourism cooperation zone, as well as the rapid development of self-driving travel in Tibet, Ngari has increasingly become a destination selection of self-driving travelers."
More infrastructure in the pipeline.
In fact, Plans 7, 8 10 will take the tourists close to the Indian borders of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh.
India should watch (and act).

The Fifteen Proposed Packages/Tours

• The first one is the 500km-long one-day tour of Namtso (Lhasa-Yangbajain geothermal hot springs-Mt. Nyanchen Thanglha-Namtso-Lhasa).
• The second one is the 220km-long one-day tour of Yamdrok Yumtso.
• The third one is the 1,414 km-long circular tour of Lhasa, Nyingchi and Lhoka
• The fourth one is the 336km-long one-day circular tour of Lhoka (Lhasa-Samye Monastery-Yumbulakang-Yarlung Tsangpo-Lhasa Kongkar Airport-Lhasa).
• The fifth one is the 1,480km-long three-day tour of Mt. Chomolungma or Mt. Everest (lasting for four days and three nights).
• The sixth one is the 442km-long one-day tour of Karu la Glacier (Lhasa-Yamdrok Yumtso-Nagartse County-Karo la Glacier-Lhasa).
• The seventh one is the 3,276km-long Lhasa-Ruins of Guge Kingdom line (lasting for nine days and eight nights).
• The eighth one is the 916km-long Kyirong-Purang line.
• The ninth one is te 60km-long Dadong scenic spot line.
• The tenth one is the 6,918km-long Lhasa-Kashgar line (lasting for seven days and six nights).
• The 11th one is the 4,024km-long Lhasa-Xining line (through Xining-Golmud-Lhasa highway for five days and four nights).
• The 12th one is the 5,380km-long Lhasa-Chengdu road in Sichuan province (through for 11 days and ten nights).
• The 13th one is the 4,564km-long Lhasa-Xining line (from Xi’an to Lhasa, passing by Gansu and Qinghai provinces for five days and four nights).
• The 14th one is the 4,804km-long Lhasa-Chengdu line (through Northern section of Sichuan-Tibet highway for eight days and seven nights).
• The 15th one is the 3,514km long Lhasa-Lijiang line (through Yunnan-Tibet highway for six days and five nights).

The Lhasa Transport Industry Group concludes: “Direct routes to and in scenic spots around Lhasa will be gradually launched if the pilot operation goes well.”

New railway lines in Tibet

I have already mentioned in this blog that during the coming year, the Tibetan Autonomous Region's government is planning to construct more than 20 new highways (included new routes from Lhasa to Nagchu; Dege to Chamdo; Chamdo to Jaka; Lhasa to Shigatse Airport; and Gongkar Airport to Tsethang) with a total investment of more than US$ 5 billion.
More information has now come out.

Loop-line around Lhasa City
A 73-kilometers 'loop-line' around Lhasa is under construction. Some 4.9 billion yuan has been spent so far on the project and the basic work is completed.
According to China Tibet News, the loop-line is expected to be finished by the end of this year. The website says that the project “is meaningful to perfect city traffic network, drive the exploitation and utilization of land around, and reserve space for the urban development in the future.”
It is probably necessary to receive 25 million tourists.

Lhasa Nyingchi (Nyingtri) railway line
The Lhasa Railway Office has announced that the main engineering work for the Lhasa section of the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway has been completed. Next year, the beam-laying  will start on this section.
The total length of Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway will be 430 kilometers; it is designed for a speed of 160 kilometers an hour. It will have 9 stations including Gongkar, Chanang, Tsetang, Sangri, Gyaca (Drumpa), Nang County, Minling, Chaoyang and Nyingchi.
Started in 2014 it should be completed in 2021.
One difficult section is the tunnel under the Galai mountain; it will opened in 2017. With a total length of 4,373 meters, the tunnel is “one of the controlling projects of Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway. At present, most half of the project has been excavated and it is expected to be completed in the next year. Adopting ballastless track laying skill, passengers can feel more stable and comfortable in the process of driving,” says the website.
Some 700 workers are employed on the line. Part of the work is sub-contracted to transportation, labour service and equipment leasing companies.
The Chinese website explains: “This project plays an important role in promoting economic coordinated development of eastern and western areas, perfecting regional railway network layout, connecting Yangtze River Economic Zone and Sichuan-Chongqing Economic Circle, promoting the opening up of Sichuan Province and Tibet Autonomous Region, accelerating the development of Shangri-La ecotourism area [in Yunnan], improving investment environment, promoting economic development and new township construction, improving people's living standard, and speeding up the poverty alleviation work.”
Clearly, the intention of the Chinese government is to link their different ‘corridors’, till one day they reach the most important one, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). In the meantime, the work is progressing fast in the TAR, Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces.
Regarding the Lhasa-Nyingchi railway line, defense is not mentioned but is certainly one of the most important factors as the terminus will be near the Indian border of Arunachal Pradesh.

The Train to Nepal
No mention is made of the present stage of construction of the Shigatse-Kyirong railway line, though on December 5, Chinese news agencies reported that the first Guangzhou-Tibet-Nepal 'block train' reached the freight terminal of Lhasa Railway Station …on his way to Nepal.
One site, VTIBET.com wrote: “It was said that it is the first time that road-rail intermodal transport is used in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The modern transportation mode has effectively reduced transportation cost and enhanced and guaranteed the timeless of logistics. The opening of this transportation line will boost the trade of Tibet Autonomous Region and Guangdong Province and also play on distinctive role in coordinate regional economic, social development nationwide, which marks the successful operation of the line.”
And more importantly, it could one day link the Mainland to Nepal.
The block train started from Dalang in Guangzhou province; it used the Chengdu-Chongqing Railway, Qinghai-Tibet Railway, Lhasa–Shigatse Railway, Shigatse-Gyirong Highway before crossing into Nepal at Kyirong and finally arrived in Katmandu. The 6,070 km long journey included 4,200km by rail and 870 km on highways.
The cargo was worth of 19 million yuan; it included garment, furniture, electric appliances, electronic products, etc.
All what India does not want to be dumped on her territory.
However take a look at the map above, it seems to indicate that China would not mind continuing the line to southern Nepal and India.
To dump what?

The Tibet-India Border trade
Incidentally, during the current year, the Indian trade with Tibet via the Nathula pass in Sikkim has surpassed all previous records. According to The Times of India, during the May-November trading season, the export of Indian goods to the TAR amounted to Rs 63.68 crore as against imports worth Rs.1.8 crore: "Bilateral trade saw an increase of around Rs 16 crore this year as far as exports were concerned. Imports plummeted by around Rs 5 crore as against that in 2015, according to official data."
The report says that initially, Indian traders were reluctant to trade with Tibet due to lack of tradeable items: "After six seasons of low-profile trading, the directorate general of foreign trade in 2012 revised the list of tradeable items and allowed traders from both sides of the border to export and import more commodities."
Interesting development.  By the way, what has happened to the project of having a railway line to Chumbi?

More roads to the Tibet borders

China actively continues to invest on infrastructure towards Tibet’s borders with its neighbours.
According to Kangba TV, a new Yunnan-Tibet highway is under construction. The project will eventually cost 2.34-billion-yuan.
Starting from Bingzhongluo Township in Yunnan Province, it will proceed towards Gongshan Derung and Nu Autonomous County of Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture. The road will  then pass through Tshabarong (pinyin: Cawarong Township) and ends up in Zhowago (the Tibetan rendering is not clear) in Zayul County of Nyingchi Township of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).
Bingzhongluo Township in Yunnan is famed for the coexistence of different religions including Tibetan Buddhism, Catholicism and Christian.
The village of Tshabarong lies at the relatively altitude of 2,003 meters. Formerly known as Tsarung, it was traditionally on a southern trade route running from Yunnan to Tibet; it was also part of the fame tea-horse road. Wikipedia describes the road thus: “An unsealed road cut into the cliffs above the Nu River links it to Bingzhongluo in Yunnan.”
Tshabarong is a stage towards the Khawa Karpo’s pilgrimage, the highest mountain in Yunnan’s province (part of the Tibetan territory lies in Yunnan). The peak is located on the border between Dechen County of Yunnan, and the  counties of Tsogang (Chinese: Zogang) in Chamdo Prefecture and Zayul in TAR. Khawa Karpo is one of the most sacred peaks in Tibetan culture.
The new 280-kilometer road will run for 253 km in the TAR where it will link up with the Sichuan-Tibet highway.
Official sources said that the new Yunnan-Tibet highway is expected to meet the 4th national highway standard: “Due to the low altitude, the highway enjoys a variety of cultures and natural landscapes including sharp cliff standing on the bank of Nujiang [Salween] River, barren dry and hot valley, flourishing forest and magnificent glacier.”
The road will end up near the Indian border, opposite the Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh.

The Khawa Karpo

Plan for Nyingchi Prefecture
The same Kangba TV reported about the TAR’s economic and social achievements during the 12th Five-Year period and the details of the 13th Five-Year Plan.
According to the report, the Communist Party’s regional committee of Nyingchi Township has adopted new “policies to advance the social reform and development, which leads to much progress in diverse fields.”
During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, Nyingchi’s objective should be one of the first townships “to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in 2018. By 2020, it is expected to be built into a higher-level moderately prosperous society.”
It says that the main index of its public services may reach the average level of western China.
It will work in ‘six major sectors’ which includes improving people’s livelihood, expanding the investment, protecting the ecology, promoting the industries, boosting innovation and ensuring the social stability.
Though, not mentioned in the press release, the roads to the Indian borders will be a major component as I mentioned in recent posts on this blog.

Road to Nepal Border
In the meantime, The Kathmandu Post said that China was extending its road connectivity up to the Nepal-China border point at Tiptala Bhanjyang in Olangchungola, which is a village in the north-eastern of Nepal.
It was once a busy and historical trade route with Tibet. Located at 3,100 m on the Tamur River, Olangchungola is named after the local inhabitants, the Walungs who came from Tibet.
According to The Post, the villagers in Olangchungola, Taplejung are excited about the prospects of having a road connectivity with Tibet. Once the road is opened, the villagers can transport daily essentials from the Chinese mart on the Tibetan side.
People living in border areas of Taplejung buy their daily essentials, including rice, salt and oil, from Riu Bazaar in Tibet, while exporting herbs and carpets.
The new road extending all the way to Tiptala Bhanjyang will cut the travel duration and make it easier for the people to ferry heavy loads. In the past, people had to walk around 2km to reach Tiptala Bhanjyang.
The road connectivity with Tibet has created a great excitement among the people in the area, said The Post: “We have been travelling on foot to reach Lachiphungchung in Tibet before taking vehicles to reach Riu bazaar. Now, we can get vehicles at the border point itself,” remarked Dawand Lama, a trader.
The local authorities still have to open 17 km road on the Nepali side, from the border point to Olangchungola. Local people have also urged Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to request the Chinese administration to provide excavators to open a road on the Nepali side.
China will certainly oblige; one more Chinese in-road into Nepal.

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: Perfecting Tibet railway network

New line in blue. Note that China appropriates Arunachal in its maps

Grim news for India: according to Xinhua, the preliminary work on the Yunnan-Tibet Railway is being carried out.
On September 20, the Chinese news agency announced the beginning of the work on the Yunnan-Tibet Railway which will run through Shangri-La and Dechen County of Yunnan Province and Markam and Dzogang Counties in the Chamdo Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).
In Bamda, a small township of Nyingchi Prefecture, the line will connect with the Sichuan-Tibet railway presently under construction.
The railway line will have a total length of 415 kilometers, with 265-kilometer railway in Tibet Autonomous Region, the rest in Yunnan.
The total investment is evaluated to be 43.6 billion yuan (some 7 billion US dollars), out of which the Tibet section's comes to 27.8 billion yuan.
The preliminary work which includes surveys and line alignment, has started.
Xinhua says that the Tibet's railway department “will accelerate relative work and strive to start its construction work during the 14th Five-Year Plan period [2020-2025].”
According to China Tibet Online: “The Tibet's railway network is gradually approaching perfect [sic] along with the operation of Qinghai-Tibet Railway and Lhasa-Shigatse Railway as well as the construction of Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway.”
The website adds: “Since the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is put into operation, Tibet's freight transportation has increased rapidly and it has become the main freight channel.”

Though it is not mentioned, China probably plans to extend the Lhasa-Shigatse-Kyirong line towards Western Tibet and one day (not too far) to Xinjiang (by following the route of the Highway 219 through the Aksai Chin).
About the Yunnan-Tibet railway, China Tibet Online notes: “Compared to highway's season limit and airplane's climate limit, the construction of Yunnan-Tibet Railway will bring more convenient transportation conditions for the passenger and cargo circulation between Tibet Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province. The rapid development of traffic can reduce transportation cost and then promote the economic development of manufacturing industry.”
As mentioned earlier on this blog, all infrastructure development in China needs to follow a dual use (civilian and military) norms. It is probably at what the website hints when it says: “In addition, 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.”
‘Peace on the border’ means reinforcement of the infrastructure opposite Eastern Arunachal Pradesh.
In the meantime, India is not fully asleep.
According to The Business Standard:  “The Indian Air Force is ready to fully operationalise seven Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) in Arunachal Pradesh. After over two years of repair and reconstruction work, the ALGs will be brought into use and are intended to give a major boost to the country's operational capability. The rupees 700-crore project got an impetus in 2009.”
The Tawang ALG, far from being completed, will allow one day the landing of C-130J Super Hercules, the latest IAF’s transport aircraft.

Buddhism with Chinese political characteristics

Gyaltsen Norbu arrives at Zongfo Hinayanist Temple

As mentioned in an earlier post, China is preparing the 6th Tibet Work Forum by sending ‘high’ officials to Tibet as well as in ‘Tibetan-inhabited areas’.
Xinhua reported that ‘the 11th Panchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu’, in other words Beijing’s Panchen Lama Gyaltsen Norbu “has concluded a seven-day tour (from May 26 to June 1) in southwest China's Yunnan Province, where he visited Buddhist sites and conducted rituals.”
He is said to have given blessings to more than 40,000 monks, followers and public visitors.
As usual we are told about the official visit when the ‘dignitary’ has returned to Beijing. It is safer for the person and the Party, I presume.
Xinhua reported that Gyaltsen Norbu visited “two local temples, a Buddhist college, the provincial capital of Kunming and the Xishuangbanna Prefecture.”
Two places are particularly interesting.

Zongfo Hinayanist Temple

The Zongfo Temple in Jinghong (Xishuangbanna Prefecture) is a Theravada monastery, located close to the Thailand border. The Zongfo Temple, which covers an area of more than 3,000 square meters, has a history of over 1,000 years, said a Chinese travel website. The restoration has recently been completed and is open ‘free’ to the public.
The visit was clearly a political one as Beijing is keen to show that it can take the world lead not only of the Mahayana, but of the Hinayana too.
Though images show Gyaltsen Norbu being received at the temple, it was not mentioned if he participated in Theravada rituals or debates.
In the months and years to come, Beijing will use more and more the services of Gyaltsen Norbu to show that China does look after all schools and sects of Buddhism.

Ganden Sumtsenling Monastery
The second ‘political’ important stop was at the Ganden Sumtsenling Monastery in Gyalthang (Zhongdian/Shangrila). It is the largest Tibetan-Buddhist temple in Yunnan. It has been linked to the Shugden practice denounced by the Dalai Lama. Last year in May, Yu Zhengsheng, the CPPCC Chairman also paid a surprise meeting to the monastery.

Yu Zhengsheng in Sumtsenling in May 2014

Xinhua said that Gyaltsen Norbu “worshiped a Buddha statute, chanted sutras and prayed for all living beings. …At a local Buddhist college, he sat in on classes where teachers and students debated Buddhist doctrine and called on the students to study hard.”
Apart from the fact that he went to the main Shugden center in Eastern Tibet, Gyaltsen Norbu is said (by Xinhua) to have “pledged to uphold patriotism and make contributions to national unity, ethnic solidarity, religious harmony and social stability.”
He also called on all Chinese Tibetan-Buddhist followers “to love the country, make efforts to benefit the people and practice benevolence to promote social development and protect national interests.”
This is routine stuff.

Another Hint about the Tibet Work Forum
China Tibet Online gives another hint about what is going to be decided during the 6th Tibet Work Meeting.
Remember that a Central United Front Work Conference was convened in Beijing from May 18 through May 20; I mentioned on this blog.
During the meet, Xi Jinping emphasized the need to unite the ‘three types of people’, including people in the non-public economic sector.
Now Apei Jinyuan, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) Association of Industry and Commerce, affirmed in Lhasa that the conference has “raised a high demand for promoting the sound development of the non-public economy”.
By the way, Apei Jinyuan is Ngapo Ngawang Jigme’s younger brother.
The Tibet Daily affirmed at the end of June 2014 that “the number of main market players of various types in the TAR reached 140,000, increased by 19 percent. The non-public economy (including individual businesses, privately-owned and foreign-invested enterprises) already accounts for 95.64 percent of the main market players in the TAR, and its tax revenue has achieved 7.405 billion yuan, accounting for 93.3 percent of the total tax revenue.”
‘Market players’ probably refers to companies listed in the stock exchange.
According to China Economic Net, during the (infamous) ‘China Tibet Development Forum’ held in 2014, Liao Yidong, the TAR vice chairman of the Association of Industry and Commerce stated that “Tibet’s non-public economy enjoys unprecedented development opportunities with the improved basic conditions, industrial environment, and system in Tibet. Yet at the same time, it is still faced with several challenges. It is still relatively small in scale and unevenly distributed. The quality and rate of contribution of technology to the non-public economy remain low, and the financing capacity is still limited.”
There is no doubt that the forthcoming Tibet Work Forum will go into this direction and support the development of the private sector on the Tibetan plateau.
Will the Tibetans benefit the move? This is another story!
According to The Tibet Daily, Wu Yingjie, the TAR deputy secretary said that 2015 is “a crucial year for comprehensively deepening reforms, [it is] the first Year in promoting law-based governance, and the last for completing the work in the “Twelfth Five-year Plan”.
It is also probably the Year to give a new direction to the mountainous region and assimilate it further to the Mainland …and the New Silk Road.