People should see Tibet with their own eyes, says VP of Italy-China Foundation

15:29, October 23, 2009

▲Second forum on the development of Tibet

Vice President of the Italy-China Foundation Mario Zanone Poma said Thursday that the Chinese government's preservation of Tibetan culture and tradition is the basis of the autonomous region's modernization and development.

Poma, who is attending the international forum on Tibet's development in Rome on Thursday and Friday, told Xinhua that he visited Tibet this September with the delegation of the Italy-China Foundation.

"I was impressed by the degree of development that Tibet has undergone in recent years. This is evident in all sectors: agriculture, economy, society, environment, education," said Poma, who linked the Tibetan progress to the Chinese government's ability in preserving local traditions.

He went on to criticize the biased global information on Tibet.

"People should go and visit Tibet to see what it's really like. Life there is normal, young people hang out in nightclubs like anywhere else and are very active. There are many students and I was impressed by the vibrant and well-organized University of Tibet, center of study and ancient text preservation," Poma said.

When showing photos he took of Tibet University, Poma said that he was surprised by its "modern American-style college structure and incredible library with century-old and well-preserved manuscripts."

He stressed that the Chinese central government has recently invested more than 50 million euros (75 million U.S. dollars) there.

"All of this demonstrates that the leadership in Beijing have great respect for the Tibetan culture and wish to preserve it," Poma noted, adding that the Chinese government has even co-sponsored with Microsoft a Windows version in Tibetan language.

"I was very impressed and it's a real pity that global media ignored all these positive aspects of the region. There's an unacceptable information gap on what's going on in Tibet and on the Chinese government's contribution to its development."

Poma also mentioned the wide religious freedom he had witnessed, which is never taken into account by Western media and public. "I was surprised by the elevated number of monasteries and worshippers, no monks being persecuted."

He described the signs of Tibet's astonishing economic development.

"Agriculture, at the core of its productive structure, is rapidly expanding. The authorities have provided 200 houses to farmers and shepherds and have increased investments in rural technology and machinery," Poma said.

Another astonishing aspect were Tibet's climate-friendly approach and the 8 billion yuan (1.15 billion U.S. dollars) spent on the environment in 2008, up 31 percent from a year earlier.

"In Tibet there are no plastic bags. People are very aware of the environment and both local and central authorities have carried out tight controls on industrial wastes discharge, banning the creation of polluting firms."

Poma also stressed the increasing investments in education, totaling 3 billion yuan (430 million dollars) in 2008.

However, unfortunately, he lamented that Tibet's "accelerated development process is not globally communicated by media".

In Poma's view, the only way to make the world know Tibet is through the growth and expansion of local tourism, which at the same time boosts development and nourishes global relations.

"Italian people, just like others, have limited knowledge about Tibet from what they read and see on television," he said.

Tourism can play a central role in opening Tibet to the rest ofthe world. "With more people visiting, more correct and complete information on Tibet will be spread globally," Poma said.

However, he warned that to do so Tibet needs to improve tourism organization and hotels' reception capacity.

Poma also suggested other potential areas of growth and international cooperation, such as herbal medicine and weather science experimentation.

"The Italian University of La Sapienza has launched a strategic partnership with Tibet University for atmosphere and studies linked to the cure of specific lung diseases. There is a high-level scientific exchange between our researchers," Poma said.

The international forum on Tibet's development has attracted more than 400 representatives from China, Italy, Austria, the United States, India, Australia, Spain and Belgium.

Source: Xinhua