Tibet's development is changing foreigners' attention, says liaison official

Foreigners who had come to tour China's Tibet Autonomous Region almost had the same purpose in the 1990s, that is to call at temples and visit jails for an exchange of views with "political prisoners". Nowadays they prefer calling on local Tibetans and seeing the improvement of their living conditions.

"Foreigners' attention has changed a great deal along with the rapid social and economic progress of Tibet," said Pa Sang, deputy director of protocol division of Tibet Autonomous Region's foreign affairs office.

Pa Sang, 42, a native Tibetan woman, has received high-ranking guests from overseas and foreign reporters and done interpretation for them for 19 consecutive years. Recently, she was awarded a prize for being one of China's ten outstanding foreign affairs officials.

The tourists from overseas, and foreign diplomats and reporters her office receives has been on rise over recent years, especially in the summer and autumn time. The foreign office not only objectively and truthfully presents what has been going on in Tibet to them, but also does its best to meet their requests and helps them acquire the comprehensive and true information about Tibet.

"At present, an increasing number of foreign guests prefer to call at local residents' homes and see whether the long-term assistance from the central and provincial government has really improved the living livelihood and working conditions of local Tibetans," said Pa Sang.

The topics, such as the state pivot construction projects, the youth compulsory education and the medical care for rural farmers, are alluring their attention, she added.

"Tibet autonomous region has maintained sound economic progress and momentum and local people's living conditions have indeed changed a lot, which constitute the crucial reasons for visiting foreigners to change their attention," Pa Sang noted.

In the year 2000, Pa Sang received a United States congressional delegation, which used to have close contacts with the Dalai Lama group. After going amid grassroots units in Tibetan society to see things by themselves and inspecting some religious sites, they came to recognize that a lot of information the Dalai Lama provided to the US Congress did not stand close scrutiny.

David Dorman, a member of the delegation, said what he personally witnessed in Tibet didn't accord with what he heard before. Along with its rapid economic advancement, he said, China is attaching great importance to the administration of the country by law, and its legal system kept improving.

Mirroring China's peaceful emergence, Tibet, as a Chinese autonomous region, is also actively building its image to the world, she said.

"I am convinced that along with Tibet's opening-up, the international community will acknowledge Tibet's development and progress, and more and more foreign businessmen will come to invest here. Dalai Lama's advocacy of 'Tibet independence' will lose its market," Pa Sang said.