Meeting To Mark 40th Anniversary of Tibet's Democratic Reform ����The United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, State Ethnic Affairs Commission and relevant subcommittees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) held a meeting in Beijing Firday to mark the 40th anniversary of the democratic reform of Tibet. ����Wang Zhaoguo, head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, said at the meeting that the marking of the 40th anniversary of the democratic reform of Tibet is of great importance for speeding up development of Tibet and maintaining social stability and reunification of the motherland. ����"It is also of great importance for promoting national unity and pushing forward the trans-century development of Tibet," Wang added. ����He went on to say that the democratic reform in Tibet was a great social change that overthrew the feudal serf system and was an important part of China's new democratic revolution. ����He emphasized that through the launching of the reform, millions of serfs became master of the country and that as a result national unity among people from all ethnic groups has been strengthened. ����Wang explained that the reform paved the way for implementation of the regional autonomy system and socialism in Tibet and ushered in a new era for Tibet to march forward to modernization together with people in other parts of the country. ����He said that in the past 40 years, Tibet has witnessed a great leap forward in economic development. In 1998, Tibet's gross domestic product reached 9.118 billion yuan (1.098 billion U.S. dollars), up nearly 50 times that of 1950 and he revealed that Tibet had its 11th successive harvest last year with a total annual grain output of 850,000 tons. ����He said the per capita net income of farmers and herdsmen came to 1,158 yuan (139 dollars) and the per capital disposable income of urban residents reached 5,438 yuan (654 US dollars) in 1998. ����So far, the region has over 4,300 registered schools at various levels with 370,000 students. ����Summing up the experience of Tibet in the past 40 years, Wang said strengthening the party's leadership at the core and sticking to the socialist road is the fundamental guarantee for the region's steady development. ����He said taking economic construction as the central task, adhering to reform and opening-up, perfecting the regional autonomy system in minority ethnic areas, relying on vast numbers of the working people and all ethnic cadres are also policies should be pushed forward. ����A long-term principle that the central authorities take care of Tibet with various provinces and municipalities offering helping hands to Tibet will be implemented, he said. ����Regarding the human rights issue, Wang said that the so-called "human rights problem in Tibet" has been fabricated by a small number of Tibetan splittists exiled abroad and certain international forces supporting them as an excuse to split China. ����Wang stressed that by abolishing the feudal serf system China had realized and ensured the human rights of all Tibetan people. (Xinhua) Indepth 1999-07-03 Page2 Full Story in Chinese