- At the admission of Chinese leaders, the Gormo-Lhasa railway project is politically motivated, with a goal of consolidating China's control over Tibet
- At US $4.2 billion, the railway is almost triple the amount Beijing spent in the Tibet Autonomous Region on healthcare and education between 1952 and 2000.
- The railway has been condemned for harming the environment, threatening the survival of the Tibetan culture and identity, and helping militarize Tibet
- The railway will facilitate increased population transfer of Chinese settlers into Tibet and is expected to bring some 4000 tourists to Tibet per day
In 2006, China completed construction of a major railway link between China and Tibet, a politically motivated project that will bring with it the prospect of vast economic exploitation, environmental damage, and demographic upheaval. The railway will increase China's ability to project military power over the Himalayas, and promotes a key political aim of assimilating Tibet into the Chinese state. Stretching 1142 km (710 mi) from Gormo in Amdo (Ch: Qinghai province) to Lhasa, the railway was originally scheduled for completion in 2007 but was brought forward, well in time for the Beijing Olympics.
A Politically Motivated Project
Although it is described by some in China as essential to economic development of the region as part of China's multibillion dollar "Great Western Development" scheme, the project's negative economic return underscores the political nature of the decision, a fact that China's former President Jiang Zemin admitted to the New York Times in August 2001.
According to state-run media, the railway has cost some $4.2 billion U.S.
Consolidating China's Control over Tibet
As with previous railways built in Mongolia and East Turkestan and like much of China's development strategy in Tibet, the railway risks accelerating the resettlement of non-Tibetans in Tibet while exploiting Tibet's natural resources for consumption in China. Deposits of oil and natural gas, and chromite, gold and zinc will be shipped east to China, with most economic benefits bypassing the many Tibetans who live on the outskirts of Tibet's centrally controlled economy, beyond the reach of the railway.
Since 1992 when Deng Xiaoping initiated economic reforms to liberalize the Chinese economy, the migrant population in the TAR, and Lhasa in particular, increased markedly. The influx of Chinese settlers contradicts policy established in the 1980s under former Party Secretary Hu Yaobang aimed at "restricting the growth of the Han population" in Tibet. By many accounts, Lhasa, designated a special economic zone, now hosts a Chinese population larger than its Tibetan one, fueled by subsidized wages and other government incentives.
China has made no secret of its military interest in the railway either. A corridor into the heartland of Tibet would facilitate the movement of troops, supplies and heavy armaments, including missiles, across the Plateau. Over time, it would also enhance the mobility of China's Rapid Reaction forces, and enable the expansion of airfields and other military installations. These last elements would allow China's military to project force into India and other neighboring countries, adding a destabilizing element to the region.
In April 2006, Beijing reported that the railroad opened for freight, following an unusual official admission that thawing permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau could threaten the safe operation of the railroad in as little as ten years. Four-fifths of the railway built above 4000 meters and the Tibetan plateau is prone to landslides, earthquakes and thunderstorms. Despite these warnings of the possible limited timeline for the railway project, the Chinese press has reported major commemorations of the opening of the railway in July.
Western Corporate Involvement
Young members of the Capital Area Tibetan Association in Falls Church, Virgina, USA protest against Bombardier
One of the most threatening projects undertaken by the Chinese government in Tibet is the construction of a railway from Gormo to Lhasa, Tibet's capital, that will connect Tibet for the first time with China's nationwide railway grid. The project is described as the 'centerpiece' of China's Western Development Campaign, which aims to consolidate China's political and military power over Tibet. To build it, China reached out to at least four western companies: Canada's Bombardier, Power Corporation, and Nortel, and U.S. corporate giant GE. By partnering the Chinese government on the construction of the railway, these businesses have made themselves partners in China's occupation of Tibet.
Bombardier, a manufacturer of airplanes, recreational vehicles and rail transportation equipment, has lead a consortium that includes Power Corporation of Canada, a financial holding company, and state-owned China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corporation, to supply the Chinese Ministry of Railways with 361 specially designed rail cars for the Tibet line. Nortel Networks, global telecommunications provider, has supplied a digital wireless communications network (GSM-R), while GE has built the locomotives for the train.
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