Beijing: A top Chinese official heading
the Tibet administration has said fight against Tibetan
spiritual leader Dalai Lama is meant to be "lasting, intense
and complicated" and the government faced "arduous task" of
keeping secessionists away.
"The fight against the Dalai Lama clique is meant to
be lasting, intense, complicated, and sometimes fought
vehemently," said Padma Choling, the Chairman of the Tibet
Autonomous Region.
"We are still facing an arduous task to fight
secessionists and maintain stability in the region," official
Xinhua quoted Choling as saying in his first government report
submitted to the local legislature for review on Monday.
The review blamed the secessionist forces led by the
14th Dalai Lama for provoking the deadly riots in Lhasa and
other Tibetan regions in March 2008 in which several were
people were killed.
According to reports, the riots were sparked by
resentment over increasing presence of mainland Chinese in the
developmental projects in the Himalayan region.
On the economic front, Choling said the government`s
goal in achieving rapid development and long-term stability in
Tibet also faces challenges from lagging infrastructure
construction, development gap between urban and rural areas,
and lack of a system to ensure long-term growth of residents`
incomes.
Further, Choling noted that the region`s economy grew
by 12.2 per cent in 2010.
Additionally, incomes for both urban residents and
nomads continued to grow and efforts to tame environmental
hazards were strengthened while new roads and airports were
built.
The central government has been pouring vast amount of
funding, personnel, and resources to assist Tibet`s
development over the past decades, the Xinhua report said.
Much of these efforts can be seen in the complete
makeover of Lhasa and other cities and towns in the region,
along with their improved transport links - including the
landmark Qinghai-Tibet Railway which began connecting the
region by rail with the rest of the country in 2006, it said.
PTI
