(TibetanReview.net, Jul17’22) – Touring Tibet Autonomous Region over Jul 12 to 15 in connection with the drafting of a new national law on the ecological protection of the Tibetan Plateau, China’s top legislator Mr Li Zhanshu has called for safeguarding national unification and strengthening ethnic unity while ensuring enduring social stability.
Li stressed the Tibetan Plateau’s special ecological status and its value to national and global ecological security, reported China’s official Xinhua news agency Jul 16.
Li stressed the region’s special ecological status, reported China’s official Xinhua news agency Jul 16. He has said the new law should therefore embody the idea that ecological protection is the basic premise and the rigid constraint of the region’s development.
China’s contentious ecological protection efforts have led to the forced relocation of hundreds of thousands of Tibetan farmers and nomads, depriving them of the only means of livelihood they knew, with no real alternatives.
Most recently, China’s official chinadaily.com.cn reported Jun 27 that more than 130,000 Tibetans in nearly 100 townships will be relocated in eight years, including more than 26,300 by Aug 11 this year.
Li has said the new law would implement China’s new development philosophy, adhere to a systemic, science-based and problem-solving approach to strengthen the protection, conservation, restoration and risk prevention and control of key ecological systems.
During his tour Li was reported to have also visited residential communities, the Potala Palace and temples, and held talks with local lawmakers.