(TibetanReview.net, Nov20’24) –China has ordered the relocation of hundreds of Tibetan families in Tsoshar (Chinese: Haidong) Prefecture-level City of Qinghai Province, citing landslide hazards. However, in reality, it is suspected to be planning to mine the overlooking mountain after years of exploring it for mineral deposits, said London-based Free Tibet campaign group (freetibet.org) Nov 19, citing its research partner Tibet Watch.
The group said that in late October this year, the Chinese government ordered the relocation of half the total households of Yarka and Bitsang villages in the City’s Yadzi (Xunhua) County, located in the upper slopes and base of the sacred mountain Amnye Ratoe.
While Yarka village, one of the 22 semi-nomadic villages in Karing Township, has around 200 households, Bitsang has over 100.
Ninety percent of the local residents are said to be farmers harvesting abundant agricultural produce, growing mainly grain crops such as wheat, barley, peas, as well as buckwheat and oilseed.
The local government is said to have given two options to the Tibetans ordered to relocate, both of which would impoverish them, with no sustainable means of livelihood. One is to accept a subsidy of 150,000 Chinese yuan per household for building a new home, and the other is to move into new homes built in the Yadzi County town.
While the subsidy is not sufficient to buy land and build a home, those moving into the government-build homes have no money for their sustenance.
The group cited sources as saying the Chinese government had been exploring the mountain for mineral deposits over the past several years. And it is not clear what deposits have been found.
Some households from Yarka village are said to have been already moved into the state-built houses in the Yadzi county-town. Others reluctant to leave are not being allowed to stay in their ancestral land, the group said.