Zhu Weiqun, executive vice minister of the CPC Central Committee United Front Work Department, met with officials from the China Office of the European External Action Service, scholars from the Brussels Institute of Contemporary China and the Eurasian Center, professors and students from the College of Europe, reporters from New Europe and EU Observer, editors from the magazine Parliament, and staff members of representatives to the European Parliament from the European People’s Party and European Conservatives and Reformists Group at a dinner on December 12, 2011, in Brussels. At the dinner Zhu Weiqun discussed the present situation in Tibet, and answered questions raised by the Europeans in attendance concerning the Dalai Lama, human rights in Tibet, self-immolation incidents in Tibet, and contacts and talks between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama. Highlights of the discussion are as follows.

Zhu Weiqun: First, I would like to fill you in on the basic situation in Tibet, and then answer everyone’s questions during the course of dinner.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet. For the past 60 years, the Chinese government has done a great deal, which can loosely be described in reference to three major events. The first major event was the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, which made it forever impossible from then on for any power to separate Tibet from China. This peaceful liberation greatly advanced the cause of human rights in Tibet, because it provided a guarantee for the foundation of human rights there, the national sovereignty of China. History clearly shows that whenever any imperialist power invaded and humiliated Tibet, that made it impossible to speak of the cause of human rights in Tibet. The second major event was the quelling of the armed rebellion led by the upper-class ruling clique with the Fourteenth Dalai Lama at its head, and the subsequent implementation of democratic reforms and the abolition of the theocratic serf system that had ruled Tibet for hundreds of years. From that point on, Tibet became a new socialist society along with the other regions of China. From then on, it would be forever impossible to restore the feudal serf system in Tibet. Through democratic reform, millions of serfs acquired human rights. This was a major event of great importance having far-reaching impact in the history of human rights in China and the world. The third major event was the establishment of the autonomous region system in Tibet, which over the past half century has brought rapid economic and social development to Tibet and has improved and provided assurances for all aspects of the cause of human rights.

I have made nearly 40 trips to Tibet as part of my work, including five trips in the past year. Every time I go there, I see that people’s lives have improved significantly and their human rights are being protected. Let me give you some basic numbers. Even though they are estimates, they show the accomplishments the Chinese government and Tibetan people have made through great effort. During China’s Tenth Five-Year Plan period, from 2006-2010, the Chinese government expended 137.8 billion yuan in development investment in Tibet, and the Eleventh Five-Year Plan calls for total national government investment from 2011-2015 to reach 330 billion yuan, more than twice that of the previous period. The estimated 2011 GRP of Tibet is 60.5 billion yuan, a year on year increase of 12.6%. Tibet’s GRP has undergone a double digit increase for 19 consecutive years, and the urban per capita disposable income reached 16,148 yuan this year, a year-on-year increase of 7.8%. We pay particular attention to the situation of farmers and herders in Tibet because their living conditions are extremely bitter. This year, their per capita net income was 4,700 yuan, an increase of 13.6% over last year. This was the ninth consecutive year it experienced a double digit increase. Recently, the Chinese government held an important meeting at which it raised the poverty level from 1,196 yuan to 2,300 yuan per year. Of course, this made our poverty alleviation work more difficult, but it is something we had to do. The sum of 2,300 is roughly equivalent to one US dollar a day, which is higher than the prevailing international standard. The per capita net income of farmers and herders in Tibet is 4,700, that is to say, far above the poverty line. In addition, education and medical and health services are vigorously developing. Two statistics that directly reflect the improvement in people’s health are that life expectancy has risen from 35.5 years at the time of the peaceful liberation to 69 years now, and the population of Tibet has increased from one to three million. I particularly want to point out that the population increase is not due to an influx of Han Chinese from other parts of the country as some people claim. All the censuses we have taken, including the most recent one this year, reveal that ethnic Tibetans still comprise more than 92% of Tibet’s population.