Tibetans have representation in the local government of the Tibet Autonomous Region or in counties and prefectures, but their power, their authority, is very limited. For example, the governor of the Tibet Autonomous Region is a Tibetan, but the most powerful position, the party secretary, has always been Chinese.
What is disturbing is that, as per 2002 data, more than 50% of the Communist Party cadres in the Tibet Autonomous Region are Chinese, not Tibetans. That's 2002. It's been 11 years now and the Communist Party cadres, including postmen, are Chinese, not Tibetans.
If you look at the party structure, of the top 13 leaders, seven are Chinese and six are “Tibetans”, but of the six, one is half Tibetan because her father or mother is Chinese, one is married to a Chinese, one has in-laws who are Chinese, and one has a girlfriend who is Chinese. That's how they test their loyalty. It's a token position, but even at that level your representation goes by your blood rather than your capacity.
In that sense, all the way down.... I can share with you the figure of 70-50-40, which is that 70% of business enterprises in Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet, are owned or are run by Chinese; 50%, as I shared, of the Communist Party members are Chinese; and 40% of Tibetans with college and high school degrees are unemployed. That is the situation inside Tibet.
We've been talking mainly about Tibet. With the permission of the chairman, I would also like to highlight the importance of Tibet environmentally. Tibet is vital as far as global warming and climate change are concerned. Tibet is called the “third pole”. After Antarctica and the Arctic, Tibet has the third highest reserve of ice, maybe a little more than Canada. But unlike Antarctica and the Arctic, when it melts, it turns into rivers. Ten major rivers of Asia originate in Tibet. There is the famous Mekong River, which flows from Tibet all the way to Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos; the Salween River; the Brahmaputra River, which flows from Tibet, to India, to Bangladesh. When you read about a flood in Bangladesh, it has direct causality with the deforestation that is taking place in Tibet. Because of the rainfall and the silting, the riverbed rises and causes flooding downstream. Also, major rivers are from Tibet to India to Pakistan. The Yellow River, the cradle of Chinese civilization, and the Yangtze River, two famous rivers of China, originate in Tibet.
Some scientists say that before wars were fought over land, but nowadays wars are fought over energy. Soon wars will be fought over water. It's called “white gold” because it's so precious. Tibet is the source of 10 major rivers of Asia. Because of its having the third highest reserve of ice, climate-wise it has direct consequences for weather in Peru, in Latin America, with the jet stream over Tibet being affected.
So Tibet is vital as far as the environment is concerned.
Tibet also has a lot of natural resources, 130 or so minerals—not as much as Canada, but it has a lot of resources. It's exploited in a very unsound manner, engineering and environmentally. A lot of chemicals are being used. It has a direct relationship to the environment because when the chemicals are used and the minerals are exploited in an open way...when there's rain, the water goes to the river and affects the people downstream. Millions of people in Asia survive on the fishery and agriculture, and Tibet is the source of all these rivers. If they are poisoned or deforestation takes place, it affects millions of people downstream.
So Tibet is environmentally also very important, in addition to democracy and non-violence, as I shared with you.