Dalai Lama has become more and more unpopular in southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region since what he wants is to split the region from China, regardless of its robust development momentum and sound ethnic relations, said Qianbo Puncog, chairman of the region during an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

"All the locals want the current stable and sound situation in Tibet to continue but Dalai Lama, judging from his words and deeds, simply wants to destroy it and make something different," said Puncog. "And the result is he has grown more and more unpopular in Tibet."

"What Dalai and some Western forces really want is nothing but splitting Tibet from China," he said. "Whatever the names he invents for Tibetan independence, his nature will remain the same."

Dalai Lama had before put forward a series of ideas puffing high degree autonomy in Tibet or establishing a "big Tibetan area" that involves four more Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Qinghai and Gansu.

However, according to the Chinese history, there was only one "big Tibetan area" about one thousand years ago in southwest China but no more reappeared thereafter.

"As far as today's Tibet is concerned, such an area is absolutely nothing but impossible."

Puncog viewed Dalai Lama's "high degree autonomy" as one intentionally invented against China's current ethnic autonomous region system, a basic one for China that has proved quite successful after effective for more than two decades.

Before that, Dalai Lama had suggested a "One Country, Two Systems" solution, which is adopted by the Chinese government to resolve the Taiwan issue, for Tibet and was rejected.

"The final purpose of those Western forces that support Dalai Lama or seek internationalizing the Tibet issue is nothing but splitting China by borrow hands from external interventions," he said. "The Tibetans hold a clear-cut stand in their fight against those forces."

The Chinese government's policies toward Dalai Lama on the Tibet issue will never change in nature as far as Dalai Lama's nature of splitting Tibetan remains unchanged, he said.

In Tibet, said Puncog, there are two famous slogans saying "Hold a clear-cut stand in fights against splittism and firmly advance Tibet's development," which are the two most crucial things that the Tibetans should do today.

The so-called "Tibet issue" is merely a ghost invented from nothing by some Western powers one century ago, said Puncog, claiming it boasts no grounding among the Tibetan masses.

"If you have to say there are some 'Tibet issues', the issues shall be ones related to the development of Tibet," he said. "You know, what Tibet does need now is only development, no other issues can prevail."

With financial and policy supports from the central government, Tibet's economy has been growing with a rapid speed in the past decade.

Its annual average growth of gross domestic product (GDP) has kept at more than 10 percent for 10 straight years and reached 12.2 percent in 2004, bringing the region's total GDP to a record 21.154 billion yuan (US$2.56 billion).

The annual per-capita net income of Tibetan farmers and herdsmen the same year also rose to 1,861 yuan (US$225), with the disposable income of the urban Tibetans 8,200 yuan (US$991) in 2004, an increase of 1.8 percent on a yearly basis.

In 2004, Tibet's per-capita GDP reached 7772 yuan (US$939.7), 75 percent of the country's average and listed 23rd among China's all 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

At the same time, Tibet's fixed assets investment rose up to 16.844 billion yuan (US$2.03 billion ), up 25.7 percent over that of the previous year.

"We have every reason to claim that Tibet is at its best time given its speeding economy, solid ethnic minority unity and consolidated border defense," said Puncog.

Puncog predicted that with the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, which is known as the world's highest and most difficult one, Tibet will greet another robust round of development.

(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2005)