Why is Tibet strategically important to China?
— Tibet is dubbed ‘Asia’s Water Tower’. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a crucial water source and store for China, whose unevenly distributed water resources are said to be in crisis. — Tibet’s glaciers and snow-fed highlands feed Asia’s great rivers, the Brahmaputra, Mekong, Yangtze, Indus, Yellow and Salween.
Why is Tibet strategically important?
It is an important national security barrier; an important ecological security barrier; an important reserve base for strategic resources; an important base for agricultural products; an important area for the protection of China’s unique ethnic culture and a popular tourist destination.”
Why is Tibet strategic?
Tibet being located in China’s Western frontier has been historically a vulnerable periphery. It is a strategic periphery not merely because of the 1962 India-China war, but more because it is a minority area located in the southwestern periphery occupying one-fourth of China’s landmass.
How do Tibetans get water?
In Tibet, as with most countries in Asia, drinking water is bottled in plants and sold around the region. Most of the mineral water in Tibet comes from the natural glaciers that can be found all across the region.
Is the Free Tibet movement supported by the Chinese people?
The Free Tibet movement is supported by Western anti-China forces. Human rights are China’s internal affair and Westerners who have never been to Tibet have no right to speak against China’s policies. Free Tibet supporters have no argument with the Chinese people.
What are Tibetans protesting against China’s rule?
China denies Tibetans inside Tibet the right to speak freely, so it isn’t possible to say exactly what their goals are – but their opposition to China’s current rule is clear. Protesters in Tibet repeatedly call for the protection of Tibetan identity, for freedom, for human rights and for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet.
Is Tibet still under Chinese occupation today?
Today it is under China’s occupation and has been divided up, renamed and incorporated into Chinese provinces (see more maps of Tibet here). When China refers to Tibet, it means only part of historic Tibet: what it names the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China.
Are Tibetans happy under China’s control?
Tibet has seen economic progress, as have most countries in the last seventy years, but Tibetans have benefited less than Chinese immigrants. Economic progress has not deterred them from rejecting Chinese rule and the evidence shows that Tibetans are far from “happy” under China’s control.