Among the many reasons China has failed to colonise the Tibetan Plateau, none is more foundational than Han shortness of breath when lowlanders ascend to Tibetan heights. Over many centuries of Han expansion, China has developed many methods for peopling conquered lands with Han peasants, backed by Chinese garrisons who not only guard the new […]
CLIMATE CHANGE IN TIBET: ALL GOOD? You may have heard rumours that the climate of Tibet is warming remarkably fast, and this is dangerous. China’s official media, however, assure us that climate change in Tibet is all good, even that it contributes to the construction of ecological civilisation. There is nothing to worry about if […]
TIBETAN EMPLOYMENT IN NATIONAL PARKS ཡུལ་དང་དུས་ཀྱི་རྣམ་འགྱུར་ལ་བརྟེན་ནས། བོད་ལ་ལས་དང་མ་རྩའི་དོན་ལ་བརྟག་པ༎ Blog one of three on the fate of Tibetan nomads, frogs, green iron rice bowls and highland clearances (This blog is an expanded version of a presentation by Gabriel Lafitte to the Paris seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, July 2019) SECURE STATE EMPLOYMENT FOR SPECIALISTS […]
Blog two of three on Tibetan nomads, frogs, green iron rice bowls and highland clearances CAN NOMADS, WILDLIFE AND YAKS STILL COEXIST SUSTAINABLY? China’s program of steadily depopulating rural Tibet, especially in the upper watersheds of the Yellow, Yangtze and Mekong Rivers, is not the only possible way ahead. Quietly, Chinese NGOs such as Shan […]
Blog three of three on Tibetan nomads, frogs, green iron rice bowls and highland clearances INSECURITY AS THE MODE OF HUMAN EXISTENCE Pastoralism worldwide is confined to drylands, which receive enough rain for grass to grow, but not forests. The drylands are between the desert and the arable. By definition, such lands are inland, often […]