DHARAMSHALA September 20: Four Tibetan labourers have been injured
after Chinese mining officials opened fire on them over a wage payment
clash on Saturday in Tibetan area of Chatreng in Kardze, a newly
arrived Tibetan told the Voice of Tibet radio.

Mining in Chatreng began four years back, the Tibetan said. "Tibetan
workers and their Chinese bosses initially had an argument over a wage
payment issue," he said. "Later on, the Chinese officials called the
police who opened fire on the Tibetan workers."

Sources said that local Tibetans tried to contact Chinese media to
highlight the issue but no one turned up.

"Local Tibetans were helpless, and they started protesting against the
Chinese authorities but the Chinese police beat up the Tibetans
severely," said the same source.

China announced last month that it will intensify its mining efforts
on the Tibetan plateau in the coming years. Zhang Qingli, then
secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Regional (TAR) told reporters that
the purpose of mining is "to benefit the local Tibetans."

“Exploitation should be conducted in an environmentally friendly way
and help create job opportunities for local people and raise their
income," he was quoted as saying.

However, exile Tibetans remain skeptical of China’s claims of keeping
its promises while carrying out mining on the Tibetan plateau.

Head of the Environment and Development Desk of the Central Tibetan
Administration, Tenzin Norbu last month said that the Chinese
government is trying to green-wash its past mistakes in front of the
international media and once again fool the local residents.

“Promises of job creation and raising income levels were made to the
local Tibetan residents of Phondo, Lhundrup Zong and many other mining
areas but they were turned down during the actual mining period.
Mining protests relating to environment negligence and pollution are
frequent in Tibetan areas," Norbu added.

Phayul, [Tuesday, September 20, 2011]
By Tendar Tsering
http://phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=30027&article=Chinese+mining+officials+open+fire+on+Tibetan+workers