25 October 2006
Forum on Tibetan cultural preservation upholds Party development policy
The US Congregational-Executive Commission on China (CECC) reports that the China Association for Preservation and Development of Tibetan Culture (CAPDTC) hosted an international meeting in Beijing October 10 and 11 that promoted increased economic development and tourism as appropriate measures to ensure the preservation and development of Tibetan culture. The CAPDTC describes itself as an "NGO formed by voluntary [persons devoted] to the protection and development of Tibetan culture", but its senior officials hold leadership positions in the United Front, the organ of the Chinese Communist Party devoted to forming ‘broad alliances’ with non-Party and ethnic sectors of the PRC society, or other current or former positions related to Tibetan affairs within the PRC establishment. Officials and experts speaking at the forum said that preservation and development of Tibetan culture must be based on what they described as Tibetan culture's role as ‘a component of Chinese culture’. Liu Yandong, CAPDTC’s honorary president and head of the United Front likened Tibetan culture to a "bright pearl in the treasure house of the Chinese culture", and said that development must discard "all eroded and backward values". She said that the preservation and development of Tibetan culture should be consistent with national policies that promote accelerated economic and social development. CAPDTC vice chairman, Lhagpa Phuntsog, said that the preservation and development of Tibetan culture "must preserve national unity as a prerequisite" and be "inseparable from China's economy and society".