PICTURE CHINA

The Han ethnic group, known to most simply as “Chinese”, represents ninety-two percent of China’s people and has long dominated the country. Often at the impetus of the Chinese government, Han migrants have spread throughout the country to areas that have long been inhabited mostly by smaller ethnic groups.

The most striking and condemning example of this is in Tibet. Until the Chinese invasion in 1950, Tibet was an independent and insular country that rarely dealt with outsiders. Today in the capitol city of Lhasa, there are more Chinese than Tibetans and over two-thirds of businesses are Chinese owned. Much of the city looks identical to any other small Chinese city and this is being repeated in many other cities and towns throughout Tibet.

Many people see the Han migration as an attempt on the part of the Chinese government to exploit Tibet’s land, water and natural resources and worry that the influx of modern Chinese culture will further dilute Tibetan culture and corrupt the Tibetan society. The effects of migration are set to become more severe with the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet railway and the arrival of thousands of new migrants each year.