LHASA, Tibet — Beijing's plan to pacify this restive Himalayan province involves a $3.2-billion railroad that will connect the rest of China to the frozen Tibetan plateau known as the roof of the world.
The railroad, billed as the world's highest and due to be completed in 2007, represents the linchpin of China's ambitious "Go West" campaign to develop and repopulate its impoverished hinterland.
But Tibetans opposed to Chinese control say the railroad's construction -- which began last year -- has so far confirmed their worst fears: The train, although it may usher in rapid progress, also may transform their nomadic culture and and increase inequality in their land.
"We went to inquire about railroad jobs but they said it's all been taken," said Tenzin, a 22-year-old Tibetan farmer from Gansu, formerly part of Tibet, but now a Chinese province. "We've been here four months and we can't find anything. We're willing to be waiters, security guards, tour guides, anything. But no one wants us."
The Chinese seem to have an extra edge. That's because education and the ability to speak Mandarin Chinese are the basic criteria for most jobs.
Tibetans have fought for preservation of their culture since China annexed their homeland in 1951. International attention has been drawn to their independence movement by the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader driven from here in 1959 when the Chinese crushed a failed uprising.
The Dalai Lama has repeatedly spoken out against what he calls a cultural genocide by Chinese occupiers in Tibet. Beijing considers the Nobel laureate a separatist bent on breaking up the nation. Chinese authorities have banned his portrait here. But many Tibetans secretly display his image in their homes and pray to him in their hearts.
Beijing has tried to squelch the Tibetan independence movement by pumping in cash. It poured as much as $1.6 billion into the Tibetan economy last year alone, which officials say represented the largest investment in any province.
"Tibet's stability is China's stability. Tibet's development is China's development," said Xiangba Pingcuo, Tibet's governor. "We cannot allow Tibet to split from China. Nor can we allow it to remain backwards."
Beijing says the railroad is the economic salvation that Tibet needs.
"Tibet is the only province without a rail link. The people of Tibet want development. The railroad is the hope of everybody here," said Tajie, the deputy mayor of Lhasa.
