TAR Officials Ban Gold Mining Along Rivers, Citing Environmental Damage

Officials in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) banned alluvial gold mining within the TAR on October 8, according to an October 10 China Daily report. Gold mining in TAR riverbeds and flood plains must cease by November 30, and workers and their equipment must not be present at mining sites after December 31. The ban is a response to a central government call for better regulation of the country's mining industry, but the report emphasizes the role of TAR authorities in addressing the issue. TAR government Chairman Jampa Phuntsog (Xiangba Pingcuo) criticized "predatory exploitation" of local resources in a "harshly-worded internal speech," saying that alluvial gold mines "contribute little to local farmers and herdsmen, and a limited amount to the local government," and that the environmental damage they cause "can no longer be tolerated." According to some reports, Tibetans resent the presence of the miners, most of whom are ethnic Han or Hui from other provinces. Landscapes damaged by mining also interfere with the farming and herding practices that support Tibetan livelihoods.

The Great Western Development policy calls for boosting economic development in western China, including the TAR, with measures that include stepping up prospecting and mining, according to the Circular on the Implementation of Several Policy Measures Regarding Extensive Development of The West that the State Council issued in December 2000 (FBIS 27 December 01). In February 2003, a report to the 16th Party Congress (FBIS 26 February 03) analyzed the prospects for sustainable use of water and natural resources in a section of the Great Western Development area that includes the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. The report said, "Some small gold mines and some minor gold producing industries have seriously endangered the ecological environment. Those small enterprises that cannot be remolded should be closed in a resolute manner." A Chinese government White Paper published in December 2003 shows that the report's advice to the Party became policy: "Mining enterprises which operate without licenses, cause environmental pollution, waste resources, or do not have the proper conditions for safe operation shall be closed down in accordance with the law."

Since 2003, environmental authorities in the TAR inspected 97 "major mining sites" that included 68 gold mines, according to a September 14 China Daily report. Officials shut down 34 mines, notified workers at 20 more that they must comply with environmental standards, and ordered "rectification" of 14 mines. A Naqu prefecture official closed an alluvial gold mine in Shenzha county in 2005, even though revenue from the mine accounted for 5 million yuan of the county's 8.5 million yuan budget in 2004, according to the report.

Article 9 of the Chinese Constitution provides that mineral resources are property of the state. Article 28 of the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law (REAL) gives local autonomous governments the right to "manage and protect the natural resources in local areas," but Article 7 of the REAL requires them to "place the interests of the state as a whole above anything else." In May 2005, the State Council issued Certain Provisions on the Implementation of the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law (FBIS 26 May 05) that instructed governments at higher levels to "listen to the opinions of national autonomous areas and nationality work departments" on matters that include natural resource exploitation and environmental protection.

Additional information about Great Western Development and China's system of regional ethnic autonomy is available in the CECC 2005 Annual Report.