TIN: Report Shows Tibetans in TAR Losing Ground in Public Sector Employment

A report released by the Tibet Information Network (TIN) on January 20, 2005, documents a sharp decline in the employment of Tibetans in government-run services and companies in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) since 2000. The report bases observations on official Chinese statistics on employment for the years 2000-2003. TIN explains that the report covers the category, "staff and workers," which, in the context of official statistics, refers to "government cadres (officials) and their subordinates; teachers, doctors, nurses, and others working in social services; managers, professionals and workers in urban and township and village enterprises, whether state-owned, collectively-owned, privately-owned or owned by foreigners; the formally urban self-employed and foreigners working in any of the above units."

According to the report, the overall number of jobs in the TAR’s public sector dropped from 149,690 in 2000 to 136,646 in 2003 (a decline of 8.7 percent). During the same period, the total Tibetan employment in the sector fell from 106,756 to 88,301 (a drop of 17.3 percent). The Tibetan share of public employment fell from 71 to 65 percent during the period. TIN observes that a fall in the permanent employment of Tibetans, compared to employment through short-term contracts, was even steeper, from 71 percent in 2000 to 53 percent in 2003. The loss of permanent jobs for Tibetans was most pronounced in the higher-level cadre workforce, where Tibetan cadres made up 72 percent in 2000 but just under 50 percent in 2003.

The report points out that changes in the size and make-up of public employment "are part of a general initiative by the Chinese government to rationalise and restructure the public sector, and in particular, public sector employment." But, according to TIN, some aspects of the decline suggest an anti-Tibetan bias inconsistent with China’s Law on Regional National Autonomy. Applicants for permanent public employment must take newly introduced exams that are administered only in Chinese language. In a Tibetan autonomous area, this puts Tibetan candidates with mediocre Chinese language ability, but excellent written and oral Tibetan, at a disadvantage compared to Chinese applicants who have no Tibetan language ability. "It appears therefore that, although the Chinese government argues that it is moving towards a more merit and performance based system of public employment, it effectively violates the principles of its own minority laws, which stipulate the use of minority languages in minority autonomous areas."

The report concludes by pointing out that the trend lines of the TAR economy and the Tibetan share of public employment are moving in opposite directions. Central government subsidy of the public sector has been a principal source of economic growth in the TAR, and a significant part of that spending has been on local administration and public service. According to TIN, Tibetan employment in the fastest-growing part of the economy is falling.