The News

Tibet plans to start construction of the first branch line for the Qinghai-Tibet Railway to link the region’s capital Lhasa with Xigaze, the second largest Tibetan city, which is also close to India.

The Dalai Lama today expressed concern over the growing Chinese population in Tibet. “For meaningful autonomy in Tibet, its population should remain largely Tibetan,” the Dalai Lama said.

Tibet aims to host three million tourists from both home and abroad this year, a 28-percent increase over last year, said a tourism official of the southwest China’s autonomous region . . . Rural tourism will also be boosted this year, the official said.

The Extrapolation

What if China extended that railroad into India (umm…ignoring the technical challenges), to encourage tourism between the two countries?

That would be both of benefit and harm for the Tibetan cause. Increased relations between India and China can only make things better. India can only ignore the Tibet issue at the table for so long. In addition, it would make it easier for Tibetans to escape and/or return (once again, ignoring the technical challenges).

The harm would come in two ways as well. First, a line between India and China through Tibet would further consolidate and verify China’s control over the region. Second, shuttling more tourists into Tibet would only dilute the culture more than it already has been. Thinking about ratios, there are 6 million Tibetans in Tibet, and China is sending 3 million tourists there a year. There are an additional 1.3 million Chinese who now live in Tibet. An Indian railroad would probably produce another million tourists. That’s 6 Tibetans for every 4 tourists (or 3 without my terrible estimation). That’s like bringing the entire population of Canada and Mexico into the United States to “tour” the country…oh, wait.