The Tibet Autonomous Region enjoys, as stipulated by Chinese law, a wide range of regional autonomous rights in the political, economic and cultural fields and in social development. The following is a summation of the eight major rights enjoyed by the Tibetan people.

--State-bestowed local legislative power. According to the Chinese law, the People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region has the right to formulate, in line with local political, economic and cultural conditions, regulations on regional autonomy and a variety of special rules and regulations. This local legislation is an indication of basic autonomy and highlights the difference of an autonomous region from an ordinary administrative locality. As of now, Tibet has enacted 60 special sets of rules and regulations, local laws and legal resolutions. They involve such areas as the structure of political power, social and economic development, marriage, education, written language, the　legal system, natural resources and environmental protection. The promulgation of these rules and regulations provides an important legal guarantee to the Tibetan people for the fulfillment of various democratic rights and in the development of the society's economic and cultural undertakings.

--The right to implement state laws and policies and to formulate and implement special policies and measures in light of local conditions. Special policies implemented in Tibet include the following. In agriculture and animal husbandry, the policy is to distribute land among the farmers for household management and let people who raise livestock own it, a policy which will remain unchanged for a long period of time. Moreover, within a given period of time, farmers and herdsmen enjoy tax exemption and are free to sell their products. Regarding industry and commerce, the policy is to support the national handicraft industry and also to encourage the development of collective and individual industry and commerce. In education, the policy state pays for the tuition, room and board for children of farmers and herdsmen. Regarding birth control, cadres, workers and staff members are encouraged to give birth to only two children, but no limit is set for the broad masses of farmers and herdsmen in the number of children they may raise. The implementation of these special policies plays an important role in the sustained, stable and coordinated development of Tibet's economy and culture.

--The right of the Tibetan people to use and develop their own written language. According to the state stipulation that "various nationalities have the freedom to use and develop their own written languages," the Tibet Autonomous Regional People's Congress adopted in 1987 the Regulations on the Study, Use and Development of the Written Tibetan Language (for trial implementation). At the same time, it set forth the principle of attaching equal importance to both written Chinese and Tibetan languages, with the emphasis laid mainly on the latter, and established a committee in charge of the use and development of the written Tibetan language. The people's government of the Tibet Autonomous Region promulgated in October 1988 rules for the implementation of these regulations. These rules clearly stipulate that all conferences of the autonomous regional government and official documents should use Tibetan and Chinese languages; all newspapers, radio, TV and other mass media should use the two languages; all units, streets, roads and public facilities should be marked in both Tibetan and Chinese languages; the judicial organs, while examining and trying cases, must guarantee that Tibetan citizens have the right to legal proceedings in their own language; and that schools should gradually establish an educational system centred around Tibetan language education. This ensures that the Tibetan language will be respected and extensively used and that the political and cultural rights of the Tibetan people will be supported.

--The right for minority nationality cadres, mainly those of Tibetan nationality, to play the leading role in autonomous institutions and judicial organs at various levels. The growing ranks of the minority nationality cadres constitute an important milestone in the national autonomy and in the fact that minority people are masters of their own fate. Since the peaceful liberation of Tibet, the central government has attached great importance to the training and appointment of cadres of Tibetan and other minority nationalities. A large number of ex-serfs and their children have taken up leading posts at various levels in Tibet, including chief leaders of the people's congresses, governments, courts and procuratorates at various levels.

--The right to make independent arrangements for local economic construction. The national regional autonomy is not only a system guaranteeing equality for minority nationalities but also a system which is geared to promote the development and prosperity of the minority areas in the economy and culture. Since its founding, the Tibet Autonomous Region has made much headway in economic construction. In 1990, the total output value of agriculture and animal husbandry rose to 789 million yuan from 180 million yuan in 1952,and the per-capita income of farmers and herdsmen reached 430 yuan. Modern industry, started from scratch, now boasts, some 260 small and medium-sized enterprises in such fields as electric power, textile, timber, construction, food processing and mining. There has also been an impressive development of the national handicraft industry. By the end of this century, the total output value of industry and agriculture in Tibet will have reached 1.67 billion yuan from 1.24 billion yuan in 1990,and the per-capita income of farmers and herdsmen will have risen from 430 yuan to 800 yuan, marking a new stage in Tibet's economic development.

--The right to exercise independent management over education, culture, public health and to develop the Tibetan culture. Tibet has initially built up a multi-tiered national educational system and, thanks to the efforts made in this regard, the proportion of illiterates and semi-literates in the Tibetan population has dropped from more than 90 percent in the pre-liberation years to 44.43 percent at present. There has also been much progress in public health undertakings. Various fatal diseases threatening the lives of the Tibetan people in old Tibet have been brought under effective control. As a result, the average lifespan of the Tibetan people has risen from 35.5 years of age in the early 1950s to 65 years today. As a move to inherit and carry forward the fine tradition of the Tibetan culture, Tibet has published the Regulations on the Study, Use and Development of the Written Tibetan Language (for trial implementation) and the Provisional Regulations Concerning the Management Over Cultural Relics. Remarkable progress has also been made in Tibetan studies and compiling and preserving the traditional cultural heritage. A lot of attention is paid to traditional Tibetan medicine, and a large number of historical documents, ancient books and classic literary and artistic works have been published. The numerous Tibetan Buddhist temples and monasteries along with the cultural relics and historical sites, have been renovated. The religious belief and customs and habits of the Tibetan people thus receive their deserved respect and protection.

--The right to independently protect, exploit and use local natural resources in accordance with the state law. Tibet has abundant resources, with forest coverage of more than 6 million hectares. Thus far, some 70 kinds of mineral ores have been discovered in the autonomous region which also boasts enormous potential for the exploitation of water resources. In economic construction, the Tibet Autonomous Region pays much attention to the protection of resources. In addition to the publication of such regulations as the Regulations Concerning Forest Protection, the Regulations Concerning the Protection of Mineral Resources and the Regulations Concerning the Protection of Wildlife, Tibet set up the Autonomous Regional Committee for Environmental Protection. Various government departments have adopted corresponding measures to ensure the effective protection and rational utilization of Tibet's resources. Tibet has also set up the Mt. Qomolangma Nature Preserve, Wildlife Protection Area and five other nature preserves, covering a total of 5,000 square km. These ensure the effective protection of forests, vegetation and wildlife.

-The right to engage in foreign trade. The Law on National Regional Autonomy stipulates that localities practising autonomy may, in accordance with the state stipulations, carry out foreign trade activities. With the approval of the State Council, they may open foreign trade ports." At the Second Session of the Fourth People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region in July 1985, Tibetan government leaders issued a series of preferential policies on Tibet's foreign trade activities. In the last six years, together with experts from a number of foreign countries and international organizations, Tibetan experts surveyed geothermal energy resources on the Tibetan Plateau, the development and use of water and other resources, and the potential for processing livestock by-products. Tibet has accepted aid from the United Nations' World Food Programme for the Lhasa River development project. At the same time, Tibet opened the Zham Port abutting Nepal for the development of border trade. In order to promote the development of Tibet's foreign trade activities, the central government adopted special policies which specify lower rates than are used nationally for import and export duties, and allow the autonomous region to retain all of its export earnings.

The above autonomous rights form the core of Tibet's national regional autonomy and their implementation is an important embodiment of the Tibetan people's exercise of management power over state and local affairs. They ensure that the Tibetan people enjoy full equality.

(This article appears on page 20, No. 21, 1991)