Government and Policy

Official says Tibet has nothing to hide

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-07 15:53

BEIJING - Tibet has nothing to hide, and will allow foreigners to visit the region more easily in the future, Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the Standing Committee of Tibet Autonomous Regional People's Congress, said on Sunday.

He made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.

"As always, we welcome tourists, journalists and government officials to visit Tibet and take a look there to better understand the region's current situation," he said, quoting a Chinese saying that "seeing is believing."

Commenting on Tibet's regulations on foreigners' access to the region, Qiangba Puncog said Tibet is "a very special place" due to its "high altitude, its inconvenient traffic" in addition to other limited conditions.

The current regulations could help the journalists better understand China's policies for Tibet, and better protect their personal safety, he said, citing a traffic accident which killed 26 people and injured nine in Tibet on Saturday.

Tibet to improve infrastructure for tourist boom

Tibet will improve its infrastructure and public services to cater to the tourist boom, said Padma Choling, chairman of the Tibet autonomous regional government said. "Tibet received 5.61 million tourists last year, compared with 2.2 million in 2008."

"We are glad to see more tourists are coming ,which is an impetus for the development of Tibet," said the official.

The local government will step up efforts to improve public services and tourist environment, as well as the protection of culture relics and natural environment, to cope with the changes brought by the tourist boom, he said.