Land to be confiscated from Tibetans as part of railway project construction

Land confiscation has been met with protests by Tibetans in the past. 

Tibetans could be forced off their land as part of a railway construction project running through eastern Tibet.

A notice issued by the CCP in Thunrin County, Rabgong in eastern Tibet stated that the confiscation of land for the construction of the Xining-Chengdu express railways would begin by 10 April 2020. 

It declared that the compensation for the land and farmland will be based on existing guidelines.The notice also warned that whoever indulges in activities, such as farming or any construction projects, in the notified area will not be compensated.

The inspection committee is expected to make an inspection and mark out the route for the construction of the proposed train route.

The proposed plan for the construction of the express railway's route will run through the several provinces, starting from Xining in Qinghai Province and running till Sichuan Province. This Xining-Chengdu railway will cover 836.5-km whilst linking the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan at a speed of 200 km per hour. 

According to the China Railway Construction Corporation, 17 new stations will be built for this project. This project will run through basins, plateaus, river valleys and mountainous areas, including four national nature reserves along the route.

Land confiscation has already been practiced by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) before in Tibet. There are often protests by Tibetans in response as such land confiscation directly threatens their homes and livelihoods. These peaceful protests have led to the arrests of several Tibetans over the years. 

This official notice posited that the construction was in the spirit of economic development. However, historically, Tibetans and Tibet’s natural environment have been affected negatively by such construction projects.

Infrastructure projects in Tibet, including dam-building projects, mining activities and railway construction, have often been accompanied by the forceful eviction of Tibetans from nomadic areas and they are forced to resettle with promises of compensation. Such promises of compensation have usually never been fulfilled.  
Due to the lack of legal knowledge, many Tibetans are not able to pursue this promised compensation and few are able to get it. Resettlement and new lifestyle has rendered many Tibetans jobless and disoriented.