The chief of a Nepalese organization on cultural exchange has said he is a witness to the rapid development in Tibet and felt the Chinese government has made concerted efforts to protect Tibet an culture.  (Photos inside: Traditional Tibetan culture well preserved and developed)

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Dipak Sarkar, president of the World Cultural Net and China Information Center, recalled his first visit to Lhasa, capital city of China's Tibet Autonomous Region, in 1986, when he spent two and a half days on an overland trip of less than 1,000 km.

The road and service facilities from Xigaze to Lhasa were not quite satisfactory, Sarkar said.

After the visit, he wrote a book that included many black-and-white pictures depicting Tibet of the time.

Sarkar said he has witnessed great changes in Tibet as he has visited the region every two or three years since then.

In 1998, he was astonished by the changes that had taken place in Tibet , with people dressed in colorful clothes and wearing happy smiles.

The present situation is vastly different from the past as a railway has now been opened to traffic in Tibet , Sarkar said.

Sarkar, a professional engaged in cultural exchange for nearly 30 years, said he is deeply moved by the support and assistance offered to Tibet an culture by China's central and local governments.

Tibet has a profound cultural tradition with unique styles in painting, sculpture and other art forms, he said.

The Chinese government has invested heavily in inheriting and developing the regional culture with its own national characteristics, Sarkar said, adding that various books on Tibet an Buddhism are being continuously updated and republished.

Facts prove the Chinese government has attached great importance to the protection of religious culture and freedom and pays due respect to the customs of ethnic minorities, he said.

Sarkar believes that the Lhasa riots on March 14 were staged by a handful of people instigated by overseas secessionist forces and went against the will of most Tibet ans.

The riots were an illegal act aimed at sabotaging China's peaceful unification, he said, adding that anybody with a sense of justice could not tolerate such brutality in which innocent people were killed by mobsters. Sarkar said Tibet is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory, which is a fact no one can deny.

In recent years, the World Cultural Net and China Information Center has held art, photo or book exhibitions on China almost every year.

Sarkar said many Nepalese have expressed the hope that the cultural group will hold art exhibitions of various forms on Tibet .

The Nepalese people have great solicitude for China's Tibet Autonomous Region and hope that the sacred land will maintain auspicious and peaceful for ever, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2008)