"However, the Dalai Lama said 70 percent of the population in Tibet still live in absolute poverty. What he said is a negation of the great achievements made in Tibet in the past 50 years," said Bai Tao, deputy head of the Tibet Regional Office for Poverty Alleviation and Development, at a press briefing held Thursday in Lhasa, the regional capital.

The poverty line in Tibet is an annual income of 600 yuan for an individual Tibetan. On average, the annual per capita income in Tibet is 1,300 yuan.

"The poverty line varies in accordance with the economic growth and living habits of people in different countries. The criterion of developed western countries should not be applied systematically," Bai said.

Tibet is self-sufficient in grain, edible oils and meat. There have been no cases of death on account of hunger or cold in recent years. Even in poverty-stricken areas, the daily necessities are guaranteed, he added.

During the rein of the Dalai Lama half a century ago, 95 percent of Tibetans were slaves. All means of production in Tibet were in the hands of slave owners who made up only five percent of the region's total population. Over 85 percent of people lived in dire poverty. Beggars in Lhasa were countless.

By last year, relief funds provided by the central government and other Chinese provinces, which totaled 1.5 billion yuan, had been used to build 400 aid-the-poor projects. The number of people under the poverty line has been reduced from 480,000 in 1994 to the present 70,000.

At present, Tibetan people have enough to eat and clothing to wear, Bai said.

The official expressed his heartfelt thanks to the UN Development Program, the World Food Program, the UN Children's Fund and other international organizations which offered help to Tibet.

However, Tibet is still among the poorest regions in China as a result of its adverse environment and backward infrastructure. There is a lot of further improvement needed.

(People's Daily 05/18/2001)