The Great Opening of the West development strategy and its impact on the life and livelihood of Tibetan pastoralists: Sedentarisation of Tibetan pastoralists in Zeku County as a result of implementation of socioeconomic and environmental development projects in Qinghai Province, P.R. China Dissertation Zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades doctor philosophiae (Dr. phil.) eingereicht an der Philosophischen Fakultät III der Humboldt – Universität zu Berlin von Jarmila Ptackova, M.A. Präsident der Humboldt – Universität zu Berlin Prof. Dr. Jan-Hendrik Olbertz Dekanin der Philosophischen Fakultät III Prof. Dr. Julia von Blumenthal Gutachter: 1. Prof. Dr. Toni Huber 2. Prof. Dr. Hermann Kreutzmann Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 19.06.2013 Acknowledgements I would like to express my thanks to everyone who encouraged and supported me during the time of my research and during the writing period, especially my supervisors, Prof. Dr. Toni Huber and Prof. Dr. Hermann Kreutzmann. Further, I would like to thank my colleagues, especially Dr. Diana Lange and Dr. Mona Schrempf, who provided valuable comments and my friends Zhang Min and Amdo Ronggan, who helped me to solve difficult language questions while dealing with Chinese and Tibetan documents. I would like to thank all the pastoralists in my research area, my informants, my local assistants and friends, who enabled the realisation of this dissertation. I owe a special thank you to my family in Czech and in Germany for their patience and encouragement during the long doctoral period. 2 The Great Opening of the West development strategy and its impact on the life and livelihood of Tibetan pastoralists: Sedentarisation of Tibetan pastoralists in Zeku County as a result of implementation of socioeconomic and environmental development projects in Qinghai Province, P.R. China 3 Table of Contents Introduction … 8 1. The Chinese path towards development. Modernisation efforts at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century … 23 1.1. The Great Opening of the West development strategy … 24 1.1.1. The dimensions of the Great Opening of the West development strategy ... 27 1.1.2. The schedule of the Great Opening of the West development strategy … 30 1.1.2.1. Expansion of infrastructure … 31 1.1.2.2. Industrialisation and urbanisation … 32 1.1.2.3. Land, environment and natural resources … 33 1.1.2.4. Political stability … 34 1.2. ‘The Great Opening of the West means Great Development for Qinghai’ … 35 1.2.1. Development in urban areas … 37 1.2.2. Development efforts in pastoral areas … 40 2. The main policy aspects of the Great Opening of the West development strategy that directly influence the livelihoods of Tibetan pastoralists … 43 2.1. Socioeconomic improvement and political control … 43 2.2. Environmental protection … 46 2.2.1. Overgrazing - the reason for degradation of grassland ecosystem? … 48 3. The Three Rivers’ Headwaters National Nature Reserve … 53 3.1. The case study area of Zeku County, part of Sanjiangyuan … 57 4. The substance and composition of the development policy programmes resulting in sedentarisation of Tibetan pastoralists in the Sanjiangyuan area and in Qinghai Province … 59 4 4.1. Environmental protection and ecological construction in the Sanjiangyuan area … 60 4.2. The sedentarisation process in Tibetan pastoral areas … 63 4.3. The Ecological Resettlement Project … 67 4.3.1. Environmental benefits of the Ecological Resettlement Project ... 68 4.3.2. Selection process of Ecological Resettlement Project participants …69 4.3.3. Ecological Resettlement Project in Qinghai Province … 71 4.3.4. Governmental assistance at resettlement sites … 75 4.3.5. The Small Town project … 76 4.4. The Turning Pastureland into Grassland Project … 77 4.4.1. Livestock reduction and the Grazing Ban Resettlement … 80 4.4.2. Selection of Turning Pastureland into Grassland Project implementation areas … 83 4.4.3. Long-term environmental and socioeconomic benefits of Turning Pastureland into Grassland Project … 85 4.5. Nomadic Settlement Project … 87 4.5.1. The Nomadic Settlement Project in Qinghai Province … 89 4.5.2. Examples of Nomadic Settlement Project implementation in Sichuan Province … 91 4.5.3. On site in the Nomadic Settlement … 94 5. Zeku County – the case study area … 96 5.1. Administrative shifts over the rTse khog area in history and the establishment of Zeku County … 97 5.2. Pastoralism and population structure in Zeku County …101 5.2.1. Current pastoral patterns and grassland management in Zeku County …103 5.3. Urban areas of Zeku County …106 5 6. Implementation of resettlement and settlement projects in the case study area of Zeku County …115 6.1. The first wave of sedentarisation …116 6.1.1. The example of resettlement for pastoralists from rMa stod …121 6.2. The sedentarisation period from 2007 to 2009 ...124 6.2.1. Examples from selected resettlement sites …126 6.2.1.1. Resettlement sites for pastoralists from Zeku County in Tongren …126 6.2.1.2. Resettlement sites in Duofudun Township …132 6.2.1.3. Ecological Resettlement site in Zeku County town …142 6.2.1.4. Resettlement site in Ningxiu …145 6.2.1.5. Resettlement in Heri Township …148 6.2.1.6. Examples from resettlement in Henan County …151 6.3. Sedentarisation measures in Zeku County since 2009 ...153 7. Conclusion ...160 7.1. The Great Opening of the West and the Tibetan pastoralists …161 7.1.1. Sedentarisation as a measure for grassland protection and grassland exploitation …162 7.1.2. Sedentarisation as a measure to improve the socioeconomic situation of individual households …162 7.1.3. Sedentarisation as a measure of political control …163 7.2. Sedentarisation – a benefit for the pastoralists or for the government? …164 7.3. Sedentarisation – a temporary measure? …165 7.3.1. New income sources in the new urban villages …166 7.3.2. Facilities in the new urban villages …167 7.4. Summary and future prospects …169 Appendix 1 …172 Appendix 2 …174 6 Appendix 3 …176 References …182 7 Introduction While travelling through the grasslands of Qinghai Province, we are greeted by signs with propaganda slogans and countless construction sites, telling us of the huge development measures implemented by the Central Government all over the West of China. Currently, this development has also reached the living space of Tibetan pastoralists. But what exactly does this development mean, beyond the creation of new roads and buildings? How exactly is it going to affect the local population in terms of changes to their daily lives? What kind of benefits will the pastoralist households enjoy and what disadvantages will they have to face? There have been efforts from the side of the Chinese government to reform and develop the west of the country already since the 1950s. The Great Opening of the West development strategy, however, differs from the previously implemented development campaigns. Lin and Liu define the aim of earlier development measures as the prevention of wars with neighbouring countries and the establishment of an internal relationship between China’s West and East based on the exploitation of natural resources and their manufacturing, whereupon the current development strategy targets the widening socioeconomic gap between Eastern and Western China. 1 In general, we can say that the Great Opening of the West development strategy, launched by Jiang Zemin at the turn of the century, was designed to modernise and develop the western regions of China and also to secure inland political stability and move towards the better integration of China’s minorities into the Chinese society, as represented predominantly by the Han majority. The designated aim of this development strategy is to raise the living standards of China’s inhabitants in the western part of the land and narrow the income gap between the Chinese East and West. Looking at the Great Opening of the West from the point of view of Tibetan pastoralists, the impact of this development strategy cannot indeed be compared to any previous development measures. Since the 1950s, the state has been intervening in the lives of Tibetan pastoralists though the introduction of agricultural reforms, the establishment of people’s communes or the allocation of usage rights over grassland to 1 Lin, Liu 2011:5. 8 individual households. However, until the start of the 21st century, animal husbandry remained the main occupation and livelihood of Tibetan pastoralists. Even though some pastoralists accepted employment by the state, primarily in the administrative or cultural sectors, they remained linked with their close relatives who continued to live in the grasslands. Aiming to narrow the gap between China’s East and West, the Great Opening of the West development strategy tries not only to increase the income level of rural households and their standard of living, but also to unify the way of living of the whole of China’s population. Since the sedentary mode of life of the agricultural or urban population is understood to be a ‘developed’ way of living, the ‘backward’ way of life of Tibetan pastoralists should be abolished. Through implementation of various development projects involving, for example, socioeconomic or environmental motivations, the Great Opening of the West development strategy aims to change the living environment of Tibetan pastoralists. Their traditional livelihoods vanish and values change. The Tibetan pastoralists are faced with a huge challenge to adapt to the new urbanised and industrialised environment, and to find new occupations and sources of income. This circumstance makes the Great Opening of the West development strategy an extraordinary measure with regard to the society of Tibetan pastoralists. Therefore, a close analysis of the current policy agendas and their actual impact in rural areas of Western China is extremely important, as it will most probably lead to a change of the entire living and survival patterns of Tibetans pastoralists in the future.