China says it helped Tibet down feudalism

BEIJING, March 2 (UPI) -- China says it has developed Tibet's economy since 1959, improving people's lives by overthrowing its former feudal serfdom system.

In a white paper released Monday by the State Council Information Office to mark to mark the 50th anniversary of the region's "Democratic Reform," Chinese officials said despite interference from the West and support for the exiled Dalai Lama, China has succeeded since 1959 in abolishing the monks' feudal privileges in economic and political matters, Xinhua, the state-run Chinese news agency, reported.

The white paper said China had helped the Tibetan people by repealing the monasteries' "feudal occupation and exploitation" and "personal slavery," as well as feudal management and hierarchy inside the monasteries.

Meanwhile, Chinese control of Tibet has resulted in economic development, the white paper contended. Beijing's investments in Tibet over the past 50 years has resulted the region's gross domestic product soaring from $25 million in 1959 to $5.78 billion in 2008, officials said.

The white paper was released as Chinese security forces surrounded a Tibetan monastery in the southwestern province of Sichuan Monday after monks there held a demonstration against what they called Chinese repression, Radio Netherlands reported.

A British invasion helped subjugate the country, but Tibet declared its independence in 1912. A Chinese invasion but China invaded in 1950 and annexed it.