Tibetan Lawmaker Briefs European Counterparts on Tibet

Tibetan lawmaker Raidi on Friday briefed his European counterparts on the rights of Tibetan women and the disabled, plus tourism in Tibet.

Raidi, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Regional People's Congress, said the political rights of Tibetan women had been effectively safeguarded since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

As an example, in 2000, there were 24,000 women government officials and staff members in Tibet, accounting for 32.82 percent of the total workforce in the autonomous region, he said.

Raidi provoked intense debate in a meeting with the European parliamentary delegation for relations with China, headed by Elly Plooij-Van Gorsel, who arrived in Tibet on Tuesday for a six-day visit.

On caring for the disabled, Raidi said the regional government had been always concerned about their lives. A special taskforce had been set up recently to boost progress in welfare for the disabled, he said.

Italian EU politician Mario Mantovani put forward a proposal during the meeting that Tibet develop its tourism industry, which Raidi agreed with.

Currently, tourism was Tibet's core industry, he said. However,its great potential had not yet been fully tapped, and he pledged to make more effort in this direction.

The European politicians visited the Potala Palace during the day.

Delegation head Plooij-Van said they were impressed by the depth, diversity and richness of Tibetan culture.

(Xinhua News Agency July 13, 2002)