SAMDHONG RINPOCHE’S APPEAL TO MORGAN STANLEY
8 December, 2001:
Dear Mr. Purcell,
The Central Tibetan Administration is deeply concerned about your brokering of Chalco’s initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange on December 11, 2001. Chalco’s operations in Tibet will negatively impact the Tibetan ecosystem as well as the Tibetan people. We, therefore, urge Morgan Stanley to postpone the offering until the potential damage to Tibet and the Tibetan people has been closely examined, evaluated and conclusively found to be nonexistent.
The Central Tibetan Administration’s position with respect to development and investment in Tibet is clear: it supports projects that benefit the Tibetan people and opposes those that cause harm to them. We have put forward a set of Guidelines for International Development Projects and Sustainable Investment in Tibet to assist potential investors, corporations and donor agencies interested in working in Tibet to determine which projects should be encouraged and which ones should be discouraged and opposed. The main goal of the Guidelines is to foster sustainable development in the Tibetan Plateau that will enhance the ability of the Tibetan people to fully participate in the development of their land and to control their natural resources.
Thus, projects that empower Tibetans, improve their education, provide appropriate employment for Tibetans, protect the natural environment, promote Tibetan culture, national identity and language besides improving the living conditions of Tibetans can be useful. On the other hand, projects that facilitate the transfer of Chinese into Tibetan areas, employ sizeable numbers of Chinese, deplete natural resources in Tibet, transfer ownership of land to non-Tibetans, facilitate erosion of Tibetan culture and identity, and perpetrate the economic marginalization of Tibetans in Tibetan areas are clearly harmful and should be stopped. Clearly, under the present circumstances not all development projects in Tibet are in the best interest of Tibetans. Hence, we urge all foreign corporations and investors involved in economic development projects in Tibet to examine their activities carefully in light of these Guidelines. Projects that adversely effect Tibetan society and environment must be immediately stopped and redesigned or cancelled.
Our worries about your financial support for Chalco concern that company’s operations in Amdo, a province in eastern Tibet. Chalco’s primary aluminum smelting facility is the Qinghai Smelting Plant, located near Ziling (Chinese: Xining). The Central Tibetan Administration is foremost concerned that Chalco’s operations in Amdo will result in the following:
- Pollute the areas surrounding the Qinghai plant through emission of fluoride laden gases, which poison the vegetation and local animal herds (see below)
- Facilitate the transfer of Chinese settlers and workers to Tibetan areas and employ only a few Tibetans in unskilled labor positions
- Contribute to the need for more hydroelectric energy, possibly bringing about the construction of further dams that will cause riverbed erosion and the forceful resettlement of entire communities
- Transfer of the land on which the Haixing smelting facility is being built to Chinese state-owned land (see below).
Chalco’s preliminary prospectus discloses that the environmental review conducted by Worley Chemicals & Minerals Pty Ltd found that “airborne emission limits set by the Chinese regulatory authorities (…) have been exceeded at Qinghai.” (Pg. B17) The Central Tibetan Administration urges you to ensure that Chalco release the entire analysis and report compiled by Worley Chemicals & Minerals Pty Ltd to the public and to us, so that we may learn in greater detail what Chalco’s impact on Tibet’s environmental integrity will be. The summary report mentions that social impacts of Chalco’s facilities were reviewed (Pg. B17) and the results of this review should also be released and examined to ensure that Tibetans will not be harmed by Chalco’s operations in Tibet.
The prospectus also states that “The Haixing facility occupied collectively-owned land in respect of which application has been made to the relevant land administrative authorities for conversion of the land into state-owned land before it can be either granted to us or leased to us from such authorities” (Pg. 128).
The Central Tibetan Administration is concerned that the land will be transferred from Tibetan ownership to Chinese state-ownership, which would violate the Guidelines we have set forth for development projects.
Please know that Tibetans will actively oppose any project that furthers the destruction of the Tibetan environment and the disenfranchisement of the Tibetan people.
Sincerely,
Samdhong Rinpoche
Chairman of the Cabinet
Central Tibetan Admnistration