China has plundered Tibet’s natural resources and severely polluted the region’s environment, according to a report by the exiled Tibetan government based in India. The report, to be presented today to the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development, accuses China of uncontrolled deforestation, mining, and dumping of nuclear waste. Forty-six percent of Tibet’s forest cover has been lost to Chinese logging operations since 1950, when Chinese troops invaded the region, the report claims. It also blames Chinese troops for machine-gunning down herds of wild animals, using dynamite in rivers and lakes to catch fish, and dumping industrial waste into waterways. These pollution problems will affect regions beyond Tibet because Tibet is the source of many of Asia’s major rivers, the report notes.
