What good does Tibet do China?

[nancylebov]

If the BBC can be believed, the Chinese generally think they ought to have Tibet because it's really theirs, but how much good (financially or in resources or in any other way) does it do them?

Comments

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Isn't that what happens with all empires? Eventually they reach the point where the margins cost far more to defend than they are worth economically.

[malkingrey.livejournal.com]

At a guess, having Tibet provides them with control of the Himalayas and gives them a buffer against India.

[captain-button.livejournal.com]

That was my first thought, it gives them a lot of mountains to hold against a hypothetical Indian invasion.

The other one that occurs to me is maybe control of the water from the rivers starting there, but I don't know how significant that would be.

But mostly I suspect it is just because they can, which is how most countries seem to operate.

[matt-ruff.livejournal.com]

It allows them to maintain yeti superiority over the West.

[zenlizard]

Win

[redneckgaijin.livejournal.com]

http://www.tew.org/tibet2000/t2.ch6.minerals.html

For a start.

[olifhar.livejournal.com]

This isn't an answer to your question, but it's related to motives:

One of my roommates was the daughter of a Chinese government official (her father). She was completely unsympathetic to the idea of Tibetan independence. She talked about how the Chinese government provides economic aid to the area, and how her mother was heavily involved in getting private donors to help out, too. The picture she seemed to have was that the Tibetans are this poor minority who really need help, but are being derailed by separatists who are not representative of the larger population, and don't have the best interests of the region in mind.

It struck me as somewhat close of a Chinese version of "White Man's Burden" argument, but she wasn't budging I decided not to debate it further.

Even though she's a daughter of a government official, she said this as if it were some kind of common misconception among Westerners and outsiders in general. This makes me think that others in China have similar perspectives on the issue.