China is not only the most populous country in the world, but also a multinational country
with 56 ethnic groups. Tibetans (4.6 million in 1990) ranked in number as the ninth largest
minority group. The Tibet question has attracted wide publicity in the Western media in
recent years. The Chinese government is frequently criticised for political oppression and
human rights violation in Tibet, particularly in three population-related areas: genocide,
forced birth control programmes and population transfer. Surprisingly, international
demographic circles show little interest in these controversies. This paper aims to
re-examine the myths and facts about the Tibetan population in China, in an attempt to
achieve a better understanding of the Tibet question as a whole.
This paper is organised roughly into four parts: introduction, including the de? nition
of Tibet, total Tibetan population in China, an examination of the `genocide’ myth, and a
review of family planning programmes and population transfer in Tibetan inhabited areas. Government data used in this paper come primarily from various publications of the 1990
National Census results. Information compiled by the Tibetan Government-in-Exile (TGIE),
is used as a comparison, in addition to some other Western sources. Analyses show that the `genocide’ myth is not supported by indirect estimates on Tibetan mortality, and the `forced birth control’ allegation lacks solid demographic
foundation. On the contrary, Tibetan population has experienced an unprecedented growth
since the early 1960s. Still dominant in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), Tibetans were
only slightly outnumbered by non-Tibetans in other Tibetan prefectures in neighbouring
provinces. However, the number of non-Tibetans transferring into ethnographic Tibet is on
the rise. Instead of explicit resettlement programmes, the migration  ow is triggered
primarily by structural transformation and the Government’s modernisation policy. It is
historic coincidence if the current policies run counter to the interest of Tibetan nationalists.
However, under no circumstances should one believe that time is running out for a
political solution of the Tibet question.