Lhasa, capital of Tibet, looked its festival best on May 22 as more than 4,000 people from all walks of life in the Tibet Autonomous Region gathered at Tibet Gymnasium to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet.

Tens of thousands of Tibetans, clad in their holiday best, stood on both sides of the road leading to where a central delegation was staying, dancing and waving flowers to greet guests from Beijing and other parts of the country.

Among the celebrants were Li Tieying, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and head of the central delegation which arrived earlier to mark the occasion, and Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).

A joint message of congratulations from the CPC Central Committee, the NPC Standing Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission was read at the celebration meeting.

Addressing the meeting, Li conveyed the greetings and best wishes of the Party and central government to people of all nationalities and from all walks of life in Tibet, to the People's Liberation Army troops and armed policemen stationed in the region, and to the people who came to help in the construction of Tibet.

He said that the peaceful liberation is a turning point in the history of Tibet under new historical conditions.

He said that the course of events over the past four decades since the peaceful liberation has testified to the indisputable truth: without the Communist Party of China, there would not have been a new socialist Tibet.

Tremendous changes have taken place in Tibet in the intervening years. Agriculture, animal husbandry and industry have developed rapidly and the people's living standards saw marked improvement.

According to Li, the central government allocated more than 17.77 billion yuan to Tibet between 1952 and 1990. Li pledged that the central government will continue to provide Tibet with all necessary support so as to enable the local people to speed up economic construction and cultural development.

The state will not change any of the policies which have proved beneficial to the economic growth and improvement of people's life in Tibet, he said.

To ensure smooth development in the region, Li said, an importance task is to improve the regional national autonomy system and carry out in an all round way the Party's policy on religious affairs.

Further efforts should be made to improve the democratic administration of the various religious establishments such as monasteries and temples, he said. The administration of the monasteries should be improved to ensure all religious activities to be carried out within the scope of the Constitution and state laws.

Li hoped that a united, prosperous and civilized new Tibet would emerge on the "Roof of the World" in the near future.

Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, who was the chief delegate of the local government of Tibet when a 17-article agreement on the peaceful liberation of Tibet was signed in Beijing 40 years ago, said that the event promoted the unity of China's mainland and that of all nationalities to a new historical level, and paved the way for the Tibetans' own progress.

He said that the socialist system has become deep-rooted on the Tibetan plateau and the old Tibet, which was poor and backward, has been replaced by a new socialist Tibet enjoying the initial taste of prosperity.

He said that the unity of the motherland and of the various nationalities is the basic guarantee of the development and prosperity of Tibet.

He emphasized that only by upholding the Party's leadership and embarking on the socialist road can Tibet have bright future.

Raidi, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region, said that over the past four decades, the Tibetan people have made great achievements and laid a solid foundation for future development.

He said that looking ahead to the future, the Tibetans are confident of the great cause of building a united, prosperous new Tibet with a high level of socialist culture and ethics.

(This article appears on page 5, No. 22, 1991)