May 23 marked the 70th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet.

During the past 70 years, Tibet has progressed together with the other regions of China, from a closed and underdeveloped society that practiced serfdom to a socialist region.

Today, it has 116,600 km of highways, with most villages linked to them. The autonomous region is also connected with 130 domestic and international air routes.

The healthcare system in Tibet has improved remarkably. There are 5.54 medical workers and 4.88 hospital beds per 1,000 people. The population of Tibet has increased from 1.23 million in 1959 to 3.5 million in 2019, and average life expectancy reached a record high of 71.1 years in 2020, double the figure in 1951.

The education system has been modernized. Before the peaceful liberation, less than 2 percent of school-age children went to school and the illiteracy rate was as high as 95 percent. By the end of 2019, there were 842,000 students on campus, accounting for 25 percent of the region's permanent population.

The freedom of religious belief is well protected. There are over 1,700 sites where Tibetan Buddhism is practiced and more than 46,000 resident monks and nuns. Traditional religious activities are held normally and religious leaders take part in friendly international religious exchanges.

Tibet remains one of the regions with the best ecological environment in the world. Economic activities are required to be environmentally friendly and without exploiting natural resources. Last year, absolute poverty was eliminated in Tibet.

However, some anti-China external forces continue to ignore the progress and use Tibet to interfere in China's internal affairs. The so-called "Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020" of the United States is such an example. It distorts Tibet's social development, denigrates China's ethnic and religious policies, and interferes in the normal reincarnation procedure of the living Buddhas under the pretext of lobbying for human and religious rights.

Since ancient times, Tibet has been an integral part of China. Its peaceful liberation in 1951 marked an epoch-making turning point in its social development history.

China will never allow any malicious foreign intervention in the region's religious affairs or allow anyone to sabotage its stability and prosperity under any guise.