Jan 30, 2002

Tibet's "peaceful liberation"


A new monument to commemorate the 50th anniversary last year of the "peaceful liberation" of Tibet has been erected in the Potala Palace Square in Tibet's capital, Lhasa.
Photographs of the 37-metre high structure, which cost 14.6 million yuan (US$1.7 million) and is intended to be “an abstract representation of Mount Everest”.
The installation of the monument in such a prominent position in front of the Potala Palace, the former winter residence of the Dalai Lamas, indicates the importance to the authorities of conveying a message of celebration of Tibet's "peaceful liberation".
Two "exhibition halls" are to be constructed beside the monument, according to a plaque in Chinese in the Potala Square, which states that the halls will have "four simple box-style walls of reinforced concrete".