Thai Princess Visits TibetBasang, vice-chairwoman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice-chairwoman of the All- China Women's Federation, met visiting Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in this capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region Saturday.Basang introduced to the Princess the great economic and social changes achieved in Tibet under the leadership of the Communist Party of China over the past 50 years since the region's peaceful liberation, especially the changes in the social status of Tibetan women. She said that under the feudal serf system in old Tibet, women were on the lowest rung of the social ladder, and were forbidden to participate in government and political affairs. As a result, the local government of old Tibet did not have a single female official, even aristocratic women did not have that right either. Basang said that the peaceful liberation of Tibet, especially the democratic reform in 1959, opened a new page in Tibetan history. Now the law stipulates that men and women are equal. At present, women account for 34.33 percent of the total number of officials in the region. Princess Sirindhorn arrived in Tibet Friday for a one-week visit. She was warmly welcomed by the local people at the airport and at the hotel where she is staying. The princess also visited the Potala Palace and other historical and cultural sites in Lhasa today. She will leave Lhasa Sunday for Xigaze and some other places to continue her visit in Tibet. |
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