Interview: Tibetan changes impressive: senior Swiss journalist

When the senior writer of Swiss newspaper Le Temps returned to Tibet again last year for a visit as a journalist invited by local authorities through the Chinese embassy in Berne, Frederic Koller was surprised to see that Lhasa had been transformed quite incredibly.

"The modernisation was impressive," Koller told Xinhua, while recalling the development of amenities such as water and electricity as well as roads and railways, especially compared to his last visit to the region 20 odd years ago.

His first visit to the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) was in the late 1990s. For the last few weeks, Lhasa's airport which Koller once landed has been particularly busy as Tibet celebrates its 50 years of being an autonomous region in this September.

Materialistic changes aside, Koller also had the chance to engage with some of the local residents, something he appreciated both on a professional and personal level.

"Together with the mountains, it's true what everybody says, you feel like you are touching the sky, the strength of nature and of course of the people who are very direct and happy-looking is incredible," he said.

The Swiss journalist also mentioned the culture, rooted in a religion which is omnipresent.

Renowned for its unique culture, Koller explained that an environment which is guided by religion to such an extent is exceptional, an appreciation which has not only romanticised Western perceptions of the Tibetan plateau, but also catalysed interest from within China itself.

This particular aspect was of a special interest to Koller, who believed that "what has changed the most over the last twenty years is not the attitude of Tibetans but that of the people from other parts of China."

"During my trip last autumn, the main impression I got was of all these young Chinese coming to Lhasa, as if on a pilgrimage despite not being religious but interested, like many Europeans were in the sixties with India, in looking for another culture and some form of lost wisdom," he explained.

According to Koller, who was based a number of years in Beijing, Tibet become fashionable in the late 1990s, as many aspects of Tibetan culture such as its food and religion introduced the Chinese capital to a way of life which had remained largely unknown until then.

The fact that "more and more good news is coming from China, which was the economic engine of the world at one stage" has altered Western perceptions of the region, particularly in light of current concerns with migration, Ukraine and the Arab world.

"Tibet is less a problem as more people think it is part of China while fewer people are talking about Tibet," noted Koller, who saw China more as a stabilising power.

He nevertheless highlighted the long-standing relationship between Switzerland, which hosts a large number of Tibetans, and their distant homeland.

"When I told Tibetans that I'm Swiss, many would tell me who they knew Switzerland through contact with relatives. This helped create a link and confidence between us," he concluded. Endit