The following is a letter from Ms. Meng Mian, Spokeswoman of the Chinese Embassy in the UK. The Economist published the letter on its website on 28 March.

"I am writing regarding the report ("The burden of empire", March 8) and Thubten Samdup's letter (Letters, March 22) in the Economist. I hope my letter will give the readers a comprehensive and objective idea about China.

As stated in China's constitution, all ethnic groups are equal. The state safeguards the lawful rights and interests of ethnic minorities. Discrimination against or oppression of any ethnic group, and acts which undermine ethnic unity or instigates division are prohibited. The state protects and develops ethnic culture. It assists ethnic minority areas in accelerating economic and cultural development in light of their special conditions and needs. Regional autonomy is practised in areas inhabited by large ethnic minority communities. These constitutional principles and articles must be and are being followed in China today.

Tibet is a good example. The past 20 years has seen double-digit GDP growth in Tibet and it has not come at the expense of the environment. When the world is coping with the problem of pollution, Tibet is still one of the places with the best natural environment on earth. And it will continue to be the case. Of the 3 million people in Tibet, 90% are Tibetans; the same is true to 80% of the civil servants in Tibet. Classes are taught in traditional Tibetan language in Tibetan primary and high schools. All students are speaking their mother tongue. There are 1,700 religious venues for Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet and one monastery for every 1,600 Tibetan people, a proportion that is much higher than that for church-goers in England. To claim that the Chinese government encourages massive immigration of Han people into ethnic minority areas and that it "discriminates" against and "suppresses" ethnic minorities and their cultures is a deliberate distortion of facts.

I want to point out that the self-immolation in Tibetan areas is plotted, instigated and caused by the Dalai group. Such crime of taking people's lives is in total contradiction of Buddhist teaching and tenets. The Economist's report mentions the violent terrorist attack in Kunming on March 1. This widely condemned brutal terrorist attack challenges human conscience and cannot be justified in any measure."

Meng Mian

Spokeswoman of the Chinese Embassy in the UK