Recently, certain scholars of the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP) organized and released several reports regarding the eco-environmental protection in Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. These reports made unfounded accusations against China and maliciously smeared the country under the guise of focusing on the eco-environmental protection of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, thereby seriously misleading the public. We express strong dissatisfaction and firmly oppose such actions, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Sweden said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

According to the statement, the reports of ISDP contained multiple maps that incorrectly depict China's national borders, including the failure to incorporate Taiwan Province into China's territory, the incorrect delineation of the border of the Xizang Autonomous Region, the incorrect use of the so-called name of "Arunachal Pradesh," and the omission of the "nine-dash line" in the South China Sea.

The aforementioned errors constitute a serious violation of the one-China principle and severely undermine China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The certain scholars of ISDP should immediately correct these errors, reference and utilize the standard maps issued by the Chinese government in future academic research, and avoid committing similar mistakes, the spokesperson said.

Besides, the reports maliciously smeared the Chinese government's development strategy and environmental protection policy in the Xizang Autonomous Region by hyping up the notion that China is the world's largest carbon emitter, clamoring for revoking China's developing-country status, and imposing responsibilities that do not align with China's stage of development.

In fact, China's status as a developing country is well supported by facts and international law. This is recognized by international treaties, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and is also widely accepted by many other countries, the statement said.

The reports also falsely claimed that China's infrastructure development and mining activities in the Xizang Autonomous Region have caused ecological damage such as destruction of wetlands and pollution of waterways.

However, the spokesperson pointed out that all major projects in Xizang have been carried out in accordance with laws and regulations. Each project underwent environmental impact assessment procedures before implementation and extensively solicited opinions from all sectors of society, especially from local communities. Infrastructure development in areas such as water conservancy, electricity and transportation has significantly improved the development conditions in remote parts of Xizang, enhanced the quality of life of local residents, and promoted the harmony between humanity and nature.

In terms of unfounded comments on China's hydropower projects, the spokesperson said that China always acts with a high sense of responsibility in the development of cross-border rivers. Taking the hydropower project in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River as an example, the Chinese side has carried out comprehensive ecological conservation throughout the project's planning and construction phases, avoided the multiple environmentally sensitive areas, and preserved the original ecosystem to the greatest extent possible.

Additionally, the reports made groundless accusations regarding the human rights situation in Xizang, and fabricated fallacies that the military-civilian integration strategy suppresses the identity of Xizang citizens and displaces indigenous populations, which caused so-called "culture genocide" and "forced relocation" in Xizang.

In response, the spokesperson said that the Chinese government fully protects the basic rights of people of all ethnic groups in Xizang, and Xizang enjoys cultural prosperity and advancement. While advancing educational equity, the Chinese government attaches great importance to the inheritance and protection of ethnic minority languages in Xizang. By the end of 2024, there were 3,618 schools at various levels and of different types across Xizang, with the number of enrolled students accounting for more than 25 percent of the total population of Xizang. By the end of 2024, Xizang had published 46.85 million copies of 8,794 Tibetan-language books.

Thanks to a series of special favorable policies introduced by the Chinese central government, Xizang today enjoys political stability, ethnic solidarity, economic growth, social and religious harmony, and an eco-friendly environment, and the people there live a happy life, the spokesperson said.

We urge the certain scholars of ISDP to immediately rectify the errors and take concrete measures to eliminate their negative impact, the statement said.