Editor's note: Zhu Weiqun, director of the Committee for Ethnic and Religious Affairs of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, led a delegation to the headquarters of the European Union in October. The following is based on an interview with Belgian, Swiss and Italian journalists:

Tibet has been of great significance to China, economically, strategically or in other aspects, and this is based on the precondition that Tibet is part of China's territory. Given that whether from a historical or from a de jure perspective the vast plateau region is China's territory and we will in no case allow its separation from the country. Our determination in opposing "Tibetan independence" is by no means based on what some Westerners have claimed is China's need for the resources in the region.

Tibet was a feudal serfdom for centuries before the launch of its democratic reforms in 1959. This meant Tibet would undoubtedly encounter huge difficulties in the process of modernization, especially renewed resistance from the former ruling clique. However, with the joint efforts of Tibetans and the people in the rest of the country, Tibet has managed to make fairly good achievements. The region's gross domestic product grew by 13 percent year-on-year in 2012, a two-digit growth for the 20th consecutive year. The disposable income of farmers and herdsmen in the region grew by 17 percent from a year earlier, a two-digit increase for the 10th consecutive year. Even the intentional acts of sabotage plotted by the Dalai Lama clique, including the self-immolation incidents they have instigated in recent years, have failed to interrupt Tibet's progress. We have full confidence in the region's future.

Tibet has also witnessed a year-on-year rise in the number of inbound tourists, with the number exceeding 11 million in 2012, of which tens of thousands were foreigners. Without a stable political and social situation, it would be impossible for Tibet to develop such a booming tourism sector.

The "high degree of autonomy" for Tibet trumpeted by the Dalai Lama clique is not the same as the regional autonomy system the Chinese central government has adopted for a variety of ethnic groups. What the Dalai Lama is really doing is using "self-autonomy" as a pretext to pursue Tibet's separation from China. China's Constitution and its Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy do not allow any separatist moves under the disguised pursuit of a "high degree of autonomy" and the Chinese central government will observe the law.

In an interview with an Indian magazine in 2011, Lobsang Sangay, who was elected as "chief minister" of the "Tibetan government in exile", argued that "Tibet's autonomy" and "Tibet's independence" are not mutually contradictory. "Independence" remains Tibet's principled goal while "autonomy" is only a realistic goal, he said. However, the kind of "autonomy" asked for by the Dalai Lama clique completely contravenes China's Constitution and the Law on Regional Ethic Autonomy, and it is also against the interests of the Chinese people of all ethnicities and thus absolutely unviable. The so-called high degree of autonomy in the mouth of the Dalai Lama is in essence a two-step pursuit of "Tibet's independence".