Separatist group's request ignores Lhasa's diversity: official
A Lhasa official said that Tibetan separatists' demand that the Tibetan language be used in a new KFC branch in the region is "ridiculous" and "merely sensationalizing the issue," as Lhasa is visited by many people from different regions and countries.
In a story titled "Separatist group demands Lhasa's KFC to use Tibetan exclusively?" tibet.cn, a website affiliated with the Chinese government, reported that the opening of the KFC branch faced many obstacles.
KFC opened its first branch in Lhasa, the capital of Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on Tuesday, making it the first major Western fast food chain to open a branch in the city.
London-based organization Free Tibet issued a statement on March 9 calling for KFC's parent company Yum Brands to "ensure Tibetans are hired, trained and promoted fairly and that the Tibetan language is used in its restaurant."
Several different ethnic groups live in the region, and it would be impossible for the staff and customers in the restaurant in Lhasa to only use Tibetan, Dradul, head of the Lhasa local government's publicity department, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Lhasa has attracted people from many different regions and countries, including people from the Hui, Han, Lhoba and many other ethnic groups, said Dradul, adding that the organization's request ignores Lhasa's present economic situation.
Such a request is merely sensationalizing the issue, the same approach taken by the Dalai Lama 10 years ago when he contacted KFC to ask the fast food chain to cancel the planned opening of a KFC branch in Tibet, Dradul said.
The Dalai Lama wrote to KFC's parent company Yum in 2004 that the "cruel treatment endured by chickens raised and killed for KFC 'violates Tibetan values,'" the AFP reported on Wednesday.
Yum cancelled the plan as it was "not yet economically feasible," said the AFP report.
Before the restaurant's opening, Lhasa residents would have had to travel one and a half hours by plane to get a bite of the famous fast food at the nearest KFC branch in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, Tibetan Daily Newspaper reported Wednesday.
KFC, which entered the Chinese market in 1987, now has more than 5,000 outlets in over 1,100 cities and towns in the Chinese mainland.
