Under Chinese occupation, Tibetans' right to the control of their land and resources are violated. InterContinental Hotels Group's presence in Lhasa further entrenches China's occupation.

- Projects like InterContinental Resort Lhasa are only feasible through connections to the Chinese Communist Party.

The entrepreneur driving this project, Deng Hong, owner of Chengdu based Exhibition & Travel Group (ETG), told the Washington Post that he achieves everything through his connections to government officials. “My business depends on the government”.

For the joint Jiuzhai Paradise International Resort and Convention Centre in Ngaba Autonomous Prefecture, eastern Tibet, he hired retired government officials and had to rely on government ties to win approval of the site, 100 square miles of land next to one of the last remaining wilderness areas.

- The sheer scale of the InterContinental Hotel resort in Lhasa – 2,000 rooms – means occupancy rates will be dependent upon connections to the Chinese Communist Party which can direct conferences, work groups and official meetings to venues it prefers.

- According to independent academic Professor Andrew Fischer, growth in Tibet is “ethnically exclusionary”.

- In the Tibetan Autonomous Region, a massive injection of Chinese government subsidies of over 310 billion Yuan (approximately £30 billion) has funded building and infrastructure programmes, doubling the economy in the first half of the decade.

Despite Chinese government claims, this money has not in fact benefitted the Tibetan people. Contracts are mostly awarded to Chinese state-owned companies so that the income generated from projects in Tibet goes straight back into Chinese companies and Chinese pockets. The money goes into Tibet, but the money then goes straight back out before it can touch Tibetan lives.

Contracts are used as a means of rewarding those close to the Chinese regime, giving them good reason not to criticise the regime as they continue to gain financially from the system.

- In interviews with Tibetans in Lhasa, some have expressed their concern that middle and higher positions will only be offered to those who show allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party.

- Others have expressed concern that the hotel developments are acting as an incentive for Chinese graduates to move to Tibet – a serious concern given that young Tibetans cannot compete for jobs on an equal footing.