E/CN.4/2002/24 page 25 (d) Housing: Tibetans are evicted from their houses to permit construction to accommodate other Chinese. Furthermore, other Chinese are given preference in regard to allocation of housing. Chinese from other parts of the country inhabit modern buildings, while Tibetans are allocated old and dirty buildings. Additionally, Tibetans wishing to relocate have difficulties obtaining residence permits. Arbitrary and unwarranted searches of Tibetan houses are a common practice of the Government; (e) Public representation: Although laws guarantee Tibet self-government, Tibetans’ governing power is very restricted and is subject to strict supervision and authorization by the central authority. 2. Response by the Government of the People’s Republic of China 59. The Chinese Government states that it has given thorough consideration to the questions raised in the Special Rapporteur’s communication and has provided the following reply: “1. China is an integrated multi-ethnic State. For many years, the Chinese Government has been implementing an ethnic policy whose key principles are the maintenance of unity and equality between the various nationalities, the establishment of national autonomy at the regional level and the promotion of prosperity for all. Article 4 of the Chinese Constitution clearly stipulates: ‘All the nationalities are equal: any discrimination or oppression vis-à-vis a particular nationality is prohibited’. The Chinese Government is currently adopting a broad range of policies and measures to ensure that equality of rights for all the nationalities in social and political life is effectively guaranteed and duly preserved so as to achieve equality and equilibrium between all the various peoples and to ensure their unity and harmony, together with a positive social climate based on friendship and mutual assistance. 2. Tibet is the region where the majority of Tibetans live; they make up 95 per cent of the total population of that part of the country. In conformity with the Chinese Constitution, the State applies to Tibet the system of regional national autonomy, comprising the establishment of a Tibetan Autonomous Region, and, in conformity with the law, guarantees to all ethnic groups in Tibet the exercise of their rights on an equal footing. Several decades ago, with the support and close concern of the central Government, the sustained efforts and cooperation of the whole population of the autonomous region and the devoted support of the other provinces of China, Tibet experienced great upheavals, after which the Tibetans became genuine masters in their own house and progressed along the path of prosperity. 3. All the country’s laws and institutions fully guarantee the political right of each ethnic group in Tibet to participate on an equal footing in the management of national and regional affairs and, in particular, the autonomous exercise by the Tibetans of their right to manage, on their own initiative, the affairs of their region and its population. In conformity with the provisions of the Chinese Constitution and the law on the autonomous regions, the regions enjoying national autonomy exercise, on an autonomous