appropriately considered by the Committee if they were regarded as racially or ethnically discriminatory. The Chinese Government had always claimed that family planning policies did not apply to the minority nationalities, and in the case of Tibet, with the serious decline in its population, a policy of relaxation must be particularly beneficial. However, there were recent indications that such policies were to be altered to encourage minorities to join the national family planning programme. The question that arose was bow such policies were implemented at the local level and how well they were supervised by the Government, since he understood that certain family planning teams received monetary incentives to perform abortions and sterilizations. An eye-witness account in his possession, by two monks in Amdo, claimed that a family planning team operating near their monastery had sterilized all women of childbearing age in the village and performed abortions on all pregnant CERD/C/SR.869 page 15 women, including those who were nine months pregnant. The operations had been performed under threat or by force and those who had initially refused had been given no subsequent medical care. Such reports gave grounds for believing that the official policy was not being applied in a non-discriminatory fashion. An article in a journal published in 1989, China Population News, and written by Deng Bihai, and been brought to his attention. The language of the article, which concerned human reproduction, reflected outmoded concepts about the biological inferiority of minorities. If that journal had official status, there were grounds for believing that it constituted an infringement of article 4 (a) and (c) of the Convention. Referring, like Mr. Ferrero Costa, to paragraph 72 of the fourth periodic report concerning the causes and perpetrators of the riots in Lhasa, he said 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing issues related to population control, family planning, and human rights in Tibet, specifically the treatment of minority groups. The language used suggests a concern for the well-being and rights of individuals, particularly women, and the potential for discriminatory practices.

**Category**
Health, Humanitarian aid and relief