LHASA - Officials of Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region are all "risking their lives" to work for extended periods of time in its harsh environment - a lack of oxygen due to high altitude - so all of them deserve great respect, said Tibet Party chief Zhang Qingli.

"Many officials developed plateau sickness after they came to work here from plain areas, but they've never complained. They're prepared to give up several years of their lives for Tibet's development," Zhang said in a recent interview.

The oxygen content of air in Tibet, which has an average altitude of 4,000 meters, is only 62 percent of that in coastal regions. It has caused many officials to die at younger ages, he added.