UCA News
Contribute

China tightens controls on Tibetan Buddhism

It is the latest religion to be told to “sinicize” and become more compatible with the Party line
China tightens controls on Tibetan Buddhism

Two lamas walk in the Ganden Sumtsenling Monastery in Shangri-La, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of southwestern China's Yunnan Province on Jan. 5. (Photo by AFP)

Published: August 18, 2016 09:14 AM GMT
Updated: August 18, 2016 09:21 AM GMT

Top Chinese official, Yu Zhengsheng has asked religious leaders in Tibet to resist foreign influences on Buddhism marking even tougher restrictions on the autonomous region's freedom to worship.  

Yu is one of the seven-man ruling Politiburo Standing Committee and has purview over the United Front, which sets policy for the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) — the department that oversees religion in the officially atheist communist country.

He visited Galden Jampaling Monastery in Tibet on Aug. 13, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, where he urged the Buddhist religion to be safeguarded in the name of national and ethnic unity. Yu said that Tibetan Buddhism should also better adapt to a socialist society, echoing calls for religions to be "sinicized."

Wang Zuoan, the head of SARA, wrote in the Party's influential Study Times that religion should be sinicized in order to safeguard and protect national ideology.

Maya Wang, Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the government's call to sinicize Tibetan Buddhism is an euphemism.

"It's a warning to the leaders of these establishments that they must strictly follow the Party and to stamp out any dissenting voices who may question the Chinese government's policies in Tibet," she said.

The call for sinicization echoes similar language used by Chinese President Xi Jinping about Christianity and Islam following a summit on religion in May this year — a push for foreign religions to develop "Chinese characteristics."

Xi said at the conference, "We must resolutely guard against overseas infiltrations via religious means and prevent ideological infringement by extremists," according to state media.

The Chinese government is "stepping up its attempts to control religion by banning foreign influence," said William Nee, China Researcher at Amnesty International. It seeks to change doctrine to make religious practice "more compatible with Communist Party rule," Nee said.

In tandem, the Communist Party has been ramping up its internal propaganda against the West, with Yu's visit to Tibet marking one of the latest attacks against foreign influence.

Also this month, the government released a video calling human rights lawyers an American conspiracy, and another smearing foreign diplomats for their role in Chinese dissent.

"The government is increasing its domestic propaganda," Nee continued. "Pushing the notion that 'foreign hostile forces' are pushing for a 'color revolution' — a change in the regime [named after the purple and orange revolutions in then Czechoslovakia and the Ukraine respectively] — and that these nefarious forces are 'infiltrating' religion and aiding separatist movements."

Nee added that this was especially problematic in the Chinese heartlands, where ordinary governance problems are seen as heated political issues in areas populated by ethnic minorities.

Meanwhile, the government this month is pushing ahead with the destruction of Larung Gar in Sichuan, said to be the world's largest Tibetan Buddhist institute. Sources said the Party plans to redevelop the institute into a tourist complex and residents there, including Tibetans, are being forcibly evicted.

Wang said, "It is possible that Yu made the comment in order to reinforce the central government's message that it is taking a hard line on this issue — that it is treating religion as a matter of national security — in order to forestall any unrest related to the demolition."

Beijing insists that it peacefully liberated Tibet in 1951, when Mao Zedong's forces invaded the previously independent region. Self-immolation is a common form of protest there: since 2009, it's estimated that more than 140 Tibetans have self-immolated following cultural restrictions.

Help UCA News to be independent
Dear reader,
Lent is the season during which catechumens make their final preparations to be welcomed into the Church.
Each year during Lent, UCA News presents the stories of people who will join the Church in proclaiming that Jesus Christ is their Lord. The stories of how women and men who will be baptized came to believe in Christ are inspirations for all of us as we prepare to celebrate the Church's chief feast.
Help us with your donations to bring such stories of faith that make a difference in the Church and society.
A small contribution of US$5 will support us continue our mission…
William J. Grimm
Publisher
UCA News
Asian Bishops
Latest News
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia