Plans to demolish residences at a historic Buddhist monastery in Sichuan province is part of a broader trend by the Chinese government to control Tibetan Buddhism, says a director at Human Rights Watch.
The communist government's demolition order for Larung Gar Buddhist Academy corresponds with a major drive to impose stronger control over religion in the Tibetan prefectures of Sichuan province, wrote Sophie Richardson for the rights organization.
"In late May, a senior provincial official toured Tibetan areas giving speeches against 'illegal, extremist and infiltrative' religious activities, and calling on officials to strengthen 'ideological education' so that 'the monks and nuns will realize that there is no fundamental difference between loving the Communist Party of China and loving Buddhism'," Richardson wrote.
The demolition will cut the number of monks and nuns at the monastery to 5,000, about half of its current number.
According to Tibetan website Pahyul, Larung Gar became one of the world's most significant centers for the study of Tibetan Buddhism after the Cultural Revolution.