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China rewards 'patriotic' Tibetan monks

Critics see move as ploy to offset protests on anniversary of 1959 failed uprising against Beijing's rule
China rewards 'patriotic' Tibetan monks

Buddhist devotees participate in a special religious prayer attended by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Bodhgaya India in this Jan. 5 photo. Authorities in China are giving out awards to Tibetan monks who they deem are "patriotic." (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP)

Published: March 09, 2017 05:10 AM GMT
Updated: March 09, 2017 05:16 AM GMT

In a new campaign aimed at fostering Tibetan loyalty to Beijing, Chinese authorities in Qinghai began this week handing out awards to Tibetan monks and monasteries deemed to have cooperated with Communist Party rule, a source in the region says.

On March 6, a meeting in Malho (in Chinese, Huangnan) prefecture's Rebgong (Tongren) county brought together representatives from about 40 area monasteries belonging to different schools of Tibetan Buddhism,  a local source told Radio Free Asia's Tibetan Service.

"Officials from the United Front Works Department and the Religious Affairs Bureau distributed awards of about 10,000 yuan [about US$1,450] each to individual delegates, and also gave out awards worth several thousand yuan to the delegates' monasteries," the RFA source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"At the same time, they warned that monks who had recently traveled to India and Nepal would be [identified and] punished," the source said.

During the meeting, authorities recognized those receiving awards as monks and nuns loyal to China and the ruling Chinese Communist Party, the source said, adding that certificates of "unity and friendship" along with cash awards of from 10,000 to 20,000 yuan were handed out to the monasteries represented.

"Many feel that this is a Chinese ploy to pre-empt Tibetan protests on March 10," the anniversary of a failed 1959 national uprising against China's rule in Tibet, the source said.

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