c. 2004 Religion News Service
WASHINGTON _ The Chinese government is waging an organized war on Buddhism in Tibet, says a U.S.-based Tibetan interest group.
A report released earlier this month by the nonprofit International Campaign for Tibet contains translated documents the group said prove Chinese policy is aimed at undermining the free practice of Buddhism, a central cultural underpinning of the mountainous region controlled since 1959 by China.
China sharply disputes the report’s contention.
John Ackerly, president of the pro-Tibet group, said the report, “When the Sky Fell to Earth,” shows Chinese laws that pertain to religion primarily are concerned with restraining the activities of monks, nuns and monasteries.
The four Communist Party manuals that appear in the report were translated into English from either Tibetan or Chinese. They explain rules for monks and nuns, and advocate for atheism and party doctrine on religion.
The report also details the destruction of monasteries and the work of Democratic Management Committees, government-controlled groups of monks that regulate funding of each monastery, decide which monks can live there, and monitor activity to make sure it conforms to party doctrine.
“They’re laying down long-term regulations that show that they intend to really keep a lid on the growth of religion and strengthen their control over it,” Ackerly said.
A spokesman in the Chinese embassy, Sun Weide, called the report’s charges groundless. He said the 46,000 monks and nuns and more than 1,700 Buddhist sites in Tibet are evidence China permits religious freedom.
“I don’t think there’s any credibility for that kind of report, because everybody in Tibet is free to practice their religion,” Sun said. “The freedom of religion is protected by the Chinese constitution.”
But according to a translation of rules for monks and nuns issued by the municipal government in Lhasa and included in the report, “implanting religious ideas in the heads of minors younger than 16 must be stringently prevented.”
This point is especially important to Buddhists, Ackerly said, because the earlier a monk begins his education, the more knowledge is passed down from generation to generation.
Another included item, a translated Communist Party document from 2002, said Tibetans could not legally begin religious education before they turn 18.
“There’s no way for a Tibetan to really start a religious education at 18 and achieve the higher level of religious training,” Ackerly said.
Melvyn Goldstein, director of the Center for Research on Tibet at Case Western University in Cleveland, said the Chinese government always has regulated organized religion because Beijing views it as the chief threat to its authority.
“But it’s not as if Buddhism is dead. Buddhism is alive and well in the minds of people and in their practices,” said Goldstein, who has visited Tibetan villages while researching books on the region.
“What they are saying is that institutions have to follow the rules. We don’t like the rules in America because they don’t fit our definition of religious freedom,” Goldstein said, though he noted that every country places some restrictions on religious practices, including the United States.
Tibetans are free to practice their religion so long as they do not violate the law. But some of the laws, like age restrictions on religious education, could over time contribute to the deterioration of Tibetan religious knowledge, Goldstein said.
The report also touches on Beijing’s attempt to determine the reincarnation of important Buddhist figures.
The Dalai Lama traditionally must recognize the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, but because the Dalai Lama lives in exile, the Chinese government assumed control of the selection process. The government arrested the boy recognized by the Dalai Lama, and inserted its own choice for Panchen Lama.
DEA/PH END KING
