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Photo: Global Times
The Chinese government is “training” Buddhist monks and nuns “to strengthen their political beliefs” the official news site Global Times reported on June 4.
The article said that these “facilitators” were chosen based on the “firmness of their political stance and competence,” and are expected to be ““reliable in politics and take a clear-cut and firm stance” and continued, saying that facilitators are also required “to be profound in religious knowledge, be convincing in morality and play an active role at critical moments.” They are to “spread knowledge and policy to the public.”
The Chinese news site the Tibet Daily stated,”Tibet is the key to national security and the frontline of the anti-secession struggle,”.
The Global Times article quoted Xiong Kunxin, a professor at Beijing’s Minzu University of China as saying,”Buddhist temples play a key role in Tibet’s stability. The facilitators spread the latest religious and political policies and spirit from the central government to monks and nuns, leading them to advocate socialist development with Chinese characteristics”. He continued, “Having the Buddhist facilitators preach policies to monks and nuns is more effective than through a third-party lecture or directly from the central government” and added that as religious personnel, Buddhist facilitators have a better understanding of the thoughts and habits of their own group.
In reporting this development, the Washington Post stated that the “Chinese authorities are ramping up political indoctrination among Tibetan Buddhist clergy and officials in charge of religious affairs as part of a campaign to strengthen the ruling Communist Party’s grip on religion.” The journal continued, “Such indoctrination, along with compulsory political study in monasteries, aims to reduce the appeal of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, as well as build loyalty to the officially atheistic party.”
The Washington Post points out other religious groups that have also come under pressure with Christian churches destroyed and hundreds of thousands of Muslims held in re-education centres.
The exile Tibetan news site Phayul commented on, “the larger designs of the Chinese government to officially make the monastic community a channel to propagate its political influence in Tibet”.
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