China’s politburo member warns against ‘foreign’ influence on Tibetan Buddhism

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Mr Yu Zhengsheng, China’s Politburo Standing Committee member. (Photo courtesy: straitstimes.com)
Mr Yu Zhengsheng, China’s Politburo Standing Committee member. (Photo courtesy: straitstimes.com)

(TibetanReview.net, Aug15, 2016) – China’s Politburo Standing Committee member Mr Yu Zhengsheng has on Aug 12 called on religious figures in Tibet to resist the influence of foreign forces to ensure stability in the region, reported the country’s international party mouthpiece globaltimes.cn Aug 14. At the heart of this call is China’s ban on showing of any faith in or respect for Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, although Yu did not appear to have mentioned him by name.

Yu, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s top political advisory body, was in Qamdo (Tibetan: Chamdo), over Aug 12-13, visiting businesses, hospitals, and lamaseries, the report added.

Visiting the Galden Jampaling Monastery, popularly known as the Chamdo Monastery, Yu urged religious figures in Tibet to carry forward their patriotic traditions and guide their followers in the region to safeguard national and ethnic unity, the report said.

Yu has called for Buddhism to be adapted to socialist values being advanced by the atheist communist Chinese government. He has said government work should support “representative personages of Tibetan Buddhism to interpret religious doctrines in line with socialist core values, and help Tibetan Buddhism better adapt to socialist society.”

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