(TibetanReview.net, Nov30, 2017) – China has begun training Tibetan monks and nuns to integrate Buddhism with Chinese culture in keeping with the requirements outlined by the 19th five-yearly national congress of the Communist Party of China held in Beijing Oct 18-24, reported timesofindia.com Nov 29, citing China’s state media which had quoted government sources. The congress was also stated to have urged efforts to “combat the Dalai Lama clique’s separatist activities”.
The report said the campaign followed a call by Chinese President and party general secretary Xi Jinping to “provide active guidance to religions so that they can adapt themselves to socialist society”.
The report said that some of the month-long study camps were held in October by the local governments of Qinghai province and neighbouring Sichuan province, which have significant Tibetan-speaking populations, the report said, citing a delayed Xinhua report.
Xinhua was also stated to have reported earlier that leaders of five religious communities — Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism — had reached a consensus that “the direction of religions is to integrate them with Chinese culture”.
“It is vital for religious people to understand and follow the CPC’s policies, especially as the Dalai Lama clique attempts to permeate Tibetan Buddhism with separatism,” the report quoted a leader surnamed Zhu (apparently referring Zhu Weiqun, a leader responsible for religious and minority affairs in the Central Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference) as saying.
Zhu was also reported to have criticized “some foreign media or forces” for making “irresponsible statements about our religious policies” with “little knowledge of China’s situation
