By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, JAN 31: Some sections of the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership have lately shown signs of nervousness about the ‘unchecked’ spread of Buddhism in China and additional concerns about the spread of the Dalai Lama’s influence in China, outside Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), reported Sunday Guardian Live.
“The 88 million-strong CCP has been sensitive to the growth of any other organization not controlled by the Party, viewing it as a potential threat to its monopoly on power,” Jayadeva Ranade, President of the Centre for China Analysis and Strategy, wrote in an article. Ranade, who is also a member of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) and a former Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, cited the growth of Buddhist population in China in the last 20 years from 5 percent to 18 percent of the population by 2015 amounting to over 300 million.
According to the article, Zhejiang Province’s Chapter of Buddhist Association of China (BAC) in November 2016 has issued a six-point directive calling for the prevention and restriction of the ‘illegal’ propagation of Tibetan Buddhism in the region. As per the instruction, monks practicing Tibetan Buddhism were not allowed to visit the region to give teachings of Tibetan Buddhist texts, conduct empowerment rituals or conduct any other ceremonies in the Buddhist centers, associations or universities without government’s approval. The official supervisory organ of Buddhism in China also mandated that Buddhist scholars travelling to the region for religious purpose must get permission from the concerned BAC units and register with the Zhejiang Civil Affairs Department.
China, before the recent 34th Kalachakra Initiation conducted by the Dalai Lama from Jan 2 to 14 recalled the Tibetans who had travelled to Bodh Gaya warning them of serious consequences if they failed to comply.
Beijing also restricted Tibetan and Chinese Buddhists from attending the teachings by not issuing visas since December 2016.
Reports also indicate that passports belonging to Tibetans who returned were torn at the port of entry.
