Beijing using Chinese Buddhist group to replace Tibetan Buddhism: Report

The Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), the world’s largest Tibet advocacy group, on Wednesday released a report exposing the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) strategy of using a Chinese Buddhist group to remake Tibetan Buddhism in China’s image.

The report titled ‘China’s Buddhist Association plays a leading role in China’s efforts to control and forcibly reshape Tibetan Buddhism’ noted that since Chinese President Xi Jinping came to power, the Buddhist Association (BAC) has become a key tool in assimilating and transforming Tibetan Buddhism, especially in the search for and recognition of reincarnate lamas. The BAC has a special Tibetan Buddhism Work Committee, which oversees the implementation of the CCP’s directives in Tibetan monasteries.

The report documented changes to the BAC’s charter to conform to the CCP’s political agenda. According to the report, “In 2020, it was amended to include “the sinicization of Buddhism in China” as one of its objectives and to “support the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the socialist system, study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and adhere to the direction of the sinicization of Buddhism in China.”

According to the report, the BAC has adopted an extreme political tone, sparing no effort to advance the CCP’s agenda. The BAC is forced to form a party-oriented committee within the BAC, even when the BAC’s decisions are made by local religious leaders. It has been strengthening its institutional base in recent years, including five-year plans and shaping monastic training to meet political goals, the report said.

The report further states that the CCP has introduced measures, regulations and initiatives to control the recognition of centuries-old traditions related to the future reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.