Study sessions held to promote patriotism

The study sessions were held to promote loyalty to China among the leaders of religious institutions.

On 13 - 14 July, study sessions were held by Chinese authorities for the leaders of religious institutions in Dzoge County in eastern Tibet. 

This event was attended by 80 leaders from various departments, monastic management committees across county and province. 

The study sessions were organised in order to promote the policies and laws related to religion in Tibet. Officials claim they wanted to enhance the administration and effectiveness of such religious policies in the region. 

This study session deliberated on:

1) the practice of patriotic re-education in the view of promoting national reunification, ethnic unity and integrating Buddhism into the fold of China’s “socialist society”,

2) administration of religious activities according to the laws and promoting the study of the policies on the religion,

3) religious activities promoting patriotism and guiding people in the right direction, 

4) the eradication of poverty through poverty alleviation programmes, in order to ameliorate the gap between people and administration, according to official reports.

The CCP have been actively advancing the state effort to promote official policies in regards to religion in recent years, particularly in the last few months. Alongside this, they have been strictly controlling the flow of information to the outside world. The CCP’s aim has been to counter Tibetan nationalism - which is tightly interwoven with Tibetan Buddhism -, and instead promote loyalty to the Chinese state.