More monks and nuns forced to take exams on Chinese law
Monasteries a will also be inspected as part of process of developing Tibetan Buddhism in "Chinese context".
More monks and nuns have been required to undergo legal examinations following orders from a range of Chinese authorities.
On 30 March, the United Front Work Department of Lhasa and the Bureau of Religious Affairs organised the ‘Seventh Five-Year Law Exam’ for monks and nuns in Gaden, Sera, Drepung, Jokhang and Tsurphu Monasteries in Lhasa, which is governed as part of the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).
The Justice Department of the TAR, the United Work Department of the Lhasa Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Religious Affairs Bureau have all contracted the monastic sites to conduct inspections.
The content of this legal test includes the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which took place in 2017, as well as Xi Jinping's new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the spirit of the Seventh Central Tibet Work Symposium and other Chinese laws and regulations related to religious work. Thousands of monks have been forced to participate in Chinese legal training followed by this legal test, which is being overseen with strict discipline of the examination room.
For years, Tibet Watch has been following the CCP’s attempts to impose tighter controls on the practice of Tibetan Buddhism, and ensuring display of loyalty to the People’s Republic of China, policies approved by Chinese Premier Xi Jinping himself, who stated in 2017 that, “Tibetan Buddhism should be guided in adapting to the socialist society and should be developed in the Chinese context".
This was followed up last August with the Seventh Central Tibet Work Symposium, a high-level meeting in Beijing, in which the CCP leader set out plans to intensify the sinicisation of Tibetan Buddhism and the patriotic ‘re-education’ of Tibetan citizens as part of its fight against ‘splittest forces’ in the country. Chinese President Xi Jinping presented the policy direction for Tibet at the meeting, which is held every five years and acts as an important guideline for party policy in the country.
Xi said there needed to be mass education to promote socialism with Chinese characteristics, which should include changes to school textbooks, and Buddhism should be adapted to the Chinese socialist system so patriotism is prioritised over religion. A campaign was launched in different parts of Tibet for Tibetan citizens to study Xi’s understanding of socialism with Chinese Characteristics alongside guidelines from the meeting. A series of legal training and examination sessions took place across Tibet in the following months.
