11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

Government created an increasingly repressive environment for the practice of Tibetan Buddhists ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 23313]

"Buddhists made up the largest body of organized religious believers. The traditional practice of Buddhism continued to expand among citizens in many parts of the country. However, the government created an increasingly repressive environment for the practice of Tibetan Buddhists. The intensity of religious repression against Tibetan Buddhists varied across regions. Two new sets of legal measures increased the legal basis for repression. On January 1, the TAR implemented the PRC Religious Affairs Management Regulations, which are more restrictive than the TAR's previous 1991 regulations. The new regulations assert state control over nearly all aspects of Tibetan Buddhism, from the management of monasteries to the movement of monks and nuns. On September 1, another set of new regulations went into effect, empowering the party and the government to approve all reincarnate lamas, the top leaders of Tibetan Buddhism. With the implementation of this new measure, the government attempted to control a vital feature of Tibetan Buddhism, the lineages of the reincarnated Buddhist teachers that span centuries (see Tibet Addendum). In Tibetan areas of Sichuan and Qinghai, a "religious education campaign" coerced Tibetans into denouncing the Dalai Lama and forced parents to withdraw their children from monasteries where they were receiving a Tibetan education and put them in regular Chinese elementary schools. Other government restrictions used to justify repression remained, particularly where the government interpreted Buddhist belief as supporting separatism, such as in some Tibetan areas and parts of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. Authorities continued to try to prevent Tibetans from leaving the country to obtain a religious education, under the guise of promoting stability by thwarting separatists. From June 29 to July 5, envoys of the Dalai Lama met with government officials, in the sixth round of dialogue between the two sides since 2002 (see Tibet Addendum)."

Document(s): Open document

06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Government restrictions on Buddhists remained, particularly in cases in which the government interpreted Buddhist belief as supporting separatism ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 19099]

"Buddhists made up the largest body of organized religious believers. The traditional practice of Buddhism continued to expand among citizens in many parts of the country. Tibetan Buddhists in some areas had growing freedom to practice their faith. However, government restrictions remained, particularly in cases in which the government interpreted Buddhist belief as supporting separatism, such as in some Tibetan areas and parts of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. In February emissaries of the Dalai Lama met with government officials, in the fifth round of dialogue between the two sides since 2002 (see Tibet Addendum)."

Document(s): Open document

20.09.2006 - Source: Congressional-Executive Commission on China

Repressive environment for Tibetan Buddhism ("Annual Report 2006") [ID 17384]

see report for further details - Chapter V(d)

"• Chinese government enforcement of Party policy on religion creates a repressive environment for the practice of Tibetan Buddhism. Party policies toward the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama, the second-ranking Tibetan spiritual leader, seek to control the fundamental religious convictions of Tibetan Buddhists. Government actions to implement Party policies caused further deterioration in some aspects of religious freedom for Tibetan Buddhists in the past year. Officials began a patriotic education campaign in Lhasa-area monasteries and nunneries in April 2005. Expressions of resentment by Tibetan monks and nuns against the continuing campaign resulted in detentions, expulsions, and an apparent suicide. Chinese officials continue to hold Gedun Choekyi Nyima, the boy the Dalai Lama recognized as the Panchen Lama in May 1995, in incommunicado custody along with his parents.

• Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns constituted 21 of the 24 known political detentions of Tibetans by Chinese authorities in 2005, compared to 8 of the 15 such known detentions in 2004, based on data available in the Commission’s Political Prisoner Database. None of the known detentions of monks and nuns in 2005 took place in Sichuan province, a shift from the previous three years, but known detentions of monks and nuns in Qinghai and Gansu provinces increased during the same period. Based on data available for 50 currently imprisoned Tibetan monks and nuns, their average sentence length is approximately nine years and six months. In one positive development, the government permitted the resumption of a centuries- old Tibetan Buddhist tradition of advanced study that leads to the highest level of scholarly attainment in the Gelug tradition."

Document(s): Open document

15.09.2006 - Source: US Department of State

Buddhists ("International Religious Freedom Report 2006") [ID 18168]

"The Government estimated that there are more than 100 million Buddhists, making Buddhism the organized religion with the largest body of followers. However, it was difficult to estimate accurately the number of Buddhists because they did not have congregational memberships and often did not participate in public ceremonies. The Government reported that there were 16,000 Buddhist temples and monasteries and more than 200,000 nuns and monks. Most believers, including most ethnic Han Buddhists, practiced Mahayana Buddhism. Most Tibetans and ethnic Mongolians practiced Tibetan Buddhism, a Mahayana adaptation. Some ethnic minorities in southwest Yunnan Province practiced Theravada Buddhism, the dominant tradition in neighboring Southeast Asia."

Document(s): Open document

11.10.2005 - Source: Congressional-Executive Commission on China

Situation of Tibetan Buddhists not improved ("Annual Report 2005") [#37506],  [ID 3987]

see report for further details

"The religious environment for Tibetan Buddhism has not improved in the past year. The Party demands that Tibetan Buddhists promote patriotism toward China and repudiate the Dalai Lama, the religion’s spiritual leader. The intensity of religious repression against Tibetans varies across regions, with officials in Sichuan province and the Tibet Autonomous Region currently implementing Party policy in a more aggressive manner than officials elsewhere. Sichuan authorities sometimes impute terrorist motives to Tibetan monks who travel to India without permission."

Document(s): Open document

04.2005 - Source: UK Home Office

Country Report April 2005 - Tibetan Buddhism ("Country Report - April 2005") [#31975],  [ID 3988]

"6.42 According to the Chinese government’s white paper on ethnic autonomy in Tibet, published in May 2004:

“At present, there are over 1,700 venues for Tibetan Buddhist activities, with some 46,000 resident monks and nuns; four mosques and about 3,000 Muslims; and one Catholic church and over 700 believers in the region. Religious activities of various kinds are held normally, with people’s religious needs fully satisfied and their freedom of religious belief fully respected.” [5ad] (p 3 of Section IV)

[...]

6.46 As reported by the Asian news site Muzi News on 19 August 2004, “China has not banned pictures of the Dalai Lama in Tibet, but the people of the Himalayan region themselves have chosen not to put them on display, a senior Chinese official said on Thursday.” [15ab]"

Document(s): Open document

03.08.2004 - Source: Human Rights Watch

“Singing Nun” one of 14 Tibetan woman imprisoned, released after nearly 15 years in jail/ despite the fact that she was released she has been under constant government supervision ("Tibet: Another ‘Singing Nun’ Home But Not Free") [#24463],  [ID 3989]

Document(s): Open document

10.2003 - Source: UK Home Office

Country Assessment - October 2003 - Buddhists ("Country Report - October 2003") [#49232],  [ID 3990]

"6.138. Buddhism along with Taoism and Confucianism is one the traditional “three religions” of ancient China. Historically there has been a great deal of cross-pollinated between the three and after 1949 widespread persecution by a Communist Party overtly atheist in its beliefs. [20k]

6.139. Buddhists adhere to the teachings of the Buddha; that to live is to suffer and suffering is caused by our desires. They search for enlightenment through meditation in order to break the cycle of desire, suffering and re-birth. [16ag.]

Numbers

6.140. Buddhism is practiced in many forms by an estimated 100 million people in China, with most Buddhists being ethnic Han. Han Buddhist leaders generally co-operate with the government while local officials enforce regulations on places of worship, particularly the illegally constructed temples and shrines. [2b][2c][6d] The PRC government estimates that there are 13,000 Buddhist temples and 200,000 nuns and monks in China. [2h][3ce]

6.141. Chinese officials claim that there are about 1,400 monasteries in Tibet. Tibetan Buddhism is closely associated with pro-independence activism. Non-political forms of worship are tolerated but since May 1996 there has been a "patriotic" campaign to "reeducate" dissident monks in lamaseries. The authorities see lamaseries as a drain on local resources and a conduit for political infiltration by the Tibetan exile community under the Dalai Lama, the highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism who has lived in exile in India since 1959. Monks and nuns have been among the thousands of Tibetans detained for advocating separatism since 1987. The government maintains management and operational control of the lamaseries and enforces limits on the numbers of monks. [2a][2d][6d][7f] The US State report on religious freedom (October 2002) [2h] has a separate assessment on the situation of Tibetan Buddhists."

Document(s): Open document

10.2003 - Source: UK Home Office

Country Assessment - October 2003 - Tian Dao ("Country Report - October 2003") [#49232],  [ID 3991]

"Tian Dao

6.142. This unofficial Buddhist group has been outlawed in PRC since the 1950s, with many followers being murdered at that time. Since then the main focus of Tian Dao activity has been in Taiwan and academic sources in Taiwan confirm that Taipei groups have links with the mainland. [3bi] Tian Dao is known by other names, the main alternative being Yiguandao. [3bh][3bi][3bj]

6.143. The basic beliefs incorporate many widespread Chinese folk beliefs (the Venerable Mother, use of Chinese lunar calendar) and adopted Buddhist features (the three treasures concept). [3bh] Before the 1950s, Tian Dao was strongest in Northern China, but has been practically eradicated. No information could be found by the Canadian IRB that Tian Dao was being practiced in Shenyang or Liaoning provinces (Northern China). [3bj]

6.144. There were no reports of recent persecutions until September 2000. When two key members were apparently sentenced on 18 July 2000. [3aa][4im] The number of adherents in PRC was held by the source to be about 200,000 and the group was stated as having been founded in Taiwan in 1988 and to of spread to PRC in 1992. [4im]"

Document(s): Open document

31.03.2003 - Source: US Department of State

Tibetan Buddhists ("Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2002") [#11836],  [ID 3992]

"Buddhists made up the largest body of organized religious believers. Tibetan Buddhists in some areas outside of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) had growing freedom to practice their faith. Diplomats have seen pictures of a number of Tibetan religious figures, including the Dalai Lama, openly displayed in parts of Sichuan, Qinghai, and Gansu Provinces. Likewise, abbots and monks in those predominantly Tibetan areas outside the TAR reported they had greater freedom to worship and conduct religious training than their coreligionists within the TAR. However, restrictions remained, especially at monasteries with close ties to foreign organizations. Some monks who studied abroad were prevented from returning to their home monasteries. [...]

During Tibetan New Year in February, a monk in Aba City in Sichuan Province was arrested for passing out pictures of the Dalai Lama, posting pro-democracy leaflets, and distributing information on China's human rights violations. The materials notably did not advocate Tibetan independence. Following the arrest, authorities tightened security and further restricted travel to the area. In October in Ganzi city, also in Sichuan Province, more than 10 persons were arrested in connection with foreign-sponsored long-life ceremonies for the Dalai Lama that had been held earlier in the year, and hundreds of PLA troops were stationed in the area. At least five of those arrested were sentenced to 2 to 3 years of reeducation-through-labor.

In 2001 the Government expelled thousands of Tibetan nuns, monks, and students from the Serthar Tibetan Buddhist Institute (also known as the Larung Gar Monastic encampment) located in the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province. The Government maintained that the facility, which housed the largest concentration of monks and nuns in the country, was reduced in size for sanitation and hygiene reasons. Authorities demolished hundreds of residential structures. Foreign observers believed that the authorities moved against the Institute because of its size and the influence of its charismatic founder, Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok. After a year's absence, during which time he underwent medical treatment, Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok was allowed to return to Serthar in July. Thousands of monks and nuns also returned."

Document(s): Open document

04.06.2002 - Source: Neue Zürcher Zeitung

Bedrohte Religionsausübung in China ("Bedrohte Religionsausübung in China") [#7420],  [ID 3994]

21.08.2001 - Source: Neue Zürcher Zeitung

Bericht über hartes Vorgehen gegen tibetische Geistliche ("Bericht über hartes Vorgehen gegen tibetische Geistliche") [#3676],  [ID 3995]

Document(s): j269.htm
Open document