Tibetan Buddhist school demands students obey the Communist Party and oppose separatists

A Tibetan Buddhist school in southwestern China requires entering students to obey the ruling Chinese Communist Party and oppose “separatists,” according to an admissions notice issued on Thursday and obtained by Radio Free Asia.

The Tibetan Buddhist Institute in Sichuan province has enforced the CCP’s ideology and opposed those who advocate separating the Tibet Autonomous Region from the rest of China as conditions for admission to the school, which educates Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns.

“Although the institute claims that its goal is to provide an opportunity to study Tibetan Buddhism, in reality, the Chinese government is using such institutions as a tool to sinicize Tibetan Buddhism,” said Pema Gyal., to researcher for Tibet Watch, a London-based rights group.

“So from a human rights perspective, this is a violation of the basic rights to education and determination.”

China maintains tight control over Tibet, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and the peaceful expression of their cultural and religious identity as Buddhists. Tibetans frequently complain of discrimination and human rights abuses by the Chinese authorities and policies they say are aimed at erasing their national and cultural identity.

“These days, the Chinese communist government has started to implement these kinds of despotic guidelines not only in high schools, but also in middle and elementary schools,” Gyal said. “It is obvious that their intention is to forcefully sinicize the Tibetans.”

In addition, forcing Tibetan monks and nuns to follow and respect communist ideology goes against the customs of Buddhism and the law of causation that Buddhists follow, said Tibetan rights analyst Sangey Kyap, who lives in Spain.

“And whatever it is, these requirements are basically meant to force Tibetans to disrespect the Dalai Lama,” he said, referring to the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists who resides in Dharamsala, India, with members of the Tibetan government in exile.

The Sichuan Tibetan Buddhist Institute was founded in 1984, although it was initially located in the Tibetan town of Kardze and then moved to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, in 2017. It offers religious instruction, as well as instruction in the Chinese socialist tradition and the Chinese history.

Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.