China spends big to avert a crisis when the Dalai Lama dies

[dsnowlion]

WOW it is AMAZING reading how much China is spending on refurbishing Tibet!

Looks like China's preparation for when the Dalai Lama is no longer around has begun. The amount of money China is pouring in to preserve these historical sites in Tibet is a clear indication that the Dharma will be revived back into the world from China. Hence, it is wise to be friends with China now, and this is precisely what the Dalai Lama sees and is doing too. I hope he will be successful and will leave this world making the preservation of the Buddhadharma more secure.

China spends big to avert a crisis when the Dalai Lama dies


LHASA, Tibet — China is pouring billions of dollars into Tibet as Beijing seeks to cement its control before the succession struggle that is likely to follow the death of the Dalai Lama.

During a rare Chinese government-organized visit to the region, local officials described a development program that they contend will bring prosperity to the 3.3 million Tibetans who inhabit a vast area roughly double the size of Texas.

The massive infrastructure projects include new airports and highways that cut through the world's highest mountains, with planned investment totaling $97 billion.

The investment plan aims to protect Tibetan Buddhism's holy sites while building a sustainable "green economy" that safeguards the fragile environment that is an average elevation of 13,000 feet above sea level.

According to official figures, China has also already spent over $450 million renovating Tibet's major monasteries and other religious sites since the 1980s. An additional $290 million has been budgeted for the next five years.

The huge investment by China comes as the officially atheist country increasingly tries to enhance its image by casting itself as the largest nation of Buddhist believers. China claims some 300 million Buddhists of various schools, of which Tibetan Buddhism is one.

The effort comes as China faces charges from rights groups and exiles of repressing the Tibetan people. China has ruled Tibet with an iron fist since 1951, a year after its troops marched in.

Last month, Vice President Mike Pence said Tibet's people "have been brutally repressed by the Chinese government." And in June, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said conditions were "fast deteriorating" in Tibet.

Beijing routinely denies charges of repression, saying that its rule ended serfdom and brought prosperity to what was a backward region, and that it fully respects the rights of the Tibetan people.

It insists Tibet has historically been part of its territory since the mid-13th century. Many Tibetans, though, say the region has been effectively independent for most of its history.

While Beijing regards the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist who seeks to split off nearly a quarter of the land mass of the People's Republic of China, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Tibetan spiritual leader says he only seeks greater rights for Tibetans, including religious freedom and autonomy.

Reincarnation
For supporters of the Dalai Lama, China's Tibet strategy is "aimed at increasing its control and limiting the personal freedom of the Tibetan people," said Matteo Mecacci, a former lawmaker in Italy and president of the International Campaign for Tibet.

He called the infrastructure improvements and monastery renovations "superficial."

Mecacci said Tibetans are "not even allowed to receive teachings from the Dalai Lama."

He added, "When it comes to the real practice of Buddhism, China continues to increase restrictions."

With the Dalai Lama now 83, many Tibetans fear that China will use the succession issue to split Tibetan Buddhism, with a new Dalai Lama named by exiles and another by the government after his death.

(Barry Kerzin, an American monk and the Dalai Lama's personal physician, told NBC News that he is "perfectly fit.")

The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet and went into exile in India in 1959, has repeatedly tussled with China's ruling Communist Party over who has final authority on the issue of reincarnation.

Tibetan Buddhism holds that the soul of a senior lama is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death.

China says it must approve the next Dalai Lama, and the Dalai Lama has said his biggest concern is that China will try to name his successor.

In 1995, after the Dalai Lama named a boy in Tibet as the reincarnation of the previous Panchen Lama, the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, China put the boy under house arrest and installed another instead.

Many Tibetans are torn between accepting and spurning the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama.

Palaces and shrines
Explaining the seeming contradictions in China's policy, Tibet's foreign affairs deputy chief, Ma Qiang, said that while the Community Party "doesn't believe in religion," China's government was "duty-bound to protect Tibetan Buddhism and restore and preserve its holy sites because that is also what the Tibetan people want so they can exercise their freedom of worship."

The most iconic landmark to receive Chinese funding is the imposing Potala Palace, the thousand-room residence that overlooks Lhasa. It houses the tombs of all but one of the Dalai Lamas who have died since 1682.

According to the museum's deputy director, Gonga Zhaxi, the 13-story palace has undergone two major renovations on which Beijing spent $37 million. Another $4.4 million has been budgeted for the repair of its ornate golden roofs.

To protect its priceless Buddha statues, frescoes and scriptures, a limit has been set of 5,000 pilgrims and tourists per day, and cats have been deployed against the colony of rats, he said.

Other sites that have benefited from Chinese cash include:

- The seventh-century Jokhang Temple is Tibet's holiest shrine as it houses a life-sized statue of Buddha (Jowo Shakyamuni) at the age of 12. The labyrinth of chapels thick with the smoke of incense and prayer candles is visited daily by around 12,000 pilgrims and tourists. Buddha's statue was the gift of the Chinese Tang dynasty Princess Wencheng when she married Tibetan King Songtsan Gambo around 1,300 years ago. The union is now immortalized in a spectacular open-air opera with a cast of 800. A private production company has invested more than $80 million to promote this narrative of Tibet-China unity. Lhagba, a prominent monk and the site's management director, said Beijing has spent $14.7 million on major repairs there in the past 10 years.

- Beijing has also helped with major renovations at Drepung Monastery and Sera
Monastery, two of Tibet's most influential Buddhist academies, with grants of $30 million and $8 million. Thanks to government help, the monks can focus on their studies and need not bother with the monastery's repairs, according to Awang Ciren, the monastery's academic head. To increase its enrollment of 480 monks, Beijing is building a new dormitory that can accommodate 170 monks, he added.
In addition, 46,000 monks and nuns are now covered by health insurance and social security, officials said.

And with Beijing's "preferential" policy and massive budget subsidies, Tibet's economy has been growing faster than the rest of China.

Some $170 million was spent on environmental projects last year, part of a 23-year plan unveiled in 2009 that's worth $2 billion.

"In Tibet, we don't allow the burning of coal, and since 2011, we have stopped approving any new mining projects," said Luo Jie, Tibet's environmental protection chief, adding that more than one-third of Tibet's territory consisted of nature reserves. "We also don't tolerate river pollution."

Developing a "green economy" is the future of Tibet, according to economic planning official Jiang Taichang.

Tourism is also an industry that is drawing more focus. Last year, more than 25 million tourists and pilgrims visited Tibet, generating more than $5.5 billion or one-third of Tibet's income, and their number is expected to rise to 70 million in four years. (The vast majority of tourists are Chinese, as security has been ratcheted up significantly in the decade since anti-government protests spread through Tibetan areas in 2008 and Tibet remains mostly off-limits to foreigners.)

Lhasa's special economic zone, built with a $30 million investment from Beijing, is already fully leased out, with 200 enterprises producing a range of products from beer to medicines. A new technology zone and financial district are being planned.

Norbu Thondup, the Beijing-appointed executive vice chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet's administrative name, condemned the "sabotage" activities aimed at the "harmony and happiness in today's Tibet" by groups supporting the Dalai Lama.

He reiterated China's policy that the "gate is open" if the Dalai Lama abandons the idea of "splitting" Tibet from China.

"The decision is for the Dalai to make," Thondup said of him returning to his homeland. "The Tibetans and the Han Chinese are like lips and teeth, we are linked by blood."

But Mecacci, of the International Campaign for Tibet, said it was important for China to engage with the Dalai Lama.

"Only a serious dialogue while the Dalai Lama is alive can provide a lasting political solution in Tibet," he said. "Finding an agreement with the Tibetans would help China because it's the right thing to do, and because it will help China both domestically and internationally."

Eric Baculinao reported from Lhasa, and Jason Cumming from London.

http://www.euronews.com/2018/08/30/china-spends-big-tibet-avert-crisis-when-dalai-lama-dies-n904676

[Drolma]

As much as people are saying the Chinese government oppresses the Tibetan from practicing their religion and language, here we see the Chinese government is investing a lot in Tibet. China aims to close the gap between the rich and the poor and they want to reduce the number of people living in poverty. Hence, the big investment in Tibet.

To develop Tibet, China is preparing to invest $97 billion, the CTA will never be able to get so much fund for that. Besides, the CTA doesn't have the technology and the expertise to develop Tibet on such a big scale. If the CTA has so much money, the money will go into their pockets first.

For the benefit of the Tibetans, the Middle Way approach will be the best. China has the money and experience in managing a country. They are capable of bringing development and economy growth to the country, they have the track record. Whereas for the CTA, they are only good at siphoning the money, putting blames on a deity and begging money from the west.

[michaela]

By investing big in Tibet, China made a big statement that China will be there for the Tibetan for the long haul. The CTA has never cared so much to invest in the Tibetan welfare. For every little disaster like when the sweater market was caught on fire, or the harvest failed, the CTA appealed for donation and asked for more money to bail the very people that they are supposed to be responsible for.

[Alex]

China is definitely going full force with Tibet now. They did so many things that needed to be done but CTA has not been doing them. That is why the whole of Tibet is run down, backward and broken. A good example of how CTA runs a country can bee see from how they run the Tibetans settlements. The Tibetan settlements are almost the same as 60years ago. CTA had millions and millions of donation from the western country but nothing has been done to upgrade the lives of the Tibetans in India. In fact, many young Tibetans saw this and left India to fight for their own future since their government will not be helping them with that.

China is now doing everything and paying for everything in Tibet which should be done by the CTA long ago. Some of the work included repair monasteries, road leaving tourism places and much more. China is here to stay.

[michaela]

I think at the end of the day, China will gain credibility when their investment come to fruition and the Tibetans in Tibet become productive and contribute to their motherland. It will be China who will get the credit and not the CTA.

[dsnowlion]

To develop Tibet, China is preparing to invest $97 billion, the CTA will never be able to get so much fund for that. Besides, the CTA doesn't have the technology and the expertise to develop Tibet on such a big scale. If the CTA has so much money, the money will go into their pockets first.

For the benefit of the Tibetans, the Middle Way approach will be the best. China has the money and experience in managing a country. They are capable of bringing development and economy growth to the country, they have the track record. Whereas for the CTA, they are only good at siphoning the money, putting blames on a deity and begging money from the west.

Hahaha... I could not have said it better Drolma. You are spot on regarding the CTA's capabilities. A good question to always ask is How did Tibet lose its country in the first place? And if they say because it is China's invasion, then we can always ask... well how come did not manage to invade Bhutan which is so much smaller than Tibet, and Nepal too? How come these two countries did not get invaded and today have good ties with China? How come the leaders of these countries manage to hold it together? 

[pemachen]

 "When it comes to the real practice of Buddhism, China continues to increase restrictions."

Wow, what an insult to all the Chinese Buddhists, the Buddhist monasteries and monastics in the whole of China. That is not true at all. Nowadays there's WeChat and many of my friends tell me there is much religious freedom in Tibet. The government supports the studying and practicing of Buddhism, did they forget about allowing the Panchen Lama to hold Kalachakra empowerment for 100,000 people in Tibet? That number is about the total numbers of Tibetans in exile in the whole of India!

Call it political moves or anything you want, the reality is, China is not against religious freedom, they just don't want splittists or rebellious factions. It is easy to understand because China is such a huge country, and hence China is strict in controlling when it comes to matters that threaten national security. Comparatively, look at the Central Tibetan Administration, administering just around 100,000 people. As for China, Lhasa alone has population of about 279,074, not to mention other Tibetan areas. I do not support China or any country restricting its people, but look at the Central Tibetan Administration, they impose ban on Dorje Shugden and ostracise Shugden followers, I think that's worse, abusing their own people. 

[Pema8]

China does so much for the Tibetans and their quality of life has improved so much.
On the other hand, the CTA encourages self-immolation instead of stopping it.

I really hope that the Tibetans wake up and see that the Tibetans have so many more options now.
The country was lost anyway a long time ago...

[Alex]

When it comes to religious freedom restrictions, CTA is the one doing it way better than China. Look at what CTA did to the Dorje Shugden practitioners. What they are doing is worst than what China had done.

They imposed a ban on Dorje Shugden practice. They expelled peaceful monks from the monasteries just because they practice Dorje Shugden. They restricted basic human needs such as education and healthcare to Dorje Shugden practitioners. Need I say more?

Who are they to say China is restricting religious freedom while they are the one doing it shamelessly and called themselves a democratic country. At least China is able to preserve the dharma by repairing holy sites and fund the monasteries. CTA can't even do that even though they receive billions of donations from all over the world for 60years.

[Rowntree]

This is Chinese style PR in an attempt to 'reverse' the bad publicity China has had for over 50 years. We all know there is little to no effect because the truth remains. China is obnoxious in controlling information, suppressing different voice, no respect of freedom of expression. But the truth is, most countries do EXACTLY the same, it is nothing different in mankind history.

As long as there are greed and selfishness, whoever in power will exploit for their own benefits. But one thing for sure, we see China's willingness in investing in the growth of Tibet and many other areas to lift their people out of poverty. Regardless of their real intentions, at least much preservation works can be done and previous damage can be restored, so Buddhism can continue to flourish.

At the end of the day, we do need the help of the government for religion to be spread and Dorje Shugden to be brought to many more in the long run.

[SabS]

After the hype of China suppressing the Tibetans, there are so many truths/proofs of the Tibetan Leaders themselves suppressing their people on trumped up charges or illogical excuses. Look at how authentic Dorje Shugden protector practice had been ban on flimsy untrue excuses and blown out of proportion to suit  their greed. With so much of money generously being pumped into Tibet's wellbeing, I find that China is actually being farsighted in recognition of Tibet and the people as their citizens to be taken cared of. What country does not want their people to progress and gain good living standard. Now with the current comfortable living, Tibetans are no longer "fleeing" into the neighbouring countries like Nepal, India, etc. Instead many Tibetans In Exile seek to return to their homeland to enjoy the benefits of China's modernisation actions. China also actually practices religious freedom in allowing the Panchen Lama or other high lamas teach or give initiations in huge crowds. Restrictions? Of course there would be. Most country would have rules to keep the peace, won't they? So why is China the bad guy when all she wanted was to keep the peace of her people?