It is important to promote the “sinicization” of Tibetan Buddhism and build an “impregnable fortress” to maintain stability in Tibet, President Xi Jinping said on Saturday.
Xi added that it was necessary to strengthen the border defense and border security of the Tibet Autonomous Region (RAT), which borders India and Bhutan, adding that it was necessary to educate Tibetans to strengthen the fight against separatism.
The Chinese president addressed the country’s top leaders at a two-day forum on the future governance of Tibet in Beijing, which concluded on Saturday.
Beijing seized control of Tibet in 1950, in what is described in the Chinese narrative as a “peaceful liberation”, which helped the Himalayan region shed its “feudal” past.
Exiled Tibetan groups, led by the exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and human rights groups say the Beijing government amounts to “cultural genocide.”
Political and ideological education in schools in Tibet needs to be strengthened to “plant the seeds of love for China deep in the hearts of all young people,” Xi said in remarks published by the state news agency Xinhua.
Xi was quoted as calling for efforts to ensure national security and lasting peace and stability, constantly improve people’s lives, maintain a good environment, solidify border defense, and ensure border security.
“It is necessary to strengthen the education and guidance of the masses, widely mobilize the masses to participate in the fight against separatism and form a wall of copper and a wall of iron (which translates as ‘impregnable fortress’ in Mandarin) to maintain stability, ”he said.
“Efforts must be made to build a new modern socialist Tibet that is united, prosperous, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful,” Xi said.
“It is necessary to actively guide Tibetan Buddhism to adapt to socialist society and promote the sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism,” he said.
Sinicization of religion could be broadly defined as an effort to mold religious beliefs and doctrines to align with the principles and goals of the Communist Party of China and the culture of the majority of the Han community. Xi in 2015 spoke about sinification of the five main religions practiced in China: Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism and Taoism.
In 2019, Chinese state media announced that China had drawn up a scheme to sinicize Islam by 2022 in an effort to redefine the practice of the religion and align the beliefs of Muslims with the CCP.
China’s policies toward Tibet have returned to the spotlight this year amid Beijing’s deteriorating ties with Washington.
In July, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States would restrict visas for some Chinese officials involved in blocking diplomatic access to Tibet and engaging in “human rights abuses,” adding that Washington supported one ” meaningful autonomy “for Tibet.
In a retaliatory move, China said it would impose visa restrictions on US citizens who have engaged in what it called “egregious” behavior in Tibet.
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