Buddhist masters urge understanding to preserve sea peace

Buddhist masters on Wednesday called for greater understanding to prevent military provocations to safeguard the hard-fought stability in the South China Sea.

Noting that the biggest threat to peace in the South China Sea now comes from military provocations from countries outside the region, the masters stressed that such dangerous moves should be curbed to avoid generating hostility.

“Sending aircraft and warships will only increase the intensity in the region and trigger unnecessary panic among people living in the region,” Venerable Hueiguang, President of International Bodhisattva Sangha in the US, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

All sides should communicate more to increase understanding and prevent such provocative actions, Hueiguang said.

Hueiguang is among the dozens of masters from 12 countries and regions, including Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Burma, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the US, that gathered in Shenzhen for a roundtable meeting to be held on Thursday to discuss how Buddhism could help safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea region.

The South China Sea Buddhism Shenzhen Roundtable, started in 2016 by Master Yin Shun, deputy head of China’s Buddhist Association, serves as a platform to create favorable conditions to jointly safeguard harmony and peace of the Buddhist countries in the South China Sea region.

Most of the countries surrounding the South China Sea are those who have huge Buddihist populations and the religion, which advocates peace and mutual respect, should play a bigger role in binding people to jointly safeguard peace and stability in the region, the masters noted at a press conference on Wednesday.

During the press conference, the masters also dismissed accusations that China is “militarizing” the South China Sea region.

The latest accusations include the remarks made by US Vice President Mike Pence on October 4, when Pence accused China of deploying anti-ship and anti-air missiles on artificial islands.

Pence’s remarks were slammed as fabricated rumors and totally groundless by China’s foreign ministry. The ministry said China always upholds “non-interference” principles and it has no interests in interfering in US politics.

“The accusations against China come from ultra motives and we should always be vigilant so that the motives won’t succeed,” Yin Shun stressed at the press conference.