Communist party appointments at Buddhist academy

CHINA has appointed Communist party officials to manage one of the world’s largest centres of Tibetan Buddhist learning, raising fears of oppression of those who embody the region’s traditional culture and beliefs.

The decision will fuel concerns about strengthened ideological control over religion that critics say is draining institutions at Larung Gar in southwest China of their vitality.

The appointments are also the latest sign of Beijing’s distrust of the Tibetan Buddhist clergy.

“The appointments will help the school operate in accordance with laws and will not affect its teaching, since the officials will be administrators,” Penpa Lhamo, of the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences, was quoted as saying by the Global Times.

Despite that, the presence of party officials in temples, monasteries and nunneries brings new demands, especially that monks and nuns attend “patriotic education” classes designed to instill patriotism but take precious time away from religious study.