Washington Post

Wednesday, February 2, 2000

Clamp On Tibet

By Maura Moynihan

Last month Tibet's third most important religious leader--the 14-year-old Karmapa Lama, leader of the Kargyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism--made a dramatic escape to India. Chinese authorities in Tibet promptly enthroned an alleged reincarnation of another important Tibetan lama, Reting Rinpoche. Pictures of a tiny child in golden robes appeared in the world media, though more prominently in the Chinese language press.

In response, the Dalai Lama issued a statement saying that the reincarnation of the recently deceased Reting has yet to appear, which provoked fierce denunciations from the Chinese and will doubtless further polarize Tibet's masters in Beijing and the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile, based in Dharamsala, India.

Manipulating Tibetan Buddhist reincarnation politics is nothing new in Beijing. When the Dalai Lama recognized the reincarnation of Tibet's second highest lama, Panchen Rinpoche, in 1995, the Chinese government promptly whisked the child to house arrest in Beijing and installed another boy on the Panchen Lama's throne. Nevertheless, Beijing's Panchen Lama has failed to attract devotees, while photographs of the Dalai Lama's candidate are worshiped in secret throughout Tibet, as the seemingly intractable standoff between the Chinese Communist Party and the Tibetan people enters its sixth decade.

Grappling with the problematic task of trying to engender Han nationalism in its non-Han subjects, the Politburo is pursuing a contradictory strategy of promoting "socialist love of the motherland" while manipulating Tibetan religious traditions to keep control of a restive population that remains loyal to the Dalai Lama and the Buddhist faith, rejecting Chairman Mao and the "Communist Manifesto."

The flight of the Karmapa exposed Beijing's increased repression of religion in Tibet, carried out through its Patriotic Education Campaign and Spiritual Civilization Campaign. The goal of these twin campaigns, which were implemented in 1966, is to annihilate Buddhism and consolidate Beijing's control over the Tibetan plateau. Their successes have been alarming, though not in a manner that makes headlines like those that marked the flight of the Karmapa.

Hundreds of monasteries, the traditional centers of Tibetan culture and commerce, have been closed. Thousands of monks, lamas and pilgrims have fled to India and Nepal in order to practice their faith without fear of persecution. Children are forbidden to engage in religious practices and are expelled from school if caught entering a temple or participating in Buddhist festivals. Owning a photograph of the Dalai Lama is a punishable offense. Monks and nuns are forced to recite Maoist doctrine and sign documents denouncing the Dalai Lama, a heinous offense for an ordained Tibetan Buddhist.

The Patriotic Education Campaign is specifically directed at monasteries, requiring compulsory attendance at Maoist study sessions, which purport to "cleanse the feudal, foolish and backward atmosphere poisoned by the Dalai clique." Deng Xiaoping created the idea of "spiritual civilization" in the late 1970s as a response to the chaos and trauma of the Cultural Revolution. Today it is largely used to foster Chinese nationalism.

In a 1966 speech Chen Kuiyan, party secretary of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, stated: "Communists are atheists . . . but we will resolutely support the patriotic, devout, law-abiding monks and nuns and resolutely rectify those monasteries which pander to the need of hostile Western forces in containing China."

In a recent speech, Jiang Zemin said that another purpose of the Spiritual Civilization Campaign is "willingly restraining the influence of narrow nationalism," a reference to ethnic pride and non-Han nationalism.

Beyond his international stature as a Nobel Laureate, the Dalai Lama is the sole individual who can unite the Tibetans living under Chinese dominion with those in exile. Though united by ethnicity, the two groups have had vastly different experiences in the 40 years since the Dalai Lama's flight, and many have conflicting opinions and expectations for Tibet's future. The Dalai Lama is also uniquely qualified to lead a dialogue between the Chinese and Tibetan people. To quote the Tibetan leader: "If the Tibet question were to be solved properly, with negotiations, it would benefit all parties and greatly enhance China's image in the world."

As long as the Tibetan people's devotion to their religion and to the Dalai Lama remains a force that neither martial law nor Mao Zedong thought can extinguish, Beijing should consider the benefits of entering into constructive negotiations with the Tibetan leader, while there is still time.

The writer is a consultant to Refugees International and has worked for many years with Tibetan refugees in India and Nepal.