Living Buddha: Religious freedom respected

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-20 08:08

NEW YORK: Religious freedom is a basic right of Chinese citizens, including the Tibetans, a living Buddha said on Wednesday.

Living Buddha Shingtsa Tenzinchodrak (center), head of a delegation of Chinese lawmakers to the United States, chats with two representatives from the local Chinese community in New York on Wednesday. [Wei Xi/China Daily]

"It's completely the (Chinese) people's choice to believe in religion or not, or for that matter, which religion to follow," Shingtsa Tenzinchodrak, head of a five-member delegation of Tibetan deputies of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said while addressing overseas Chinese.

The delegation is in the United States to "improve the outer world's understanding" of Tibet, following a wave of attacks from the Dalai Lama, who, on March 10 said: "Religion, culture, language and the identity of Tibetans were nearing extinction."

Speaking through an interpreter, Tenzinchodrak, dressed in a traditional Tibetan robe, said those who had been to Tibet know very well that Buddhism in the region was "nowhere near extinction".

"There are more than 1,700 monasteries and religious sites in Tibet. And almost all Tibetan families have Buddhist statues or small halls at home for chanting," he said.

"Religious practices are protected by law, as long as they are legal and do not harm the interests of other people," he said.

The 59-year-old living Buddha of the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism, also said that the region saw serious conflicts between different religious sects before 1959, but "now all religious sects and religions co-exist peacefully".

Tenzinchodrak said the Tibetan cultural heritage had been effectively protected, inherited and developed over the past 50 years.

"The Tibetan oral epic tale Life of King Gesar for example I remember I saw only two or three books on it when I was young. Now I have seen more than 70 books on the subject," he said.

The lengthy oral epic, which was scripted between the 10th and 16th centuries, tells the story of the ancient Tibetan King Gesar, who conquered other Tibetan tribes and brought stability to the region.

For years, the tale has been passed from generation to generation in the form of singing or reciting among Tibetans, Mongolians, and Tu and Naxi people living on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The central government has earmarked special funds for collecting and publishing the text of the oral epic tale.

Chen Ching-chun, head of a Chinese society in New York, said he visited Tibet in 2007 and was convinced that "there is no such thing like oppression of religion in the region".

"I think the so-called religious oppression was fabricated by the Western media and politicians for their own interests," he said.

Taiwanese-American Hua Chuen-hsiung, leader of another overseas Chinese association, said he visited Tibet in 1984 and 2005 and saw great changes in the region. "It's obvious that people's lives have greatly improved."

However, Hua said most people in the West knew nothing of the achievements Tibet has made over the past 50 years.

"Their knowledge of Tibet is one-sided."

Xinhua