The Lamas who will select the Chinese 15th Dalai Lama

China is working hard to prepare the post-Dalai Lama era.

Interview with Reuters
In a recent interview with Reuters, pondering what might happen after his death, the Dalai Lama “anticipated some attempt by Beijing to foist a successor.”
The Tibetan leader jokingly told the news agency: “China considers Dalai Lama’s reincarnation as something very important. They have more concern about the next Dalai Lama than me,” but more seriously, he added: “In future, in case you see two Dalai Lamas, one from here [India], a free country, [and] one chosen by Chinese, then nobody will trust, nobody will respect [the one chosen by China]. So that’s an additional problem for the Chinese! It’s possible, it can happen.”
Beijing did not appreciate his point.
The Dalai Lama further commented: “If the majority of [Tibetan people] really want to keep this institution, then this institution will remain. …Then comes the question of the reincarnation of the 15th Dalai Lama.”
The Chinese Government was quick to counter; Geng Shuang, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, immediately relayed by The Global Times, the Communist tabloid, stated: “The reincarnation of Living Buddhas, including the Dalai Lama, should abide by the laws and regulations of the state, as well as religious rituals and historical conventions.”

Wu Yingjie: "The Dalai Lama has not done a single good thing"

Buddhism and the Dalai Lama at the Center Stage in Beijing
During the recently-held 'Two Meetings', Tibetan Buddhism was at the centre stage of many discussions.
In an interaction with the Tibetan delegation to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), the Party Chief of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), Wu Yingjie came down heavily on the Dalai Lama.
Wu said, "The Tibetan people have more affection for the government. The Dalai Lama has not done a 'single good thing' for Tibet since he left."
The Hong Kong newspaper also quoted Go Khok, deputy Party chief and mayor of Lhasa, as saying that maintaining stability would be a key task for the city government this year, which marks the 60th anniversary of the departure of the Dalai Lama for exile.
According to the ‘political advisors’ who attended the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing beginning of this month, Buddhist religion is well-respected and well-preserved in Tibet.
China displayed a collection of Tibetan ‘Living Buddhas’ as the Communist atheists term the reincarnated lamas; all are known for their loyalty to the Communist Party.
Xinhua reported: “Chinese religious figures serving as political advisors at this year's ‘Two Sessions’ [or Two Meetings] are pleased with the country's protection of Tibetan Buddhism in southwest China's TAR.”
Several of the Tibetan lamas were quoted by the news agency.

The Use of Tibetan Lamas for Communist Propaganda
The use of ‘Living Buddhas’ for political purposes is not new, but it appears that it has intensified since the Chinese State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) issued a State Order No.5 for the “Management Measures For the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism” in 2007 and the unrest on the plateau in 2008.
It is done in a very systematic way mainly in view of the hopefully not too soon, departure of the Dalai Lama and in preparation for his reincarnation.
I am compiled a list of the Communist ‘lamas’ who will be co-opted to find the Chinese reincarnation of the 15th Dalai Lama.

Phagpala Gelek Namgyal
Phagpala is presently the Vice-chairman of 13th CPPCC National Committee; he is also honorary president of Buddhist Association of China and chairman of CPPCC Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee.
The CPPCC’s vice-chairmanship gives him a Central Minister rank.
He was born in February 1940 in Litang, presently in Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province. He is known as the 11th Chamdo Phagpala Hutuktu, (Hutuktu is a Mongol title for a high incarnated lama).
He formerly served as a Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress, Vice Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and Vice President of the Buddhist Association of China; he was vice chairman of 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 10th, 11th and 12th CPPCC national committees.
He was one of the first Tibetans to join the Communist Party soon after the Chinese invaded Tibet in 1950/51.
Incidentally, Phagpala is one of the senior member of the 'Chamdo Clique' as the reincarnation of the head lama of the Jampaling Monastery in Chamdo - he is also known as Chamdo Phakpalha.
Lobsang Gyaltsen, the head of the TAR Government, a member of the Central Committee, is also from Chamdo.
On March 14, 2013, Jampa Phuntsok, also from Chamdo, was appointed as Vice Chairman of the National People’s Congress.
At that time, Pema Thinley (alias Padma Choling) became Chairman of the TAR People’s Congress; further, he was the only ethnic Tibetan, seating as a full member in the 18th CCP’s Central Committee.
Phagpala, Jampa Phuntsok, Pema Thinley, and Lobsang Gyatsen are the highest ethnic Tibetan cadres in the Communist hierarchy in Tibet today; all from the Chamdo Prefecture.
It is also rumoured that they all support the Shugden cult, against the Dalai Lama.
Can you guess from where the Chinese 15th Dalai Lama will come from?

Gyaltsen Norbu, 11th Chinese Panchen Lama
This is the Panchen Lama ‘found’ by China.
He is presently Vice President of China Buddhist Association (BAC) and Member of the Standing Committee of the 13th CPPCC.

Gyatsen Norbu was born in Lhari County, Nagchu Prefecture on February 13, 1990.

On November 29, 1995, he was recognized by Beijing as the 11^th Panchen Lama in front of the statue the Buddha Sakyamuni in the Jokhang cathedral in Lhasa. 

The Golden Urn was used; later the outcome was approved by the State Council.

See Reincarnation with Marxist Characteristics on this blog. 

He is the person who ultimately will 'recognize' the 15th Dalai Lama.

7th Drukhang Rinpoche Thubten Khedrup
He was born in December 1955 in Naqu. He joined the Party in July 1980.
He is presently the Vice Chairman of the TAR’s Political Consultative Conference, BAC’s Vice President, President of the Tibet Branch and Dean of the Tibetan Buddhist College.
He is regularly used by the Communist regime when senior Party cadres visit Tibet.
See The Ethnic Religious Faces of China.
See also China lacks 'Buddhist' credibility.

Tsomoling Rinpoche
Vice Chairman of the TAR’s Political Consultative Conference and BAC’s Vice President.
Tsemonling Tenzin Trinley Rinpoche was born in 1950 in Lhasa; he was one of the Four ‘Lings’, who from time to time acted as regents of Tibet (mostly when the Tibetan state was weak; particularly during the 19th century).
The Four 'Lings' (Ling Shi) were Kundeling, Demoling, Tsemonling and Tsechokling. They had their estates in Lhasa and around Lhasa.
Like his colleagues Reting, Phagphala or Dorje Phagmo, Tsemonling also  shoots for the Party from time to time.
Tsomonling has been a deputy in the National People’s Congress (NPC) from the 7th NPC (1988) to the 13th (2017).
He once declared that he was most impressed by the last report of Premier Wen Jiabao in the National People’s Congress. He found it inspiring and truth-reflecting. According to him, despite difficulties and challenges, the Chinese government has behaved well and there can be no development and innovation without Beijing’s support. This is what the Party wants to hear.
He has undertaken the task of re-carving (on wooden blocks) the Kangyur, which is a collection of Buddha’s sayings.
A few years ago, he spoke about self-immolation which, for him, is an insane act and violates Buddhist doctrine. He believed that the Xi Jinping's Chinese Dream is ‘related’ to the improvement of people’s livelihood, maintenance of social stability and steady economic development. Once again, the Lama is used by the Party to pass on its messages to the masses.
Also read A Battery of Rinpoche guns for China.

Drikung Chungtsang Rinpoche
The Drikung Kyabgön Chungtsang, the 36th throne holder of the Drikung Kagyu Lineage and the 8th reincarnation of the Chungtsang Rinpoche; he is said to be a manifestation of Manjushri.
He was born in the Water-Horse-Year 1942 in Lhokha as the youngest of five sons into the prominent aristocratic Lhagyari family, one of the oldest noble houses of Tibet descending from the ancient royal dynasty. The family branch is called Dewa Lhagyari Trichen.

Gomatsang Rinpoche, Lobsang Jampa Gyatso
He is from the important Labrang Tashikyl Monastery in Gansu; he is Vice President, Chinese Academy of Tibetan Buddhism.

Samding Dorjee Phagmo
Born in 1942, at the age of five, the Lady Lama was chosen as the incarnation of the abbess of Samding monastery, near Lhasa.
Deputy Director of the TAR’s Standing Committee of the People's Congress and Director of the China Tibet Cultural Protection and Development Association.
Dorje Phagmo was the only female reincarnation in Tibet.
In 2008, she declared that she was upset and angered by riots in Lhasa and accused the Dalai Lama of violating Buddhist teachings. She publicly affirmed that before Tibet’s incorporation into Communist China, Tibet was a backward feudal society. People were largely illiterate serfs with no medical care. The female ‘Living Buddha’ remembered that when she was a child, Tibet was dark and cruel; the so-called serfs lived worse than horses and cattle. Today, Tibet is transformed, thanks to the Party.
Her statement regarding Tibet needing to be ‘incorporated’ nonetheless shows that it was earlier a ‘separate’ entity.

After the unrest of 2008 and a few months before the Olympic Games, she was extensively used by the Party for propaganda. She was quoted as saying that the acts of the Dalai Lama and his followers seriously violate the basic teachings and precepts of Buddhism and damage traditional Tibetan Buddhism’s good reputation.

Lhakpa
He is born in August 1967 in Drung Dechen District. He joined the Party in June 2016. He is currently the vice chairman of the Lhasa CPPCC Vice Chairman of the Lhasa CPPCC, Vice President of the TAR’s Buddhist Association, Vice President of the Lhasa City Buddhist Association and Executive Deputy Director of the Jokhang Temple Management Committee.
He was used by the Chinese propaganda during the 'Two Meetings' (see interview quoted below).

Jewan Koondor Tulku
67 year old tulku originally from Champa Ling Monastery in Chamdo which has strong Dorje Shugden connections and has been present at every CPPCC in last 15 years. When 8 years old, his parents took him and followed the Dalai Lama to India. He eventually ended up in Switzerland. In 2011 he returned to China. Today he was made Vice Chairman of the TAR Overseas Friendship Association.

7th Taksang Tulku，Garang Thubten Lashay Gyatso
The 51-year old Tibetan tulku is from Taksang Monastery in Dzoege, Ngaba county.
He was born in July 1967 in Sichuan province. He joined the Party in November 2006 after graduating from the Chinese Department of Tibetan Languages.
He is currently a member of the National Committee of the CPPCC and the president of the Ngaba Prefecture Buddhist Association.

3rd Shangen Tulku, Phalden Dorje
He was born in April 1949 in Litang, Eastern Tibet (today Sichuan province). The-69 year old Tibetan Rinpoche is Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of Garze Prefecture People's Congress, Deputy Director of the National Committee of the National Committee of the CPPCC.

Lobsang Samten Rinpoche
Vice Chairman of the CPPCC Ngari National Association, Honorary President of the Regional Buddhist Association, Rinpoche from Trugo monastery near Purang in Ngari prefecture.

Rinchen Namgyal
In 1994, he graduated from the Higher School of Tibetan Languages. He is currently the deputy chairman of the 12th Qinghai Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Consultation Conference, the vice president of the China Interpretation Association, and the deputy director of the National Tibetan Buddhism Teaching Committee, and the president of the Qinghai Provincial Interpretation Association.
On January 29, 2018, the 12th Committee of the CPPCC Qinghai Province was held for the first time; Rinchen Namgyal was elected Vice President of the Provincial Political Consultative Conference.

Lhodro Gyatso Rinpoche
He is the Executive Director of the Tibet Branch of the Buddhist Association, member of the TAR’s Political Consultative Conference, Vice President of the Buddhist Association of Shigatse City, and Executive Deputy Director of the Sakya Monastery People's Management Association.
On January 24, 2018, the 24th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th CPPCC National Committee, he was  appointed as a member of the 13th CPPCC National Committee.

17th Dongbo Jampa Tulku
He was born in December 1968 in Gyezur, Garze in Sichuan; he joined the Party in November 1983.

Dongbao Jampa Hutuktu, the 49-year old Tibetan tulku belongs to the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism; he has been recognized by Tai Situ Rinpoche in India.
He is presently the Deputy Head of the China Buddhist Association, Vice Chairman of the CPPCC’s Shangri-La County in Dechen Prefecture of Yunnan Province and the vice president of the China Interpretation Association.

The 7th Reting Rinpoche
Tough not seen in Beijing during the Two Meetings, another lama Beijing is banking upon is Reting Rinpoche.
In January 2013, a 16-year old boy, recognised by the Communist Party as the 7th Reting Rinpoche was made the youngest member of Tibet’s CPPCC.
The Fifth Reting was the Regent of Tibet during the minority of the present Dalai Lama.
See 'Reting and the Dalai Lama's Incarnations'.

Hu Xuefeng (Mongolian)
Hu is abbot of the Yonghe Temple, also known as the Lama Temple in Dongcheng District of Beijing, China. The building and artwork of the temple is a combination of Han Chinese and Tibetan styles.
Though not Tibetan, Hu is very influential.
He was born in 1966 in the township of the Fuxin Mongolian Autonomous County. In 1981, he joined the Lama Temple and two years later was awarded a Masters degree.
In 1990, he was enrolled in the Senior High School of the Chinese Department of Tibetan Languages and in 1992, he graduated with honor. In 1994, he was elected as the deputy abbot of the Lama Temple. In January 2010, he was promoted to the abbot.
From 1995 to 2000, he was elected as the vice president of the Municipal Interpretation Association and the CPPCC member. In 2009, he was elected as the vice president of the Municipal Interpretation Association.

Beijing is trying its best to increase its control over the reincarnations of Tibetan lamas (and ultimately the Dalai Lamas), thus legitimising Communist rule in the Himalayan region. China has even revived the ancient title of Hutuktu, which was given by the Mongols and later the Manchus to Lama-rulers. Reting, like Pagphala, has also been styled as Hutuktu by Beijing.

Jamyang Shepa
Lamas like Jamyang Shape and Amchok Rinpoche should be added to this list.
Lobsang Jigme Thubten Chökyi Nyima, the present incarnation (the 6th) of the Jamyang Shepa, the head lama of the Labrang Tashikyl Monastery, in today’s Gansu province. He was born in 1948 and currently lives in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province. During the Cultural Revolution, Jamyang Shepa became a layman but retained a high degree of prestige in the area. The Jamyang Shepas have traditionally been the most prestigious teachers at Labrang Tashikhyil monastery.
The case of the Jamyang Shepa shows that the Chinese are keen to use the traditional hierarchy to put across their message.
In 2013, when Yu Zhengsheng of the Standing Committee of the Politburo visited Labrang, he met the Jamyang Shepa. At that time, Xinhua affirmed that the famous Monastery was 'one of the six great temples of the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism', Yu was received by the Jamyang Shepa as the traditional head of the monastery.

Amchok Rinpoche
A recent returnee from Dharamsala.
According to The Global Times, Amchok Rinpoche (written Achok by the Chinese): “the living Buddha, returned to China in May [2015] and has settled down in the Aba [Ngawa] Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Southwest China's Sichuan Province after he gained approval from Sichuan in April.” The Communist tabloid commented: “Move indicates futureless end of the Dalai Lama group”.
He may also play a role in finding the reincarnation …in China.

It seems that Beijing has now decided to bring forward its entire collection of ‘Living Buddhas’ to ‘spiritualize’ the Roof of the World; this, at a time when the Dalai Lama is working towards ‘secularising’ Tibetan society.
Moreover, their role will be to find the reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama.

The Propaganda battle has started
One of the ‘political advisors’ mentioned above, Lhakpa spoke at length to Xinhua about the progress of the religious freedom and the Jokhang Temple, “in downtown Lhasa, the regional capital of Tibet, is a must for visitors to Tibet and a sacred site for Tibetan Buddhists. It attracts about 800,000 tourists and receives over three million Buddhist followers each year.”
The Jokhang cathedral is “home to plenty of historical relics and typical Tibetan architecture. It was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000,” noted the agency.
Lhakpa is quoted saying that Beijing attaches “great importance to the protection and preservation of the temple. Five years ago, for example, the government invested over 60 million yuan (8.94 million U.S. dollars) in gilding the five golden roofs of the temple. The Buddha figures, thangka and murals in the temple have also been well preserved. To better protect these precious cultural relics, a database for Buddha statues and thangka in both Mandarin and Tibetan languages, launched in 2015, will be completed next year,” said Lhakpa.
According to the monk administrator, “more than 6,000 Buddha statues and over 600 thangka have been included in the database. The government has invested 100 million yuan in protecting the cultural relics."
Lhakpa concluded that as a political advisor, his job was “to serve all the people, including tourists, believers and researchers who visit the temple. We have personnel working 24/7 in the halls of the temple, including monks, firefighters and police officers to prevent the cultural heritage from being destroyed or stolen, and to ensure tourists' safety. …On the Lamp Festival, we have Dharma assembly here and the butter lamps are lit on top of the temple. Believers come to pray for happiness and health," he added.
It is clearly said that the monks’ duty is to serve the millions of Chinese tourists.
According to Lhakpa, like the Jokhang Temple, almost all the temples and monasteries in Tibet are under national or regional protection.
Incidentally, according to the official Tibet Daily, a fire broke out at 6:40 pm on February 17, 2018 in part of Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. It was eventually put off in the evening; the News Agency said: "Located at the center of old Lhasa, Jokhang Temple is a renowned temple for Tibetan Buddhism. It has a history of more than 1,300 years and houses many cultural treasures, including a life-sized statue of Sakyamuni when he was 12 years old."
This inauspiciously occurred on the second day of the Losar, the Tibetan New Year (Earth Dog Year).
During the Two Meetings, another ‘Living Buddha’, the Drigung Chungtsang stated that today's Tibet observes many traditional folk and religious activities: “The Shoton [yoghurt] festival at Drepung Monastery and the worship activities at Sera Monastery are among the most popular ones.”
The Drikung Lama added: "Tibetan Buddhists, young and old, would sway their praying wheels and chant sutras when significant activities are launched."
As vice chairman of the Tibet branch of the Buddhist Association of China, Drigung Rinpoche is in charge of the Kangyur printing: “The precious wooden templates of the Kangyur have been well preserved and printing is suspended in winter because cold weather may cause damage to the templates.”
Another ‘political advisor’ Lodro Gyatso, a senior monk from the Sakya Monastery told Xinhua that the monastery has two Buddhist colleges, “offering various classes including Tibetan language, Tibetan calligraphy, Buddhist texts, astronomy, calendrical calculation and philosophy to monks and lamas.”
A ‘returnee Living Buddha’ Jewan Koondhor is also one of ‘political advisors’. Xinhua noted that he spent most of his life outside (in Switzerland) and when he was 60 in 2011, he returned to his hometown, Chamdo in Tibet: “My hometown Chamdo has changed a lot and is continually improving. The traffic there today is much more convenient. I'm happy to be back," he told the agency.
He is a proponent of Shugden cult, and therefore violently anti-Dalai Lama.

Yu Zhengsheng visits restive Ngaba

Tibetan national flags along with other flags during Losar

Ngaba (Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is one of the most ‘restive’ prefectures in Tibet.
RFA’s Tibetan Service recently reported that on the occasion of the Tibetan New Year (Losar), several monasteries placed photos of the Dalai Lama on thrones, while monks made offerings and recited prayers for their leaders’ long life.
The forthcoming 80th birth year of the exiled leader was openly celebrated during the Losar celebrations in several places in Tibetan-inhabited areas and this, despite the fact that the display of Dalai Lama’s photos was harshly punished in the past.

The Dalai Lama's picture displayed during Losar

RFA mentions the monasteries of Se, Nyentse, and Sumdo of Ngaba Prefecture, where the Dalai Lama’s photos were displayed. It was also reported that some Tibetan national flags were carried along with flags for world peace and Buddhist flags, in Gomang monastery in the same county.
According to the US radio program, thousands of Tibetans took part in the festival, which is hosted each year, on a rotating basis, by one of six villages attached to the monastery. On March 4, the festival was held in Suwa village.
Again in Ngaba, a Tibetan woman, Norchuk, set herself ablaze in Trotsuk village. Norchuk's remains were cremated the next day by members of her village to prevent the Chinese authorities to take her body away, said RFA.
Norchuk, who is survived by her husband and one son and two daughters, became the 137th known case of self-immolation since 2009.
In another incident in the same area, a Tibetan monk was beaten and detained by police after he decided to launch a solo protest for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama. Gendun Phuntsok, 18, launched his protest around noon on March 8 on the main street of Ngaba town.
According to RFA, Phuntsok “shouted slogans calling for the Dalai Lama’s return. He also demanded freedom and equality for Tibetans, saying that Chinese policies in the region have caused intolerable suffering.” He was later taken into custody.
Before Losar, large numbers of Chinese security forces were deployed to Tibetan-populated areas of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces to ‘deter anti-China protests’.

RFA said that “the measures included checkpoints examining vehicles on major roads and police equipped with fire extinguishers and  fire trucks standing by to respond to self-immolations.”

Yu Zhengsheng in Ngaba
In these circumstances it is surprising that Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and member of the Politburo’s Standing Committee visited Ngaba Prefecture between March 25 to 27.
According to Xinhua, Yu spoke of the ‘long-term prosperity, stability stressed for China's Tibetan regions’.
Xinhua reported: “Top Chinese political advisor Yu Zhengsheng has called for efforts to coordinate development and improvement of people's livelihood, promote religious and ethnic harmony to maintain long-term prosperity and stability in Tibetan regions.”

Yu and Wang Dongming

Yu spent three full days in the restive prefecture (from Wednesday and Friday).
He was accompanied by Wang Dongming, Sichuan’s Party Secretary, who earlier served as the Director of Office for Central Organization Committee of CPC Central Committee (from 2007 to 2012).
Xu would have declared: “The ultimate goal for accelerating the development of Tibetan regions is to improve people's livelihoods, and improving people's livelihoods should be a key criterion for evaluating the quality of development."
According to Xinhua, he promised more funds and projects favoring the grassroots, rural and pastoral populations.
According to official information, Yu inspected “schools, hospitals, monasteries and held symposiums with local officials.”
Yu, who is also the Chairman of Central Working Coordination Small Group on Tibet stressed the importance of having the education in both Mandarin Chinese and local ethnic languages (i.e. Tibetan).
Yu noted that the teaching of science and engineering should be strengthened to boost the ability of students of ethnic minorities: “Great efforts should be made to develop local medical services and cultivate high-level health workers in the Tibetan regions."

Does this visit mark a change in policy for the Tibetan-inhabited areas (i.e. former Kham and Amdo provinces)?
It is too early to answer this question, however Yu also mentioned that “local religious work should be conducted in line with the principle of rule of law, and religious figures should actively guide Tibetan Buddhism to adapt to a socialist society, while resolutely resisting the influence from foreign forces.”
What about the Dalai Lama? He is considered as a 'foreign force'?
Regarding the Rule of Law, it stipulates that it is the Party which chose the ‘incarnations’ of deceased Lamas.
If Beijing decides to follow the rule of the Party’s Law, this may create further tensions with the local population, particularly if the Party interferes in the ‘local’ belief system (reincarnation of Lamas).

Xinhua asserted that Yu praised social and economic achievements of Ngaba and urged the region to map out an employment-oriented development plan that combined infrastructure and environmental protection.
Official authorization to have photos of the Dalai Lama would probably be a first concrete sign that Beijing is interested to cool down the volatile situation in the Prefecture and elsewhere in Eastern Tibet.
Economic development and infrastructure have never been the main concern of the Khampa population.
Has Mr. Yu been told this during his 3-day visit?
Let us hope so.
As always, the visit was announced once the leader was back between the protected and safe walls of Zhongnanhai in Beijing.
It is perhaps safer for 'Central' leaders.

China's political use of Rinpoches

The 7th Reting Rinpoche recognized by China

Two years ago, I raised an interesting and disturbing issue ('The Rule by Incarnation outdated?').
I wrote: “With or without the Dalai Lama as a temporal leader: the ‘rule by incarnations’ arrangement, specific to Tibet, is not a sustainable system of governance.”
I thought about it again when I recently saw an article in China Tibet Online.
It says ‘Panchen Lama extends New Year greetings to Tibetan compatriots’.
Beijing has been increasingly using ‘their’ Panchen Lama to deliver religious sermons and messages to the Tibetans.
On February 19, the first day of Losar, the Tibetan New Year, the Tibetan Language Program of China National Radio broadcast the message of Gyaltsen Norbu, the Chinese-selected 11th Panchen Lama. The young Lama delivered his New Year greetings to 'Tibetans at home and abroad', said the website affiliated with Xinhua, which reminded its reader of Gyaltsen Norbu's political role: he serves as Vice-President of the Buddhist Association of China and a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, China's top political advisory body.
The Lama told the ‘Tibetan People’:

As the 17th sexagenary cycle of the Tibetan calendar - the Year of Wood Sheep approaches, I'd like to extend my New Year greetings to our Tibetan compatriots at home and abroad.
I hope you continue to have faith in the Triratna (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha) and Karma, scorn the wrong and choose the right, and carry forward ethnic Tibetans' fine traditions and morality.
On every inch of this vast land, I hope you will all be freed from disease, disaster, war and hunger.
Wishing you all good health, success and happiness in the New Year!

Nothing wrong, except for the 'political' exploitation of a monk, who has not been recognized by the Dalai Lama, as the tradition requires, and perhaps more importantly, for the fact that the boy recognized by the Dalai Lama lives for nearly 20 years under house-arrest somewhere in China.
Interestingly, Ms. Sun Chunlan, one of the two most powerful ladies in China today and who has recently taken over as the Head of the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China met the young Gyaltsen Norbu on February 12 in Beijing (see my post on the subject).

The 'Reting' Rinpoche
Gyaltsen Norbu is not the only Lama 'politically' used by the Communist authorities in Tibet. Sonam Phuntsog, supposedly the reincarnation of the former Regent, Reting Rinpoche has recently been propelled on the political stage.
“The annual two local sessions of the Tibet Autonomous Region saw the participation of the Seventh Reting Living Buddha,” says Xinhua.
The Chinese news agency affirms: “Sonam Phuntsog, 19, is the youngest member of the political advisory body of the Tibet Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) whose mission is to advise on major issues of State policy and play a role in democratic supervision by proposing suggestions and voicing criticism. He was enthroned as the spirit child of the Sixth Reting Living Buddha at the age of 4 and also holds the title of Reting Rinpoche, once a religious regent in Tibet.”
Yes, the Communist Party of China believes in 'spirit child'!
During the Conference, the young monk apparently asked the government to “provide cultural classes for the monks of his monastery, and called for better protection for the environment surrounding his monastery.”
Sonam Phuntsog would have told the Regional CPPCC that subjects such as Tibetan Chinese, English, computing, law and sciences should be compulsory and that it was essential for monks to learn more about social sciences besides Buddhist teachings. He would have also said: “High literacy among monks can contribute to them providing better services to the country and its people."
The young monk mentioned juniper trees which made Reting monastery famous. Prayer beads made from junipers seeds are sacred all over Tibet. The ‘rinpoche’ made a politically-correct statement: "The junipers around my monastery are holy trees, and I oppose anyone cutting down trees. However, the seeds for prayers beads form part of the cultural heritage of the monastery."
He advised the devotees to collect them and use them for their malas (without cutting the trees).
More interesting, he expressed his concerns about the Governments’ plans to develop the area around Reting into a tourist attraction. He said that it will affect the environment.
This might be true.
What is however worrying is the extensive use by China of ‘its’ Rinpoches/Living Buddhas to further their political rule over Tibet.
As mentioned at the beginning, it is the drawback of the system of rule by incarnations, it can always be (and often is) manipulated. The result today is there are two Panchen Lamas, two Karmapas, and probably one day, two Dalai Lamas.

March 10 at the National People's Congress

Yu Zhengsheng meets the Tibetan delegation

Last year, on March 9, China's boss, Xi Jinping visited the Tibet delegation at the National People’s Conference.
In his speech, the Chinese President pledged that under his leadership, Beijing would pay the same close attention to Tibet as previous 'leadership groups' and would continue to emphasize “the maintenance of stability and leap-frog style development” (weihu wending 維護穩定and kuayueshi fazhan 跨越式發展) following China’s own special pathway and according to Tibet’s special characteristics.
Xi then cautioned that there can be no stability in Tibet without economic development. A constant vigilance must be exercised vis-a-vis ethnic problems, sensitive religious issues and sudden waves of Tibet independence sentiment. 

Xi further affirmed that China will not bend to the pressure produced by collusion between foreign hostile forces and those seeking Tibet independence. He stated that the special characteristics of Tibet must be respected with even greater protection to its culture and religious faith as well as continuous support for its rapid, leap-frog economic development.

This year the discourse was not very different.

Yu Zhengsheng, who chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo, met the 'Tibetan' deputies [there are many Chinese Hans in the Tibetan delegation] to the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) on March 10 (which is celebrated outside Tibet as the National Uprising Day). 

While the exile-administration was commemorating the uprising of March 1959, Yu briefed the 'Tibetan' delegates about the latest central policies for their region. 

Yu Zhengsheng, who was taking part in a 'panel discussion' with deputies from Tibet, first stressed the importance to adhere to the 'rule of law' in Tibet. 

This seems to be the leadership's first and foremost preoccupation.

What means 'rule of law' for the Chinese leaders is another matter.

Yu also asserted that "strengthening the frontier region is key to governing a country [i.e. China], and maintaining stability in Tibet is a prerequisite of strengthening the frontier region.

Why so much insistence on the 'borders'? 

Is India a threat for China? Not to my knowledge.

Mr. Yu asked the Tibetan 'authorities' to follow the principle of 'Rule of Law' in governing Tibet [are there cases of corruption overflowing from the neighboring Sichuan?], take measures to win local people's hearts [that is the famous massline] and make Tibet's development an enduring task.

Yu could not resist bringing the Dalai Lama in the picture.

He said that efforts should be made to help local officials and people to get 'a clear understanding of the nature and danger' of the Dalai Lama's preaching of the 'Middle Way' and 'high-degree autonomy'.

Obviously, at the grass-root level, Tibetan officials (they are said to be 80%) do not have the same understanding than Beijing about the importance of the Dalai Lama for Tibet.

If Yu chose to address the 'Tibetan' deputies on March 10, he should know that the March 10 Uprising was a mass movement of the People of Tibet to protect the Dalai Lama. Can it be a coincidence?

Yu Zhengsheng also said that he wanted concrete measures to be taken to support Tibet's economic and comprehensive development, improve people's well-being and ensure long-term peace and stability in Tibet.

That is fine, but without taking the Dalai Lama on board, this will not work. 

Yu, like Xi last year, seem unable to understand this basic fact.

The Return of Zhang Qingli

Zhang Qingli (left), Yu Zhengsheng (center), Du Qinglin (2nd from right)

Zhang Qingli is back!
Born in Dongping, Shandong province in 1951, Zhang Qingli joined the CPC in 1973 after graduating from the Party School of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee.
From 2006 to 2011 he served as Secretary of the CPC Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee.
He did not endear the Tibetans when he accused the Dalai Lama of being ‘a wolf in monk’s garb’.
In 2011, the Washington-based organization International Campaign for Tibet (ITC) commented: “Speculation about Zhang Qingli’s future in the TAR has remained intense since the unprecedented protests of March 2008. His open hostility towards the Dalai Lama and his determination to push through deeply unpopular security and social policies are regarded by many Tibetans and other observers as key causes of the resentment that led to the protests of 2008. Compared to his predecessors in the position of Party Secretary of the TAR, Zhang Qingli has appeared relatively frequently in the national and international media, repeatedly asserting the official line that the 2008 protests were instigated by the Dalai Lama and his supporters, and that the vast majority of Tibetans continue to readily embrace China’s policies.”
Speculations about Zhang’s future were mainly due to the fact that his term had come to an end in Tibet. He was soon after transferred to Hebei province as Party Chief.
In November 2012, he was elected a member of the 18th CPC Central Committee.
On March 11, 2013, Zhang Qingli became secretary-general of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
He will now assist Yu Zhengsheng in United Front affairs.
This is bad news for the Tibetans.
Also on the photo (on the right of Yu) is Du Qinglin, a native of Panshi city who spent most of his career in Jilin Province before becoming the head of United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee from 2007-2012. The United Front deals with Tibet, amongst other subjects
Du is also a member of the powerful Secretariat of the Central Committee. In this position he can monitor the party and state’s United Front apparatus.

Farce in the name of Tibet’s representation

My article Farce in the name of Tibet’s representation appeared in the Edit page of The Pioneer yesterday.

Click here to read...

The Chinese Model of Governance

Soon-to-be president of China, Xi Jinping made it a point to meet the 'Tibetan' delegates at the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing. 
These delegates are not known political figures in Tibet; they must have just been picked up for the circumstances.
The 'Han' Tibetans such Prof Ding Zhongli,Wang Huning or Chen Quanguo are not seen on the pictures, but the photo session was probably reserved to 'ethnic' Tibetans. The caption says:

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), receives a hada [khata], a white silk scarf symbolizing respect and blessing, from a deputy [Lobsang Tempa] to the 12th from southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, in Beijing, capital of China, March 9, 2013. Xi joined a discussion with the Tibet delegation attending the first session of the 12th NPC in Beijing on Saturday.  

Amusingly, China speaks of the Chinese Model of governance. 
Eric Li, Shanghai venture capitalist and a 'political scientist' wrote in Foreign Affairs an article praising the supreme meritocracy prevalent in the Middle Kingdom. 
He said: "A person with Barack Obama's pre-presidential professional experience would not even be the manager of a small county in China's system," adding that Xi Jinping: "By the time he made it to the top, Xi had already managed areas with total populations of over 150 million and combined GDPs of more than US$1.5 trillion."
Li believes: "China will continue to rise, not fade. The country's leaders will consolidate the one party model and, in the process, challenge the West's conventional wisdom about political development and the inevitable march towards electoral democracy. In the capital of the Middle Kingdom, the world might witness the birth of a post-democratic future".
I would like to know what are the 'merits' and 'experience' of these Tibetan delegates. The answer may puncture the so-called Chinese Model of governance.
By the way, an agency report mentioned that: "China's single legislative, the National People's Congress (NPC), is almost the wealthiest in the world with 83 billionaires counted among its delegates, according to a report. The China-based Hurun Global Rich List has identified 31 people having more than one billion dollars in personal assets, among the listed billionaire delegates to the Parliament. According to the list, the richest is Zong Qinghou, who is the founder of Chinese drinks maker Wahaha, with an estimated fortune of $13 billion. The Hurun list identifies the remaining 52 billionaires as delegates to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), an advisory body. According to the list, the average fortune among the 83 billionaire delegates is 3.35 billion dollars, which contrasts heavily with the average annual wage of less than 7,000 dollars for Chinese urban workers. The number of dollar billionaires identified by the list was up 17 percent this year."
This is again called the Chinese Model.

Tibetan lamas write thank-you letter to Xi Jinping
BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Saturday expressed his best wishes to Tibetans after receiving a three-meter-long thank-you letter from 108 Tibetan lamas.
"Please convey my best wishes to all. Tashi delek (a Tibetan greeting for good luck and best wishes)," Xi said while attending a panel discussion of the Tibetan delegation to the first session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC).
NPC deputy Losang Tenpa presented to Xi a hada, a strip of raw silk and linen for good blessing, as well as the hand-written thank-you letter from the 108 high monks of Tibetan Buddhism.
"The high monks in Tibet are grateful to the CPC for its religious policies, so they wrote the letter that I'm presenting to you," Losang Tenpa said.

Xi Jinping  general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), talks with a deputy to the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) from southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, in Beijing, capital of China, March 9, 2013.

Promoting Corruption in China

Ling Jihua

Xi Jinping will soon be President of the Peoples’ Republic of China; it is not an easy job. Xi, who was elected Party boss at the end of the 18th CCP’s Congress last November, will have to tackle myriad problems; the first being the  corruption within the Communist Party.
As the ‘advisory parliament’, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) started its deliberation in the Great Hall of the People, Xi appealed to the Communist delegates to fight this pervasive plague in the Middle Kingdom.
Since he assumed the top job in the Party (as well as the chairmanship of the Central Military Commission), it has been Xi's leitmotiv.
On the occasion of the CPPCC’s opening, Xi told the delegates: "the Communist Party would be able to mark its 100th birthday in eight years time, only if officials can learn from the selfless sages of the past".
Though the Communist Party is scheduled to celebrate its centenary a year before the end of the second of Xi’s two five-year terms, will the Party still exist?
Today, it is the question that many China watchers ask.
In a speech marking the 80th anniversary of the Central Party School, Xi asserted a few days earlier: "Only if the capabilities of all party members unceasingly continue to strengthen, can the goal of ‘two 100 years’ and ‘the dream’ of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese people be realised.”
That is the theory. The reality is different.
Take Ling Jihua, a former close collaborator of President Hu Jintao: he did not get a seat in the coveted Politburo in November because he tried to cover-up his son's death in a Ferrari accident which occurred on March 18, 2012. Ling's son is said to have died in his car while having sex with two women.
The New York Times quoting party insiders reported: "Before dawn on March 18, a black Ferrari Spider speeding along Fourth Ring Road in Beijing ricocheted off a wall, struck a railing and cracked in two. Mr. Ling was killed instantly and the two young Tibetan women with him were hospitalized with severe injuries. One died months later, and the other is recovering."
Ling made the mistake of trying to hide his son's accident. Though the families of the two women are said to have received hefty sums of money from China’s largest state oil company to “to make sure they shut up,” unfortunately for Ling, microbloggers are extremely active in China these days; as a result the entire story went around the Net.
As The South China Morning Post put it, the accident was "an embarrassment for the ruling Communist Party, sensitive to perceptions that children of top party officials live rich, privileged lifestyles completely out of touch with the masses.”

At the same time, there were rumors that Gu Liping, Ling’s wife had benefited from Youth Business China, a well-endorsed charity that she was running.
As a result Ling Jihua was ‘demoted’ and appointed head of the United Front Work Department, a less influential position, though overlooking the ‘minorities’ and Taiwan affairs.
Ling did not remain in the purgatory for long; he has now been promoted as one of 10 Executive Chairmen of CPPCC; in a few days he will automatically become a Vice-Chairman of the august body.
Nobody will believe that Xi Jinping is serious about fighting corruption when officials like Ling are promoted, even if only to a honorific position.
It is not just the question of covering up his son's misdeeds, but the Party should also explain how the son of a close collaborator of the country’s president acquired a Ferrari.
Ling has perhaps been a good 'fixer' for Hu Jintao, but the fact remains that a tainted official has now been relegated to a ‘smaller’ job, looking after the 'minorities', in particular, the Tibetans and the Uyghurs. It is worrying for the future of China, which could implode under the weight of its own contradictions.
Chen Ziming, an independent analyst told The South China Morning Post: "Considering that Ling was an important member of Hu Jintao's camp, Hu may have pushed to retain his protégé's influence."
In fact, Ling's promotion in the CPPCC is probably part of a deal: Hu Jintao wanting to keep an eye on Tibet; he may give a free hand to Xi Jinping on other issues.
Another Tibet ‘expert’, Du Qinglin, Ling’s predecessor at the United Front Department’s has now become a member of the Secretariat of the CCP's Central Committee and Secretary General of the CPPCC's session.
In China, it seems rewarding to look after 'minorities'. Let us remember that the Dalai Lama’s envoys had to resign after 10 years of unfruitful talks with the United Front.
Though some will argue that the post of CPPCC Vice-chairman is mostly honorific, it still carries the rank of minister, with all perks and respect attached.
Xi Jinping may want to fight corruption, but can he resist the pressure of the apparatchiks who are all keen to reward their respective friends?
In these circumstances, it is extremely doubtful if the Party can survive till its Centenary.