路透社：China turns to Buddhism to calm Tibet, Taiwan tensions

空气稀薄

China turns to Buddhism to calm Tibet, Taiwan tensions
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE52R0H020090328?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
Sat Mar 28, 2009 2:14am EDT
By Lucy Hornby
WUXI, China (Reuters) - The Beijing-backed Panchen Lama addressed aninternational Buddhist audience in English on Saturday, as officiallyatheist China turned to Buddhism as a balm for internal unrest andinternational tensions.
Gargantuan, baroque recreations of Tibetan and South Asian prayerpalaces, built in a vast park that holds an ancient Buddhist site, showthe resources and the historic symbolism that the Chinese state candraw on to claim the Buddhist mantle.
The second World Buddhist Forum jointly hosted by Communist Chinaand Taiwanese Buddhists in Wuxi attracted over 1,000 monks, nuns andadherents from around the world. Its theme of "harmonious world" echoedthe "harmonious society" slogans of Chinese President Hu Jintao.
"I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to our centralgovernment for their kindly concern in hosting this forum," the PanchenLama said in clear English.
"This event fully demonstrates that today's China enjoys socialharmony, stability and religious freedom, and also shows that China isa nation that safeguards and promotes world peace."
The use of English implies that the 19-year-old Panchen, who wasselected and raised by Beijing, is being groomed as a foil to theexiled Dalai Lama, who used his celebrity to keep the Tibetan cause inthe international eye.
On Friday, the Panchen issued a veiled warning against the Dalai Lama in a speech delivered in Chinese in Beijing.
Tibetan areas are under military lockdown, one year after widespreadprotests against Chinese rule. Fifty years ago this March, the DalaiLama fled to India following a failed uprising, and China has declaredSaturday a holiday to commemorate the end of serfdom in Tibet.
But there was a note of conciliation in the presence of Abbot HsingYun, one of Taiwan's most influential monks and an advocate forimproved relations between the Dalai Lama and China.
"All the exiled Tibetans should support China; the Communist Partyshould welcome them back," Hsing Yun told reporters on Friday. He notedthe "positive merits" of the monk Beijing demonizes as a separatist.
Cooperating on the forum could help strengthen ties between Chinaand self-ruled Taiwan, which have been warming since the Nationalists,or Kuomintang party, regained the presidency last year. Over 1,000delegates fly directly to Taiwan on Monday, a trip that would have beenimpossible a few years ago.
"I hope for increased exchanges, back and forth. The more exchangesthere are, the more people can't distinguish between the two, and thatwill lead to unity," Hsing Yun said.
China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since the end of theChinese civil war in 1949 and has vowed to bring the island undermainland rule, by force if necessary.
REVIVAL
The Communist Party tried to root out Buddhism, Taoism andConfucianism during the first three decades of its rule, but nowrecognizes the potential of religion to maintain stability.
"Buddhism has proven to have two benefits, it brings a spiritualpeace to society and it also helps materially, for instance indisasters and in serving the weakest segments of society," said ShihLien Hai, president of the World-wide Buddhist Development Associationbased in Taiwan.
"Religion is a force for stability in society. If government couldunderstand religion's attributes, if it could bring religion'sstrengths into play, it would be more effective."
The Chinese government may also hope to gain moral sway throughadopting the mantle of traditional religion, even as Maoism onceinspired idealists throughout the developing world.
It already enjoys increased international stature, thanks to carefuldiplomacy and the spectacular economic growth that has made it theworld's third-largest economy, but the crackdown in Tibet has damagedperceptions worldwide.
There was little that was spiritual about the forum, which featuredspeeches by officials and dignitaries and a precisely orchestratedspectacle that required a cast of thousands.
But the Panchen Lama urged Buddhism's relevance to a world worriedby environmental degradation, the growing disparity between rich andpoor, the financial crisis and terrorism.
(Additional reporting by Benjamin Kang Lim; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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