(TibetanReview.net, Dec26’24) –In what is seen as a move to bring greater focus on Beijing’s plan for appointing a candidate of its own as the “reincarnation” of the current Dalai Lama, China’s top political adviser has made a rare trip to view a propaganda exhibition about reincarnation in Tibetan Buddhism in the Chinese capital.
It is a sign that Beijing is getting ready to face the Dalai Lama succession issue ahead of the exiled spiritual leader’s 90th birthday next year, the scmp.com Dec 25 cited Barry Sautman, and specialist on China’s ethnic minorities at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, as saying.
The report said Wang Huning, China’s fourth senior official and chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country’s top advisory body, led a group of its members to visit the semi-official China Tibetology Research Centre (CTRC) in Beijing on Dec 23.
Wang is stated to be the most senior Chinese official to visit an exhibition on the reincarnation of the Living Buddhas, which opened at the centre in 2014 and details the Communist Party of China’s propaganda narrative on the historical origins, evolution, norms and current state of the reincarnation system within Tibetan Buddhism.
The report cited the centre’s Museum of Tibetan Culture as claiming the exhibit “clarifies that the reincarnation of various dalai lamas and other significant living Buddhas have historically required approval from the central authorities, and illustrates that Tibet has been an inseparable part of China since ancient times”.
The political purpose of the visit was further underlined by the fact that the report said – citing the People’s Political Consultative Daily, the official paper of the CPPCC – that the CPPCC members accompanying Wang vowed to maintain national unity and ethnic solidarity, with a focus on “cultivating a strong sense of identity among all ethnic groups concerning the great motherland, Chinese culture, the Communist Party and socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
Sautman has said that since the CTRC was China’s largest institution for Tibetan studies and Wang was a social scientist, the function of his trip could be to “become acquainted” with the centre’s latest research.
“There is likely to be extensive preparation underway within Tibet-related central government institutions to deal with the issue of the Dalai Lama’s succession,” he has said.
The Dalai Lama has said he would address the issue of his reincarnation after (not upon, as assumed by many) turning 90 years old, which is next July.
The Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile in India since 1959, has expressed confidence that he will live to be at least 110 years of age.
The theory underlying the Tibetan Buddhist reincarnation system is that an enlightened being chooses to be reborn at such place, under such situation, circumstances, etc as will enable him to best serve sentient beings. He often leaves clues, often cryptic, to guide the discovery of his reincarnate.
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Also on Dec 23, Wang viewed another exhibition that documents the CTRC’s contributions and research over the past nearly four decades, including establishing a “Chinese-characteristic Tibetan studies system” that explores aspects of Tibet and Tibetan regions in four other provinces (namely Qinghai, Gansu, Yunnan and Sichuan), including politics, economics, culture and religion, the report said.
It noted that in June, a researcher at the centre had said that although the Dalai Lama was outside China, his reincarnation remained under Chinese jurisdiction, and that it was “natural” for China’s government to apply traditional principles to maintain control over Tibetan Buddhism.
The report cited Sautman as saying Wang also leads the central working group on Tibetan works and has been “quite active” in visiting areas with a large Tibetan population, including trips to Garze and Aba in Sichuan with President Xi Jinping and a Tibet Aid Programme conference in August.
Serving as a key political theorist for China’s leadership, Wang repeatedly emphasises developing theoretical frameworks to counter Western narratives on ethnic minority issues, the report said.
In Yunnan province in December last year, he was stated to have advocated for a stronger theoretical system to foster a sense of a shared spiritual home among China’s diverse ethnicities.
And in May this year, he was stated to have emphasised the use of archaeological artefacts and historical materials in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region to deepen research on foundational issues concerning the Chinese national community.