U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Samuel Brownback said Tuesday (Nov. 17) that the United States supports Tibetan Buddhists in choosing the next Dalai Lama and that the Chinese Communist Party’s claim of the right to do so is “totally wrong. The official also said that China’s crackdown on Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang does not help fight terrorism, but rather breeds more terrorists.
In response to questions about Tibet from reporters at a media briefing on the 2020 Ministerial Conference on Promoting Freedom of Religion or Belief and the International Ministerial Forum of the International Coalition for Religious Freedom or Belief, Brownback said he had told the Tibetan exile community in Dharamsala, India, in a speech to them that the United States opposed China’s selection of the next Dalai Lama.
“They have no right to do so. They don’t have the theological basis to do it,” Ambassador Brownback said.
He said the United States believes that religious groups have the right to choose their own leaders, and that certainly includes the next Dalai Lama.
The 85-year-old Dalai Lama is the 14th leader of Tibetan Buddhism. He fled the Communist takeover of Tibet in 1959 and took refuge in India.
Traditionally, the Dalai Lama gives instructions on where to find the reincarnated spiritual child of the Dalai Lama, but the Chinese government insists that it has the right to decide who will become the leader of Tibetan Buddhism.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said that the reincarnation of a living Buddha is a unique way of passing on Tibetan Buddhism, with fixed rituals and systems. …… The system of reincarnation of the Dalai Lama has been in place for hundreds of years, and the 14th Dalai himself was identified according to religious rituals and historical customization and submitted to the then central government for approval to take the throne. Therefore, the reincarnation of living Buddhas, including the Dalai Lama, should follow the laws, regulations, religious rituals and historical customization of the country.
“We believe that the Chinese Communist Party is completely wrong to claim that they have the right to do so,” Ambassador Brownback said at the briefing.
He added, “For centuries, if not longer, Tibetan Buddhists have successfully chosen their leaders, and they now have the right to do so.”
The official said the United States has and will continue to oppose the Chinese Communist Party’s selection of the next Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama has said that when he is about 90 years old, he will consult with other lamas, the Tibetan public, and believers to determine “whether the Dalai Lama’s system should continue.
Ambassador Brownback also spoke about Xinjiang during the briefing. He said that what China is doing in Xinjiang is “one of the worst, if not the worst, cases of religious persecution in the world today.
It doesn’t help them in their fight against terrorism,” he said. They’re trying to convince the world that this is about preventing terrorism, but they’re going to create more terrorists. The way to deal with terrorism is not to lock everybody up. The way to deal with terrorism is freedom of religion, allowing people to believe freely so they don’t fight you so hard.”
The official said the United States continues to call on China to end its war on faith, including the persecution of Uighurs, Tibetan Buddhists, the underground Christian and Catholic churches, and Falun Gong practitioners.
Ambassador Brownback said the United States announced Tuesday that it would discuss the misuse of technology, such as high-tech surveillance systems with artificial intelligence and facial recognition, to oppress religious minorities, as Chinese authorities have done in Xinjiang, in an effort to prevent the practice from spreading to the rest of the world.
In mid-July, China announced sanctions against Brownback and a number of members of Congress, as well as U.S. congressional and administration commissions on China, after the United States announced sanctions against Xinjiang officials, including Communist Party Politburo member Chen Quanguo.
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