The Chinese government has another plan in promoting Lumbini in Nepal. Nepal, the birthplace of Buddhism, happily welcomed the BRI and was offered $3 billion for the Lumbini project, designed to expand the small Nepali town where Buddha was born into “the premier place of pilgrimage for Buddhists from around the world.” The funds for the project were channeled through the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF), whose executive vice president, Xiao Wunan, “is a member of the CCP and holds a position at the National Development and Reform Commission, a state agency,” according to Al Jazeera.
Mendis writes that the Lotus Tower, “emanating from the Lotus Sutra in Buddhism, is a narrative for Beijing to formulate a sustainable and peaceful ‘soft power’ strategy that would appeal globally.” National Commission for UNESCO, the building has a deeper symbolic significance. The project was funded by the Chinese government.Ĭhina also build the Lotus Sutra tower in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka – but in the mind of Professor Patrick Mendis, a commissioner of the U.S. In Bangladesh, Chinese and Bangladeshi archaeologists excavated a 1,000 year old site of Buddhist heritage, Nateshwar, where Atisha Dipankara, a great Indian Buddhist master, spent his early life. The Chinese government also spends millions of dollars in South and Southeast Asian countries to link their Buddhist heritage to the soft landing of BRI. This week’s forum has a session on how Buddhism can contribute to the BRI. But through his attendance at each World Buddhist Forum, Chinese leaders at least hope to gain some respect for their Panchen Lama, if not recognition from the attendees.Īs further evidence of its role in advancing a Chinese agenda, the World Buddhist Forum has not been spared from discussion about President Xi Jinping’s BRI project. The Chinese government also failed to convince Tibetans to support Gyaltsen Norbu even after he initiated the Kalachakra teachings. The Chinese government failed to gain acceptance for Gyaltsen Norbu from the religious communities of the world. Gyaltsen Norbu, who was appointed and installed by the CCP as the 11th Panchen Lama, was invited in all first three forums to deliver keynote address. The forum – which, tellingly, was conceived of by “eight Buddhist masters from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong” - serves the strategic interests of Beijing. The fifth is underway in Putian, Fujian province, as of October 28. Since 2006, there have been four such fora, hosted in Hangzhou (2006), Wuxi and Taipei (2009), Hong Kong (2012), and Wuxi again (2015). Just $5 a month.īesides the institution- and statue-building, China actively engages Buddhist scholars and students from Buddhist countries by inviting them to the World Buddhist Forum, which is held every three years.
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The Nanhai Buddhism Academy is touted as China’s version of the Nalanda University.Įnjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. More recently, the Nanhai Buddhism Academy in Hainan province opened in September 2017 with 220 students (including students from overseas). Get briefed on the story of the week, and developing stories to watch across the Asia-Pacific. This is flaunted as the tallest bronze Shakyamuni statue in the world. For example, in 1996 China completed construction of the Lingshan Grand Buddha located at the Ling Shan Brahma Buddhist Palace in Wuxi. Internationally, the narrative of China’s leadership of the Buddhist world is generated from its heavy investment in building Buddhist institutions in China and its engagements with Buddhist countries.įor an officially atheist country, China has invested in the symbols of Buddhism. Under the current leadership in Beijing, China employs Buddhism as a vital asset to resolve both the domestic crisis at home and add soft power to its diplomatic relations.
At the same time, the CCP has not strayed far from the position of Mao Zedong, who whispered to the Dalai Lama during the latter’s visit to Beijing in 1954 that “Religion is poison… both Tibet and Mongolia were poisoned by it.” On one hand, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under Xi Jinping acknowledges that religion can be used to feed the social vacuum in capitalist China. Religion, particularly Buddhism, is relevant more than ever in today’s China, whose government is expected to invest more than $1 trillion in its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
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