According to reports, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has begun “propaganda TV productions” in an effort to meddle in the 14th Dalai Lama’s reincarnation discussions.
According to Tibet Rights Collective, citing Global Times, the recently concluded TV show “Tashilhunpo” on China Central Television provided a thorough depiction of the hunt for the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama’s reincarnations. According to the TV show, the religious rite has been performed on Chinese soil under the control of the Chinese government since the late 13th century. Prior to now, China has invited people to visit Tibet through seminars, exhibitions, and social media posts while encouraging foreign vloggers and influencers to present a positive view of Tibet, where human rights abuses still occur.
The report claimed further that “China is the birthplace of Tibetan Buddhism and the Living Buddhas are Chinese” to emphasise that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama must be carried out in China. It has also suggested that “any religious affairs are part of China’s domestic affairs, so it must be done in accordance with Chinese law.”
The report said the Japan Buddhist Conference for World Federation (JBCWF) condemnation of China for interfering in the selection of Tibetan incarnate Lamas and claiming authority to appoint the reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama “totally exposes its ignorance of history and China’s religious policy”.
The CCP is attempting to control the reincarnation process of the Dalai Lama, the report said, adding that despite being a self-declared atheist state, China has been attempting to control over and misappropriate Tibetan Buddhism and popularise Tibetan Buddhism with Chinese characteristics.
Tibet’s Panchen Lama, one of the world’s youngest and longest-serving political prisoners, was just six years old when China abducted him and “appointed a puppet in his place,” as per the Tibet Rights Collective report. Gyaltsen Norbu has been presented as the ‘face of Tibetans and Tibetan Buddhism’ since his appointment as the 11th Panchen Lama by China in 1995.
Further, according to the news report, China has been campaigning for Norbu and Norbu is now a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, vice president of the Buddhist Association of China and president of the Association’s Tibet branch.
It has been observed that a campaign has been run by CCP to popularise propaganda in Chinese film and TV, Tibet Rights Collective reported citing a report by the Foreign Policy.
As per the news report, “main melody production” since the early 2000s shows “singing mainstream tunes and glorifying the social and political lines that the CCP wants the public to value and imitate.”
The report said the TV show that disseminates lies about reincarnation “could be an offshoot of such main melody productions”.
