By Lucy Hornby :: 28-03-2009 -
01:11
WUXI, China (Reuters) - The
Beijing-backed Panchen Lama addressed an international Buddhist
audience in English on Saturday, as officially atheist China turned
to Buddhism as a balm for internal unrest and international
tensions.
Gargantuan, baroque recreations of
Tibetan and South Asian prayer palaces, built in a vast park that
holds an ancient Buddhist site, show the resources and the historic
symbolism that the Chinese state can draw on to claim the Buddhist
mantle.
The second World Buddhist Forum
jointly hosted by Communist China and Taiwanese Buddhists in Wuxi
attracted over 1,000 monks, nuns and adherents from around the
world. Its theme of "harmonious world" echoed the "harmonious
society" slogans of Chinese President Hu Jintao.
"I would like to extend my sincere
gratitude to our central government for their kindly concern in
hosting this forum," the Panchen Lama said in clear
English.
"This event fully demonstrates
that today's China enjoys social harmony, stability and religious
freedom, and also shows that China is a nation that safeguards and
promotes world peace."
The use of English implies that
the 19-year-old Panchen, who was selected and raised by Beijing, is
being groomed as a foil to the exiled Dalai Lama, who used his
celebrity to keep the Tibetan cause in the 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 widespread protests against Chinese rule.
Fifty years ago this March, the Dalai Lama fled to India following
a failed uprising, and China has declared Saturday a holiday to
commemorate the end of serfdom in Tibet.
But there was a note of
conciliation in the presence of Abbot Hsing Yun, one of Taiwan's
most influential monks and an advocate for improved relations
between the Dalai Lama and China.
"All the exiled Tibetans should
support China; the Communist Party should welcome them back," Hsing
Yun told reporters on Friday. He noted the "positive merits" of the
monk Beijing demonizes as a separatist.
Cooperating on the forum could
help strengthen ties between China and self-ruled Taiwan, which
have been warming since the Nationalists, or Kuomintang party,
regained the presidency last year. Over 1,000 delegates fly
directly to Taiwan on Monday, a trip that would have been
impossible a few years ago.
"I hope for increased exchanges,
back and forth. The more exchanges there are, the more people can't
distinguish between the two, and that will lead to unity," Hsing
Yun said.
China has claimed sovereignty over
Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and has vowed
to bring the island under mainland rule, by force if
necessary.
REVIVAL
The Communist Party tried to root
out Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism during the first three
decades of its rule, but now recognizes the potential of religion
to maintain stability.
"Buddhism has proven to have two
benefits, it brings a spiritual peace to society and it also helps
materially, for instance in disasters and in serving the weakest
segments of society," said Shih Lien Hai, president of the
World-wide Buddhist Development Association based in
Taiwan.
"Religion is a force for stability
in society. If government could understand religion's attributes,
if it could bring religion's strengths into play, it would be more
effective."
The Chinese government may also
hope to gain moral sway through adopting the mantle of traditional
religion, even as Maoism once inspired idealists throughout the
developing world.
It already enjoys increased
international stature, thanks to careful diplomacy and the
spectacular economic growth that has made it the world's
third-largest economy, but the crackdown in Tibet has damaged
perceptions worldwide.
There was little that was
spiritual about the forum, which featured speeches by officials and
dignitaries and a precisely orchestrated spectacle that required a
cast of thousands.
But the Panchen Lama urged
Buddhism's relevance to a world worried by environmental
degradation, the growing disparity between rich and poor, the
financial crisis and terrorism.
(Additional reporting by Benjamin
Kang Lim; Editing by Nick Macfie)