Monday, January 9, 2017

Trip to Tibet: "Living Buddha" on Dalai Lama

Jonathan Kaiman (LA Times, Jan. 9, 2017); Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly
Zhada, a "living Buddha," had a peculiar answer when a reporter asked for his thoughts on the current Dalai Lama the 14th, a notorious adversary of China (Jonathan Kaiman/LA Times).


Strange journey through Tibetan China
Rare photo of the baby 14th Dalai Lama
ABA PREFECTURE, [Imperial] China - It was a road trip through one of China's most tightly controlled regions.

We drove uphill and deeper into the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, an area of south-western China's Sichuan province, adjacent to Tibet, where more than half the residents are Tibetan.

The Big Tulku: Dalai Lama
There were five of use foreign journalists, packed into two minibuses along with camera crews, interpreters, and scores of Chinese journalists, all seated should to should with the people in control: party officials from Sichuan and Shanghai. We passed scattered villages, high-altitude grasslands, and towering peaks.

Countless propaganda billboards, some many stories high, line the highway.

"Religious Belief Must Be Accordance With Socialism," said one. "Love the Country, Love the Party." Love Religion," said another. "Construct an Excellent Political Environment," said a third.

In 2016, the Chinese government embarked on a Tibet publicity blitz... More: Eat, pray, love the Communist Party: a road trip through Tibetan lands, guided by China

No comments: