Police Detain Tibetan Monk From Prominent Qinghai Monastery

January 26, 2006

Chinese police detained a Tibetan monk from one of the most important Buddhist sites in Qinghai province in mid-May 2005, according to a June 3 report by Radio Free Asia (RFA). Jigme Dasang (or Dazang), honored six times as a "Three Best Student" (san hao xuesheng), was in a prayer meeting at Kumbum Monastery when police took him into detention. A Huangzhong County Public Security Bureau spokesman confirmed the detention to RFA. Unnamed sources told RFA that anti-government posters appeared in the monastery and that monks feared there may be more detentions. Jigme Dasang is from Xinghai county, where five Tibetan monks were detained earlier this year, according to another RFA report.

Chinese police detained a Tibetan monk from one of the most important Buddhist sites in Qinghai province in mid-May 2005, according to a June 3 report by Radio Free Asia (RFA). Jigme Dasang (or Dazang), honored six times as a "Three Best Student" (san hao xuesheng), was in a prayer meeting at Kumbum Monastery when police took him into detention. A Huangzhong County Public Security Bureau spokesman confirmed the detention to RFA. Unnamed sources told RFA that anti-government posters appeared in the monastery and that monks feared there may be more detentions. Jigme Dasang is from Xinghai county, where five Tibetan monks were detained earlier this year, according to another RFA report.

Kumbum Monastery (Ta'ersi) is closely associated with the 14th century founder of the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, headed by the Dalai Lama. Another important religious figure, the 10th Panchen Lama, was born near Kumbum. After the 10th Panchen Lama died in 1989, the Dalai Lama recognized six-year-old Gedun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama in May 1995. Chinese authorities declared the Dalai Lama's announcement illegal and supervised the selection of another boy, Gyaltsen Norbu, in late 1995.

In March 1996, about 25 Kumbum monks were detained for several weeks after posters advocating Tibetan independence and calling on Tibetans to pray for the safety of Gedun Choekyi Nyima appeared, according to a report by Tibet Information Network in August 1996. The boy and his parents disappeared a few days after the Dalai Lama made his announcement and have been held incommunicado at an unknown location since then. The matter stirs resentment among Tibetans because the Panchen Lama is ranked second to the Dalai Lama.

Kumbum is among the Tibetan monasteries most heavily visited by tourists. Its proximity to Xining, linked to all of China's major cities by rail and air, ensures a steady flow of visitors to the monastery.

Additional information about religious freedom for Tibetan Buddhists and the Panchen Lama issue are available in the CECC 2004 Annual Report.