China is trying to use the Tibetan Buddhism as a soft power tool to further its ambitious multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the region as it developed Tibet to become Beijing’s gateway for trade to South Asia through Nepal, according to experts.
China is vigorously pursuing the BRI, a pet initiative of President Xi Jinping, which offered billions of dollars of loans for infrastructure projects to different countries as it looks to expand global influence.
The BRI, however, evoked negative reactions in India as the controversial multi-billion dollars China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) remained its flagship project. India has protested to China over the CPEC as it is being laid through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
In a new initiative, China held a two-day symposium in northwest China’s Qinghai Province on Tuesday to discuss how Buddhism could better serve BRI and resist separatism, state-run Global Times reported.
Tibetan monks and scholars took part in the event, the report said.
Tibetan Buddhism in which the Dalai Lama plays a pivotal role has following in different countries besides India. It has strong following in countries like Nepal and Mongolia.
Elaborating on the symposium, Qin Yongzhang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), told the Global Times that Tibetan Buddhism can serve as a bridge between the BRI countries to better communicate with each other, since the religious and cultural beliefs are similar in Central and South Asia.
One immediate challenge of promoting the BRI through Tibetan Buddhism comes from India, which has been holding back for geopolitical reasons, Qin said.
