Chinese President Xi Jinping has shown interest in Tibetan Buddhist culture as Tibet has once more become a focal point in the ongoing tensions between the United States and China. Reportedly, Xi Jinping visited a middle school for Golok Tibetans and the Hongjue Temple, a Tibetan Buddhist site, in Qinghai province.
Both sites, located in Xining, the provincial capital, have been pivotal in Beijing’s engagement with the Tibetan Buddhist leader since affirming sovereignty over Tibet in 1951.
Xi inspected local efforts to deepen education for a strong Tibetan community, stressing love for the country and Tibetan Buddhism. He met provincial officials to emphasize the region’s ecological role, given its shared territory with Tibet. The visit highlighted unity before a key Communist Party session amid US tensions over Tibet.
The US Congress passed a new Tibet policy bill, aiming to bolster support for Tibet and combat China’s misinformation about the region. A US congressional delegation met with the 14th Dalai Lama in India, vowing to resist China’s interference in his succession and urging Beijing to engage in talks with him.
The Dalai Lama, who fled China in 1959, turns 89 next month. Beijing blames him for ethnic unrest in Lhasa in the 1980s and 2008, while human rights groups cite government policies. He’s from Qinghai, a region where about half the population is non-Han Chinese, mostly Tibetan.
Xi last visited the province three years ago, when he described the northwestern province as “a strategic key place in maintaining stability in Xinjiang and Tibet”.
Xi Jinping’s father, Xi Zhongxun, arranged the return of the 10th Panchen Lama, Erdeni Chokyi Gyaltsen, to Shigatse in Tibet, as appointed by Mao Zedong. Xi Zhongxun met the Panchen Lama at Hongjue Temple on December 15, 1951, to discuss the details of his return trip, following a treaty signed between Beijing and Tibet that year.
Xie said, “They spoke for three hours in the temple, and discussed a series of important matters, including the further implementation of the agreement on the peaceful liberation of Tibet and the specific arrangements for the 10th Panchen Lama’s visit to Tibet.”
“That was one of the most significant meetings that forged the friendship between Xi Zhongxun and the Panchen Lama that lasted for more than four decades.”
A Qinghai official stated that the temple preserves Xi Zhongxun and the Panchen Lama’s meeting room as a memorial to their historic friendship with Tibetan religious leaders.
The Hongjue Temple has historically served as a significant channel for communication and interaction between China’s central government and Tibetan Buddhist leaders, as noted by an ethnic and religious affairs researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The researcher said, “When Princess Wencheng traveled to Tibet to marry the then Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo, she made a stop at Xining for a month to get herself ready for the higher altitude in Tibet around 641 AD. The stop later became Hongjue Temple.”
Several Panchen Lamas resided in the temple following its construction during the Song dynasty.