{"id":12461,"date":"2020-06-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/nieuws\/tibetan-prayer-flags-forced-down-by-chinese-authorities\/"},"modified":"2020-06-18T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-06-17T22:00:00","slug":"tibetan-prayer-flags-forced-down-by-chinese-authorities","status":"publish","type":"nieuws","link":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/tibetan-prayer-flags-forced-down-by-chinese-authorities\/","title":{"rendered":"Tibetan prayer flags forced down by Chinese authorities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the most beautiful symbols of Tibetan culture and religion is forcibly coming down as part of China\u2019s efforts to destroy the traditions and way of life inside Tibet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to a June 17 report from Radio Free Asia, Chinese authorities began a campaign this month to remove Tibetan prayer flags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The campaign started in Golog (Chinese: Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai province and Tengchen (Dingqing) county in Chamdo in the Tibet Autonomous Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLed by the police, local Tibetans are now taking down prayer flags in their villages and on the hilltops,\u201d a source from the area told RFA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The source added that authorities have even ordered the destruction of the poles that hold the flags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The source said officials claim the prayer flag removals are part of an \u201cenvironmental cleanup\u201d campaign and \u201cmovement of behavior reform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/tibet\/flags-06172020090200.html\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read RFA\u2019s report<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">War on Tibetan religion<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prayer flags, which have reportedly been present in Tibet for centuries, are one of the best-known symbols of Tibet\u2019s unique culture and spirituality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But in recent years, China\u2014which has occupied Tibet, a historically independent country, for more than six decades\u2014has taken extreme measures to eradicate Tibetans\u2019 traditional way of life and force them to assimilate into Chinese society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As part of that drive, China has been waging war against Tibetan Buddhism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In its recent report on international religious freedom, the US State Department documented a <a href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.org\/state-department-senate-chairman-criticize-tibet-religious-freedom-violations\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">wide variety of religious freedom violations<\/a>, violence and discrimination against Tibetans last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dalai Lama succession<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The player flag removals mark a new and shocking front in China\u2019s campaign against Tibetan religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, the Chinese government is continuing its plans to interfere in the succession of the Dalai Lama, who turns 85 next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chinese officials have made it clear that when the Dalai Lama eventually dies, they will appoint their own Dalai Lama to replace him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To combat this egregious violation of Tibetans\u2019 religious freedom, the House of Representatives in January overwhelmingly passed the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.org\/why-tibet\/tibet-support-act\/\" target=\"_blank\">Tibetan Policy and Support Act<\/a>, comprehensive legislation that will dramatically upgrade US support for the Tibetan people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among many other things, the TPSA will make it official US policy that only the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhist community can decide his succession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If any Chinese officials try to name their own Dalai Lama, they will face sanctions under the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">ICT quote<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>International Campaign for Tibet President Matteo Mecacci:<\/em><br>\u201cThe taking down of prayer flags in Tibet is a sad symbol of how Chinese Communist Party rule has descended on Tibet and decimated Tibetans\u2019 ancient, beautiful culture. As RFA\u2019s report notes, Chinese officials describe this effort as part of a \u2018movement of behavior reform,\u2019 but the only behavior that needs reform is that of China\u2019s Communist Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAt the International Campaign for Tibet, we give player flags to our members because we recognize the beauty and inspiration they bring into people\u2019s lives. We insist that China immediately stop forcing Tibetans to remove their prayer flags and allow these unique symbols of Tibetan culture to return to their rightful place in the air above the Tibetan Plateau.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most beautiful symbols of Tibetan culture and religion is forcibly coming down as part of China\u2019s efforts to destroy the traditions and way of life inside Tibet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12341,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[45,691],"news_tag":[670],"class_list":["post-12461","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categorie-inside-tibet","categorie-news","news_tag-culture-and-religion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tibetan prayer flags forced down by Chinese authorities - Campaign for Tibet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/tibetan-prayer-flags-forced-down-by-chinese-authorities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tibetan prayer flags forced down by Chinese authorities - 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