India-educated monks have been banned from teaching Buddhism in China’s Sichuan county to avoid separatism

Beijing. May 17. Silkroadnews - Monks wrongly educated in India are banned from teaching Buddhism to residents of Litang county in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, the Global Times reports.
The district holds annual patriotic education classes for those who received education and the title of Gexe Lharampa - the highest academic degree in Tibetan Buddhist study - in India, said the official representative of the bureau of ethnic and religious affairs of Litang county.
Those who behaved improperly at the patriotic classes or showed “any signs of separatist intent” are under strict control and banned from teaching Buddhism to the public, said the official who refused to give his name.
China has its own criteria for awarding Gexe Lharampa, and candidates must pass exams on knowledge of Chinese Buddhism and the Sutra debate.
Those awarded the degree overseas are not recognized by China and do not have the qualifications for teaching Buddhism in the country, the agency quoted Zhu Weiqun, the former head of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, saying.
Since 2004, about 105 monks in Southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region have been awarded the Chinese degree Gexe Lharampa.
As some monks were educated abroad at the group of the 14th Dalai Lama (China regards them as separatists), it is necessary to strengthen supervision to prevent using local Buddhists for separatist activities, Zhu noted.
The official did not say how many monks were banned.
The move is standard annual practice - a response to the heavy separatist situation in the county.
Litang county is home to prominent Buddhists including the Seventh and 10th Dalai Lama. Litang Temple has about 800 monks and can accommodate more than 4,300, the report reads.