Chinese official stresses patriotism among monks

CHENGDU - Senior official Yu Zhengsheng called on monks and nuns to be patriotic and observe the law and monastic rules during an inspection tour in Southwest China's Sichuan province from Jan 6 to 8.

Yu, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the call at a seminar held with Tibetan Buddhist representatives in Sichuan's Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

Yu said he hopes Tibetan Buddhists will support the government's efforts to manage monasteries in accordance with the law and encourage monks and nuns to observe both the law and monastic rules.

"The government should offer public services to monasteries while enhancing their management, as well as help Tibetan Buddhism to correspond with socialist society," Yu said.

A unified and strong motherland together with developing and stable Tibetan areas will help ethnic groups improve their lives and brighten the prospects for Tibetan Buddhism, Yu said.

"The fight against the Dalai Lama clique should continue in order to create a favorable social and political environment for economic development and the improvement of people's well-being," he said.

Yu said he hopes Tibetan Buddhists can cultivate higher religious attainments to enable them to run the monasteries and better guide people in religious practices.

During the inspection tour of Ganzi, the first ethnic minority autonomous prefecture after the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949 as well as one still haunted by poverty, Yu visited herdsmen, poverty-stricken villagers and a middle school.

He said, "The key for developing Tibetan areas lies in improving their infrastructure and public services as well as increasing the incomes of farmers and herdsmen."

Yu asked the local government to put a special focus on "problems for which the public demands prompt solutions", such as offering better medical services in the region and better vocational training for young people.

He ordered officials to improve their work style, serve the people wholeheartedly and solve people's practical problems.