buddhism

The Underreported Aspect of China’s Rise as a Global Power? Its Promotion of Buddhism

Kennedy Lee on December 1, 2020

In recent years, talk of China’s rise as a global power so competitive in stature as to even rival the United States for global hegemony has exasperated airwaves and punditry throughout the world. Although these conversations are usually focused on China’s economic and military power, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has quietly been employing a soft power tool in its quest for global hegemony — the promotion of Chinese Buddhism.

Officially an atheist party, the Chinese Communist Party bars religious believers from joining its ranks. The Chinese Constitution, under the guidance of the CCP, allows only for the practice of “normal religious activities,” which in essence means activities that can easily be regulated by and undertaken in times and places that support the ruling regime and its goals.

Moreover, the regime has grown increasingly hostile to domestic religion in recent years. In the Xinjiang province in Northwest China, reports estimate the existence of nearly 400 detention sites, what the CCP deems “reeducation camps,” as home to between 1.5-2 million Uighur Muslims. The Uighurs are a Muslim Turkic ethnic group who have lived in Central Asia for centuries. The majority now live in Xinjiang, home to an estimated 11 million Uighurs.

The CCP has been accused of gross human rights abuses against its Uighur population, including the forced sterilization of Uighur women. The party’s religious persecution, however, goes far beyond the Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang. In Tibet, Buddhist monasteries have come under the tight scrutiny and control of CCP officials in recent years.

Why would a regime that goes to such great lengths to repress its religious citizens then not only tolerate — but promote — Buddhism as a tool of soft power abroad? It’s easy. While the CCP may be an atheist party, its ruling elites know that to be a competitive player on the world stage it must recognize that although the West may be increasingly secularizing, religion matters. And those — like the CCP — who want to lay a claim as the inheritors of a great historical civilization would be benefitted by an accompanying religion.

In fact, a working paper recently released by Georgetown University’s Berkley Center, written by scholars Yoshiko Ashiwa and David Wank, outlines the rise of Chinese promotion of Buddhism abroad since the ascendency of Xi Jinping as CCP leader. The authors describe Xi’s realization that China cannot become a competitive global power through economic and military strength alone.

“The excellent Chinese traditional culture is the outstanding advantage of the Chinese nation and our deepest cultural soft power,” Jinping is quoted in the paper. While it is beyond infuriating that the CCP sees religion as valuable when it will boost its regime abroad while simultaneously persecuting its religious minorities at home, can this materialize into an effective use of soft power and become instrumental in Xi Jinping’s dream of China becoming a dominant global cultural power?

CCP strategies to implement this agenda include lending Buddhist relics to other countries, providing funds to rebuild temples in other countries, creating bilateral “friendship” associations, and having Chinese Buddhist cleric take leadership roles in international Buddhist organizations.

Ashiwa and Wank identify three strategic categories of countries where the CCP has focused this cultural outreach. The first category is Asian countries that are economically dependent on China (and where Buddhism is already the dominant religion), such as Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos.

The second category is Western countries with growing interest in Buddhist daily life, most noticeably Canada and Australia. Lastly, the CCP has also focused its efforts on Asian countries it sees as geopolitical rivals, including India, Japan, and Taiwan.

While it may seem encouraging that this self-proclaimed atheist regime is promoting religion in society (of course, excluding its own), it is crucial to remember that the CCP does not care about Buddhism as a religion, but rather sees it as a way to wield Chinese cultural soft power abroad.

Western believers, like myself, should find it fascinating that the world’s foremost atheist regime would concede the importance of religion in history and modern-day society. We should also, however, remember the cynicism it must take to use religion in situations where it is advantageous, while simultaneously persecuting millions of your own religious citizens at home.

  1. Comment by wayne pettitt on December 3, 2020 at 4:34 am

    An interesting example of China’s use of religion as a tool for promoting Chinese culture while Australia sleeps.

  2. Comment by David on December 3, 2020 at 5:59 pm

    The German DW News has reported a Chinese move against Buddhism including the destruction of historic images reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CC35yjOI-0

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