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The new chairman of the Buddhist Association of China said in
Beijing Monday that the Buddhists in China are firmly in opposition
to the Dalai Lama separatist group as well as to the Falun Gong
evil cult.
The chairman, 76, whose Buddhist monastic name is Yicheng, a new
member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said: "We resolutely oppose the
Dalai Lama's scheme to push forward the independence of Tibet."
Meanwhile, at the ongoing annual session of the CPPCC National
Committee, Yicheng cited the Falun Gong as an evil cult and said it
deluded people in the disguise of Buddhism and was in firm
opposition to the Buddhist circle.
Yicheng from central-south China's Hunan Province, who had become a
monk when new China was founded in 1949, was elected chairman of
the Buddhist Association of China in September 2002 after the
passing away of the former chairman Zhao Puchu.
The dedicated, highly-esteemed Buddhist sage, enjoying a very high
reputation, said the Buddhist circle should, acting in compliance
with the behest of late Buddhist sage Zhao, do a good job in
running the education in Buddhism and he hoped that the government
would attach greater importance to Buddhism education.
Moreover, a relic said to be part of a finger bone of the Buddha
from Famen Tample in northwestern China's Shaanxi Province went on
an exhibition show in Taiwan last year in a bid to promote the
exchange along the Taiwan Straits, Yicheng said. And a Buddha tooth
relic was recently taken to Thailand for worship for the sake of
enhancing friendship between the two countries.
The government should attach more and greater importance to
education in Buddhism, Yicheng said, urging concerted efforts of
the five major religious circles in China, namely Buddhism, Taoism,
Islam, Christianism and Catholicism, to contribute to social
stability, national unity as well as the building of a well-off
society in the whole country.
(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2003)
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