China claims investing heavily on protecting Tibetan cultural heritage
By Lobsang Tenchoe
DHARAMSALA, July 30: China has made bold claims of protecting Tibetan cultural heritage through heavy investments despite demolishing monks and nuns’ residences at Larung Gar, one of the biggest Tibetan Buddhist institute in the world.
Citing overcrowding concerns, Chinese officials in Serta County decided to cut down Larung Gar residents to half from 10,000 to 5,000 (3,500 nuns and 1,500 monks) and demolish their residences.
Later, a Chinese official was quoted as saying that the Buddhist learning centre is being renovated to prevent fires and to ease crowd levels, reports globaltimes.cn, July 26.
China has maintained that it has invested 1.6 billion Yuan (240 million U. S. dollars) to protect ancient artifacts and cultural heritage in Tibet, reported Chinese state media, Tibet Online, July 29, citing government figures released on Thursday.
“During the past two decades, the central government has invested three billion Yuan in protecting Tibetan cultural heritage,” Liu Yuzhu, head of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage claimed in the report.
Beijing claims to have drastically developed Tibet under its rule but Tibetans and rights groups maintain that China continues to violate human rights in Tibet with its repressive policies.
