Living Buddha: Tibetans enjoy full religious freedom

Source: Xinhua | 03-19-2009 15:11

NEW YORK, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Freedom of religious belief is one of the basic rights of Chinese citizens, including all Tibetans, a living Buddha of Tibetan Buddhism said Wednesday.

Shingtsa Tenzinchodrak (C), a living Buddha of Tibetan  Buddhism and also the head of a five-member delegation of  Tibetan deputies of China's National People's Congress (NPC), talks with representatives of local overseas Chinese at a  symposium in New York, the United States, March 18, 2009. (Xinhua Photo)

"Whether people believe in religion or not and in which religion they choose to believe are all at their own choices," Shingtsa Tenzinchodrak, a living Buddha of the Kagyu sect, said when meeting with overseas Chinese.

He was the head of a delegation of five Tibetan deputies of the National People's Congress, which is in the United States for a visit.

The delegation came after a wave of attacks on China by the Dalai Lama, who in a March 10 speech said the religion, culture, language and identity of Tibetans "are nearing extinction."