The Guardian notes that Christian missionaries are active in Tibetan parts of China, as they have been for years (also Xinjiang) and asks the question:
More than 10 people interviewed for this article said that Chinese authorities in Tibetan areas were selectively tolerant of missionaries for reasons that range from pragmatic to borderline sinister. One is that they are a boon to local economies – they open lucrative businesses and teach at local schools for next to nothing, supplementing their meagre salaries with donations from home. Authorities may also consider missionaries politically trustworthy, reluctant to undermine their spiritual missions by openly criticising regional policies.
And lastly, the government may welcome them as a powerful counterforce to Tibetan Buddhism, with its electrifying political overtones
Proselytisation is illegal in China but doesn’t seem to be that great an enforcement priority. As a result, a lot of evangelicals have developed the skills to go in and stay under fairly deep cover, and, as the article suggests, be willing to make themselves useful to local authorities in all sorts of small ways, including channeling popular unhappiness away from dissenting activity. On the other hand this is the case all over rural China, not just in Tibetan populated areas. The situation in Qinghai looks like a familiar mix of oppression, practical compromise and more or less tolerated life on the margins. Likewise, evangelism in Tibetan China (or Tibet proper for that matter) is something that evangelicals will do as much as they can get away with, irrespective of the attitude of the Chinese authorities).
On the other hand it would be very interesting to learn what the evangelicals tell their Tibetan flock on the whole ‘render unto ceasar’ thing.
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