April 4, 2018 -- "During the research we have visited many monasteries in Lhoka, Nagchu, Shigatse, and Chamdo. On the whole, we feel that the status of Tibetan Buddhism is at its best period in history," Zhou Wei, director of the Institute of Religion at China Tibetology Research Center, said regarding the overall impression of religious development in Tibet.

"We've established a complete management system. Under such a system, the protection of relics in monasteries and normal religious activities in Tibet are well guaranteed. In terms of training monks, the system established by High-level Tibetan Buddhism College of China is very successful. Many monks are very eager to enter the college," Zhou Wei said.

"As for the interpretation of Tibetan Buddhism doctrine, over the past few years, in addition to study in High-level Tibetan Buddhism College of China and China Tibetology Research Center, symposiums on this are held every year, and the Tibet Autonomous Region is also engaged in work relating to this area."

"According to our survey, monks in Tibet have been very grateful towards the Party's religious policies. Monks have said that at this stage, the level of attention paid to monastery construction, the scope of monasteries, organization structures within monasteries including the social statuses of monks, and living conditions are all at the highest they have been in history. What's more, many monks believe that in the past, monasteries were cut off from the rest of society, but today, monks are a part of and have a lot of contact with society. In addition, at present there is a complete system in place to train monks. The system of Buddhist academies from the prefectural to autonomous region-level ensures a healthy developmental environment for monks, and it also guarantees the status of Tibetan Buddhist academic titles, and there is a complete set of methods for the reincarnation of Buddhist Living Buddhas as well, all of which are at their best point in history."