BEIJING (Reuters) - President of China, head of its Communist Party, commander-in-chief of the military and now living Buddhist deity - Xi Jinping has added another title to his growing collection, at least in the eyes of some ethnic Tibetans. "The ordinary people in the herder areas say, only General Secretary Xi is a living Bodhisattva. Tibetan Buddhists consider their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to be an incarnation of Avalokitesvara, a Bodhisattva of compassion. Despite being the ancestral home of the Dalai Lama, Qinghai is generally less tense than what China refers to as the Tibet Autonomous Region, and normally has no travel restrictions for foreigners. Tibetan rights groups and exiles regularly criticise the government for not respecting the religious rights and traditions of Tibetans, and say China has trampled upon their culture.

Source: The Star March 08, 2018 07:52 UTC