As far as funding inside Tibet is concerned, I think we all must. We encourage any funding that can help Tibetan people inside Tibet. You can reach out to those villages and those communities where funding is needed, and where schools and hospitals are needed. They have to be educated and they have to be treated well, and the culture has to be preserved. For any funding that's been provided by the Canadian government or any government around the world, we always encourage and appreciate those efforts.
As for reincarnation, you're right to say “reincarnation with atheist characteristics”. It's true. In 2008 the Chinese government came out with guidelines, eight-point guidelines, that say any reincarnation of a monk has to be registered and approved by the Communist Party, the district Communist Party. Can you imagine that? The stamp of an atheist party is needed for our spiritual practice and spiritual leaders. Similarly, they are planning for what we call the reincarnation of the Dalai Lamas as well, but as I told you, if you look at the track record of 98% of monasteries and nunneries being destroyed and 99.9% of monks and nuns being disrobed, and at how they call His Holiness the Dalai Lama a wolf in sheep's clothing, a devil, and all of that....
With that kind of track record, I think the Chinese government has no credibility whatsoever in endorsing or recognizing reincarnation. It's almost like Kim Jong-un recognizing the next Pope and expecting all the Catholics to say, “Oh yes, we've got the next Pope because our Communist leader recognized the Pope.” That much of a lack of credibility is with the Chinese government when it comes to reincarnation. They are trying to co-opt and control religion in Tibet as well as China.
Overall, what is disturbing is that in Tibet they have imposed a grid system, or a social credit system, whereby the citizens have to give security to get subsidies. Essentially, you have to report or spy on your neighbours to get your essential subsidies such as sending your children to school or any kind of facilities from the Chinese government. They have also issued an ID card with second-generation biometric chips in it, so once you swipe it, your movements are tracked.
For example, in Lhasa, there's a check-post every 30 or 40 metres, so if anyone wants to go to the market, you have to swipe your ID card, and your movements are tracked. They now have built sophisticated software or an algorithm whereby they track the pilgrims from remote villages and nomadic areas who visit some of the places in Tibet. Once you swipe your ID card, your movements are tracked. Accordingly, they then come to a conclusion that a nomadic area or village might be problematic because most of the nomads or farmers have travelled to various places in Tibet.
That's a very, very sophisticated system. It is working so well that the party secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region was sent to the Xinjiang Autonomous Region to implement the same grid system. This is being researched and reported by Human Rights Watch and other think tanks.
Now, also in Xinjiang, that system is working so well that the party secretary of Xinjiang has been promoted in the politburo. That's the 20-member leadership of China. China has so many provinces and so many cabinet ministers that to reach the top 20 you must have done something very, very good for the Chinese government. The party secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region, now in Xinjiang, is among the top 20 because of this sophisticated system.
What is worrying for Canada—and what should be worrisome for Canada and the rest of the world—is that this software and algorithm will be sold to despots and dictators around the world. They will use that software to control their own people. The Chinese are very good at marketing and selling their products. This product will be on the market soon.
Hence, what is happening in Tibet will happen to you.