Ethnic minorities enjoy religious belief freedom: white paper

BEIJING - The religious belief freedom of ethnic minorities has been fully guaranteed in China, a white paper on China's human rights said on Monday.

Taking Tibet as an example, currently there are 1,787 venues for various religious worship activities there, with 46,000 resident monks and nuns, said the white paper released by the Information Office of the State Council.

Living Buddha reincarnation, a special succession system of Tibetan Buddhism, is respected by the state, it said, adding that there are 358 living Buddhas in Tibet.

All the monks and nuns in Tibet are covered by health insurance, pension insurance, basic living allowance and personal accident insurance. The Tibetan government also provides free physical examinations to monks and nuns annually.

Efforts are also made to preserve the ethnic minorities' religious classics. The Chinese government has provided 35 million yuan (about 5.7 million U.S. dollars) in publishing the Chinese Tripitaka (Tibetan) over the past two decades.

The Chinese Islamic Association has compiled and published Islamic scriptures in Arabic. The Association has also set up a website in the Uygur language, providing introduction of religious knowledge and online explanation of the scriptures.

In 2014, a total of 14,466 Chinese Muslims made the pilgrimage to Mecca. Relevant government departments have sent accompanying medical staff to guarantee the pilgrims' health and safety, the paper said.