One who looks for faults will always find them. But one who keeps a positive, open mind will see things much differently. The Seventh Drubkang living Buddha says people should open their minds when looking back at religion in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

He also believes facts should answer people's questions about religious freedom.

Today, Drubkang said, there are 1,787 sites for Tibetan Buddhism in the region, and 46,380 Buddhist monks and nuns live in monasteries. Drubkang is abbot of Xiaodeng Monastery in Tibet's Nagqu area and an assistant president of the Tibetan Branch of the Chinese Buddhist Association.

"Compared with the Tibet of 40 years ago, people will see clearly the progress we have made," said Drubkang.

Forty years ago, the monastery served a few plantation owners and aristocrats, who made regular donations to the monastery.

According to statistics gathered by sociologists more than 40 years ago, 5 per cent of Tibetans owned 99 per cent of the region's wealth.

The central government has allocated gold, silver and special funds every year for the restoration and upkeep of monasteries in Tibet. These expenditures top 300 million yuan (US$36 million).

The endless changes in Tibet's religious centres have impressed travellers from home and abroad.

China now has 50 Tibetan studies institutes. More than 2,000 people are studying Tibet, according to a report by the Information Office of the State Council.

Over the past decade, China has trained more than 100 post-graduates and dozens of PhD students in Tibetan studies. Most have mastered the Han and Tibetan languages.

Drubkang said that 40 years ago, very few people knew how to read and write in Tibet because there was little education.

And now, he said, the religious freedom of Tibetans is respected and protected.

However, a few separatists who do not see the fundamental changes in Tibet have attempted to split Tibet from China. These separatists want Tibet split in the name of "religion freedom" and "the protection of human rights," Drubkang said.

"This is strongly opposed by all Chinese people, including the Tibetan people," he said.

People faithful to Tibetan Buddhism will never go along with the separatists, said Drubkang.