[papersmith]

"IIRC, it's illegal to be Muslim in China and all new Tibetan Buddhist monks are required to become Party members."

Dude, the Muslim part is plain false. I lived in Xi'an, a city with a large population of Hui Muslims.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hui_people

I don't know where you heard about the Tibetan Buddhist required to join the communist party, but it just doesn't sound right. Joining the party is considered a privilege in China, you get all kinds of benefits, but mainly the ability to vote. I kinda doubt they would give this kind of political privilege to Tibetan monks.