DHARAMSALA, 4 November - The stubborn support of the Tibetan people for the new Panchen Lama recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on 14 May this year is viewed by Beijing as a dangerous erosion of its authority in Tibet.

In a counter-move which clearly reflects the bankruptcy of China's religious policy in Tibet, according to reliable sources, the Chinese authorities have summoned all high Tibetan lamas to Beijing this Sunday (5 November) for a meeting in which they will be forced to come up with a rival candidate for the prestigious post. In a further display of open defiance, many of the lamas ordered to attend the Beijing meeting have feigned illness in order to avoid being forced to recognise a rival candidate to the post of the Panchen Lama.

The latest Chinese move follows a series of meetings held throughout Tibet this summer with the highest religious circles of Tibet who unanimously informed the Chinese authorities that only the candidate recognised by His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be considered legitimate by the Tibetan people and the larger international community. They said that no amount of administrative diktat by the Chinese authorities will make the Tibetan people recognise a Panchen Lama other than the one chosen by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They said that the matter of recognising the Panchen Lama or any other high lama is a question of religious belief of the Tibetan people. Even if the authorities put up a rival candidate to the post of the Panchen Lama, he will not be recognised and accepted by the Tibetan people unless sanctioned and recognised by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

At that meeting one particular lama (name withheld to protect the person) is reported as saying, "A lama is a person of religion. Therefore, his recognition should be carried out according to traditional Tibetan religious practices. If this is done, the public will respect him and hold him in high esteem. If this is not done, the people will not acknowledge him. Merely calling a child a reincarnate lama without the good wishes and acknowledgement from the public will not serve any purpose. In the case of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, there is an established tradition of one recognising the other, and this must be respected. No other lama has the right or the spiritual authority to recognise the reincarnation of these two lamas."

Faced with such stubborn resistance to the Chinese attempts at making the religious leaders of Tibet in disowning the new Panchen Lama, the authorities have gone into each individual lama's home and threatening them with dire consequences if in future they openly defied the authorities again.

We believe that the present Chinese move follows the traditional colonial policy of divide and rule. The Chinese authorities had hoped to use the late Panchen Lama to gain some legitimacy for their rule in Tibet. But before his passing away, the last Panchen Lama made a blistering attack on the Chinese policies in Tibet. He said that if someone were to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the Chinese rule of Tibet, the disadvantages would far out-weigh the advantages China brought to Tibet.

The present move also shows that there is no religious freedom in Tibet. If there is genuine religious freedom in Tibet, then China should respect the wishes of the Tibetan people by supporting the Panchen Lama recognised by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in whom all Tibetans put their faith and trust.

On 14 May, His Holiness the Dalai Lama recognised a six-year-old boy Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the reincarnation of the last Panchen Lama who passed away in early 1989 at his traditional monastic seat of Tashi Lhunpo in Shigatse, Tibet's second biggest city.

This announcement forced the Chinese authorities to detain Chadrel Rinpoche, the head of the Beijing-appointed search committee for the new Panchen Lama and 47 other Tibetans, all of whom were accused by Beijing for co-operating with His Holiness the Dalai Lama to enable him to make the announcement of the new Panchen Lama before the Chinese authorities. The new Panchen Lama and his family members were also detained.

According to the London-based Tibet Information Network, the authorities have now ousted Chadrel Rinpoche from the post of the head of the Tashilhunpo management committee and from the post of the head of the search committee for the Panchen Lama. He has been replaced by Sengchen Lobsang Gyaltsen, a long-time opponent of the late Panchen Lama, and a person who obediently follows every Chinese official instruction.

Mr.Tempa Tsering

Secretary

Department of Information & International Relations

Central Tibetan Administration

DHARAMSALA - INDIA