Tibetan Government-in-Exile condemns the announcement of three Chinese-inspired candidates for the Panchen Lama

Dharamsala, 10 November -- China will announce in the next few days that a conference of senior Tibetan lamas and officials held in Beijing has condemned and rejected His Holiness the Dalai Lama's recognition of the new Panchen Lama and will soon announce China's own candidate for the Panchen Lama post, according to reliable sources.

The names of the three boys are Gyaltsen Norbu and Tsering Wangdu, both from Nagchu, a nomadic area north of Lhasa, and Ngawang Namdrol, a boy from Lhasa.

Tibetan Government condemns the politicisation and abuse of the Tibetan people's religious beliefs and rejects the conference decisions. It re-affirms its recognition of the Panchen Lama as announced by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on 14 May 1995.

Fearing an open display of Tibetan public support for His Holiness the Dalai Lama's announcement, the Chinese authorities were compelled to issue a ban prohibiting the gathering of more than three Tibetans and any discussion on the Panchen Lama reincarnation issue. Despite immense pressure, the monks of the Tashilhunpo Monastery at a meeting called by the Chinese authorities in July the vast majority of them refused to denounce His Holiness the Dalai Lama's announcement, and voiced their open support. This resulted in the arrest of 48 monks and driving one to commit suicide. These circumstances compelled Beijing to hold the current meeting.

On 4 November, the United Front Department of the Chinese government summoned 75 Tibetans from the "Tibet Autonomous Region" and other Tibetan areas for a meeting in Beijing and they were told to arrive in the Chinese capital on the 5th. The Tibetans were told that everyone had to attend the meeting and nobody could feign illness as an excuse for not attending the meeting. Attending the Beijing meeting was "test of your nationalism and your political stand," they were told. The meeting, divided into smaller groups, was chaired by the officials of the United Front, an organ of the Chinese Communist Party. The main agenda for the meeting was to denounce and reject the recognition by His Holiness the Dalai Lama of the new Panchen Lama. Everyone at the meeting had to say something which was tape-recorded.

At the meeting, some monks led by Sengchen Lobsang Gyaltsen, requested the Chinese government that the three candidates should be called to Lhasa before the image of Jowo Rinpoche, the holiest image in all Tibet, where the golden urn should be used for the final selection of the Panchen Lama under the supervision of the Chinese government as soon as possible. In fact, it is learned that the Chinese government had already formed a search committee for the Panchen Lama, chaired by Li Ruihuan, a member of the standing committee of the politburo of the Chinese communist party.

Sengchen Lobsang Gyaltsen was one of the principal Tibetan lamas actively involved in denouncing the late Panchen Lama in 1964, who accused the Panchen Lama of being "anti-party, anti-people and anti-socialism." He is now the vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee.

Tempa Tsering

Secretary

Department of Information & International Relations

Central Tibetan Administration

Dharamsala - India