Beijing, 12th November: Li Ruihuan, a top Chinese leader, said that the delayed completion of the location and confirmation of the reincarnated child for the Panchen Lama is due primarily to the Dalai clique's interference and sabotage.

Addressing a meeting of the Leading Group for Locating the Reincarnated Child for the Panchen Lama Friday [10th November], Li said that after the State Council announced the decision on locating the reincarnated child for the Tenth Panchen Lama, the Dalai Lama went so far as to oppose the central authorities, claiming that it was his sole duty to confirm the next Panchen Lama, and setting up a searching group.

Li, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said, "We have done away with Dalai's interference and have conducted search in accordance with the religious rituals and the historical convention. As a result, 28 potential children have been found and a list of the key candidates for the reincarnated child for the Panchen Lama has been decided on the repeated selections, he said. Then the Dalai Lama interfered in the search work again and had a child chosen by him added illegally to the list through a few members of the Leading Group for locating the Reincarnated Child for the Panchen Lama. The central authorities were urging the submission of the list of the three candidates to participate in the drawing of lots from a gold urn when the Dalai Lama had a few members of the group to propose cancelling the drawing, in an attempt to take the child chosen by him as the sole candidate for the reincarnated child. Li, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bur

eau of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, said that after this plot was seen through and foiled by the central authorities, the Dalai Lama illegally announced abroad the child chosen by him as the "real reincarnated child for the Panchen Lama".

He noted these activities carried out by Dalai violated the religious rituals and the historical convention, and negated the supreme authority of the Central government in the issue of the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama.

These activities are entirely illegal and invalid, and have been opposed resolutely by people from the Tibetan Buddhism circles and religious believers," he said.

The struggle focusing on the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama is "not accidental", the leader said, noting that it has once again revealed the reactionary nature of the Dalai Lama.

Since fleeing from Tibet after the failure of an armed rebellion in 1959, Dalai has insisted on his reactionary stand to betray and split the motherland, he said. Over the past few years, instigated by some foreign forces, Dalai has erroneously assessed the situation and want only carried out activities to split the motherland while begging for foreigners backing, he has tried to stir up riots in Tibetan-inhabited areas in China, in an attempt to internationalise the Tibetan issue.

Li Ruihuan said that the purpose of Dalai in deliberately taking advantage of the question of the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama is to change the Panchen Lama's historical tradition of loving the motherland and religion, in order to serve his scheme to split the motherland and disrupt Tibet's stability.

"Facts have indicated that the Dalai Lama is the chieftain of the splittists' political clique which attempts to create independence of Tibet, a faithful tool of the international anti-Chinese forces, the general source in trying to create social disturbance in Tibet, and the biggest obstacle for impeding Tibetan Buddhism circles in establishing normal order," he said.

He warned that in China, any person and any organization including any religion, is not permitted to violate state laws, damage people's interest, or undermine the unification of the motherland.

"This is the most cardinal principle governing everyone's behaviour," he said. What the Dalai Lama had done over the past decades has completely violated the principles,' he added.

The leader called on religious believers and non-religious believers in Tibet to carry out a resolute struggle against Dalai's act to bring disaster to Tibet and to religion in Tibet. The central authorities have always given Dalai a way out and have shown the utmost tolerance and patience towards him.

He said that the central authorities have reiterated time and again that so long as the Dalai Lama recognise that Tibet is an inseparable part of China, completely abandons his proposition of independence of Tibet and stops engaging in activities to split the motherland, we can negotiate with him and he is welcome to return to the motherland to do some good things for the Tibetan people in his late years

"Today, we still persist in this policy. But this does not mean that Dalai's history of betraying the motherland can be rewritten and that the nature of his past acts cart be changed, he said.

As long as Dalai does not stop his activities to betray the motherland and disrupt Tibet's stability, "we will not stop die struggling against him, he added.

Li Ruihuan also called for efforts to complete the work to locate and confirm the reincarnated child for the Panchen Lama at an early date. He said that President Jiang Zemin and Premier Li Peng have often inquired about the progress of locating the reincarnated child and have given specific instructions. The central authorities have also remarked special funds for searching.

In speeding up the work to locate and confirm the reincarnated child it is imperative to implement the panty's policy on religious affairs and act in accordance with the religious rituals and the historical convention.

The finding of the reincarnated child for the Panchen Lama should follow a religious ritual, under which several potential reincarnated children are located and the reincarnated child will be selected through lot-drawing in front of the statue of Sakyamuni Buddha. Then, the final choice should be forwarded to the central government for approval.

He said that the drawing of lots from a gold urn is the most important to the religious rituals governing the reincarnation of the child for the Panchen Lama.

The drawing practice upholds the sovereignty of the central government and is trusted by the believers in the Tibetan branch of Buddhism, he said.

Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 1007 gmt 12 Nov 95