Published by World Tibet Network News - Wednesday, November 29, 1995

BEIJING, Nov 29 (Reuter) - China said on Wednesday a "soul boy" from Tibet has been identified as the reincarnation of the late Panchen Lama -- challenging the exiled Dalai Lama's choice for the second holiest figure in the Himalayan region.

Six-year-old Gyaincain Norbu was identified as the 11th Panchen Lama in a drawing of lots from a golden urn in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Tibetan Buddhism now has rival Panchen Lamas -- one blessed by the Himalayan faith's god-king, the Dalai Lama, and one sanctioned by the atheist communist Chinese government.

The Dalai Lama announced in May his recognition of six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the boy who had received the spirit of the 10th Panchen Lama, who died in January 1989.

Although Gedhun Choekyi Nyima emerged from a Beijing-sanctioned search by senior lamas and was expected to be approved by China, the Dalai Lama's unilateral move enraged Beijing, which rejected his choice as void.

China launched a propaganda offensive against the Dalai Lama, saying he defied tradition by failing to seek the central government's approval and that he acted to seek to destabilise Tibet and promote its independence.

China maintains it has final say over the appointment of senior Tibetan clerics, including the Dalai and Panchen lamas, under a 1792 agreement with the last imperial dynasty.

China did not assert its claim of sovereignty over Tibet until after the 1949 communist takeover, sending in troops to purge "Buddhist feudalism." Many Tibetans now regard Beijing as an occupying power, although China has pushed in recent years to win popular favour.

The Dalai Lama fled to India from Tibet in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Beijing's rule.

Officials have declined to say what has happened to Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who is likely to command strong allegiance from pro-Dalai Lama Buddhists inside Tibet and abroad.

The new boy, who the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile has vowed to regard as a "Panchen Lama pretender," was identified "strictly in accordance with the rituals of Tibetan Buddhism," Xinhua said.

His name, in its transliterated form, is identical to that of the head of Tibet's nominally autonomous regional government, a strident critic of the Dalai Lama.

His name was selected from among three placed in a golden urn in a Johkang Temple ceremony presided over by a senior Beijing official, Luo Gan, who oversees Tibetan affairs in the Communist Party central committee, Xinhua said.

"Gyaincain Norbu, a six-year-old boy from Lhari county in Nagqu prefecture in Tibet, was the lucky number in a lot drawing and thus was chosen as the reincarnated boy for the 10th Panchen Erdeni," the report said.

"Several hundred religious people, including members of the search group for the reincarnation, attended the ceremony."

The final drive to find a Chinese-sanctioned Panchen Lama began in earnest on November 8, when Beijing summoned 75 Tibetan lamas and officials to China's capital for a conclave that included a meeting with Communist Party chief Jiang Zemin.

During the four-day meeting, some lamas urged China to allow the Dalai Lama's choice to be retained as a candidate, but the moves were rejected.

Beijing has launched a major propaganda drive in Tibet to demonstrate its resolve to push through its choice.