published by: World Tibet Network News, Thursday,November 30, 1995

BEIJING, Nov 30 (Reuter) - First there was "one country, two systems" for China's vision of absorbing Hong Kong and Taiwan. Now it's "one Tibet, two Panchens" in the Chinese Himalayas.

China's naming of six-year-old Gyaincain Norbu on Wednesday has left Tibetan Buddhism with rival Panchen Lamas -- one blessed by the Dalai Lama, the exiled god-king, and one sanctioned by the atheist communist government.

The Dalai Lama unilaterally announced his choice in May, naming Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, also 6, as the 11th Panchen Lama, the second-holiest figure in the Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy.

Beijing is determined to make its choice stick. State media on Thursday intensified a drive to persuade Tibet and the world that Beijing's choice is the true "soul boy" -- not a pretender as claimed by Dalai Lama loyalists.

All major newspapers trumpeted the boy's selection with front-page pictures, news reports and commentaries.

National television showed the shaven boy in saffron robes, surrounded by lamas and communist bureaucrats, beside the golden urn from which his "lucky number" was drawn.

The Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily painted the situation in epic political terms, saying China's move showed its vigilance against the Dalai Lama and fellow "splittists" seeking Tibet's independence.

"We have witnessed a serious political struggle with Dalai in the search for and verification of the reincarnated Panchen Lama," the People's Daily said in a commentary.

"The struggle is the continuation of our struggle with the Dalai clique over the past 30 years or so. The essence of the struggle is the safeguarding of the dignity of the law and the interests of the people."

China asserted sovereignty over Tibet only after its 1949 communist takeover, sending troops to purge Tibetan "feudalism." The Dalai Lama and thousands of followers fled to India in 1959 after an abortive anti-Beijing uprising.

The Dalai Lama said he would stand by the soul boy he named as recipient of the spirit of the 10th Panchen Lama, who died in January 1989.

Political analysts said Beijing faces a long, hard sell.

"Given an open choice, few Tibetans would recognise the young boy chosen by the golden urn process," a western diplomat in Beijing said in a telephone interview.

"The Chinese government ... ignored the religious sensitivities of Tibetans in favour of their political priorities," he said. "(They) will very likely be on guard against demonstrations," he said.

Tibet has been convulsed regularly by anti-Chinese riots and military countermeasures, revealing the failure of the Communist Party's three-decade-old "united front" pacification drive.

Exiled Tibetan groups opposed to Chinese rule in the Himalayan region said Beijing faced tremendous opposition.

"China will have a tremendously hard time convincing -- or even coercing -- Tibetans to follow a candidate picked by them, and not the one chosen by the Dalai Lama," the International Campaign for Tibet said from its Washington office.

The lobbying group described the selection as the "crowning of one of Beijing's most aggressive and comprehensive political campaigns ever to counter the influence of the Dalai Lama in Tibet and undermine Tibetan Buddhism."

There is evidence that China's approach works. China is home to a state Catholic Church whose followers are prohibited from paying allegiance to the Pope. Pro-Vatican priests and bishops are banned from church activities and are routinely imprisoned for defying what Beijing regards as its religious tolerance.

China maintains it has the final say over senior lamas under a 1792 agreement with the imperial Qing dynasty. Tibetan exiles dispute this, saying the pact was set not with China but with occupying Manchus who were toppled in 1911.

The Dalai Lama has appealed to governments, religious and human rights groups to intervene to ensure the safety and freedom of the boy he recognised.

International pressure is likely to mount on China to reveal the status and whereabouts of the boy and his parents, who are reported to be in state custody.